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Would it be all right to everyone if I posted several studies I have done on Babylon The Great here? They would be in several parts because they are rather long.
I understand that this subject can be quite explosive, espeacially when it is presented as such. This is not meant to offend, or bash, or put others down. It is a simple presentation of the facts. All rooted in undeniable history. Enjoy.
STUDY 1 What is Babylon The Great? Why is she called such?
Babylon The Great is non other than the world wide empire of false religion. This includes the counterfeit apostate Christianity foretold by Jesus and the Apostles known as Christendom, and the other world religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Spiritism, (now under the guise of 'Wicca'), Shintoism, and all the rest. One can arrive at this conclusion because the number of the facts surrounding it.
Some have come to believe that Babylon The Great is the Roman Catholic Church, and this would be fitting for the Roman Catholic Church has filled almost every description given for Babylon The Great but, when one is charging this to only the Roman Catholic Church, they are doing this on religious grounds, (And they would be right) which raises the question, ‘Why would God only destroy the Catholic Church and let the hundreds of other false religious rites and practices go on in other religions such as Hinduism which with its millions of pagan gods and goddesses, goes directly against what he has decreed? (Ex. 20: 1-3) He wouldn't. So, when one looks at this, it must be the entire realm of false religion, and this agrees with Rev. 18:3, "...all the nations have fallen victim..."
Some have also come to believe that Babylon The Great is the ancient Roman Empire itself, either in the past or rebuilt to reconquer the earth. Both of these are wrong though, for when speaking of the Wild Beast of which Babylon The Great rides, an angel says, "The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. And there are seven kings, five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived..."-Rev. 17:9, 10. These kings are the seven world powers. Five have fallen, or are gone from power, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. One is, that is, in John's time at the writing of the book of Revelation, the Roman Empire, and the other has not yet arrived, Anglo-America. If you notice, only one power was dominate at the time, That was the Roman Empire, but it also falls to make way for the last power, Anglo-America. Notice also, that the angel doesn't speak of the "one is" head as coming back to life, once the Roman Empire fell, it fell for good.
Further hinting that Babylon The Great is a religious organization, the Scriptures say that by her, “spiritistic practice all the nations were misled.”-Rev. 18:23
[SIZE=4]AN EARLY START[/SIZE]
The world empire of false religion known as Babylon the Great is called so because nearly every false belief, custom and rite pertaining to religion, has come from the ancient empire of Babylon. Not only does the Bible shed light on this, but scholars and historians as well.
The Bible gives us the beginning of the ancient world power and how it relates to Babylon The Great.
Genesis 10:8, 9 says, "And Cush became father to Nimrod. He made the start in becoming a mighty one in the earth. He displayed himself a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah..." Genesis 11:1-9 says, "Now all the earth continued to be of one language and of one set of words. And it came about that in their journeying eastward, they discovered a valley plain in the land of Shinar, and they took up dwelling there, And they began to say, each one to the other: "Come on! Let us make bricks and bake them with a burning process." So brick served as stone for them, but bitumen served as mortar for them. They now said: "Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth." And Jehovah proceeded to go down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men had built. After that Jehovah said: "Look! They are one people and there is one language for them all, and this is what they start to do. Why, now there is nothing that they may have in mind to do that will be unattainable for them! Let us go down and there confuse their language that they may not listen to one another's language." Accordingly Jehovah scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth, and they gradually left of building the city. That is why it's name was called Babel, because there Jehovah had confused the language of all the earth, and Jehovah had scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth."
It is generally admitted by scholars and historians that Nimrod was the founder of Babylon, and that after the Flood, Noah's descendants began to build this city under Nimrod. But Jehovah had confused their language and scattered them all over the surface of the earth. The point here is that, when this happened, they took all of their pagan beliefs and customs with them. From belief in life after death, talking to spirits, using of images and icons in worship, worshiping other saints, gods and goddesses, temple prostitution, human sacrifice, and more God-dishonoring beliefs. That is why ancient Babylonian religious beliefs and customs were found in all ancient empires, even ones on the other side of the globe such as the Aztecs, Myans, Chinese and Japanese. Even today, ancient Babylonian beliefs are found in nearly all the worlds religions. The New Encyclopedia Britannica says that, "as far as scholars have discovered, there has never existed any people, anywhere, at any time, who were not in some sense religious."
Another reason for Babylon The Great being called such, is that the ancient Hebrew word for ‘confusion’ was 'Babel'. This is fitting for the confusing of the languages, and also for Babylon The Great, for there are thousands upon thousands of religions and sects, 10,000 in all. Even in the same religious group there is no unity, Members of one church all debate each other on their own beliefs, while members of the same religious group down the street in their church debate each other, and the church up the street! 1 Cor. 1:10, 13 says, "Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought. Does the Christ exist divided?"-See also Eph. 4:1-6. The L.A. Times Newspaper of Feb. 1st, 2003, had an article under the headline,
"Religions in the U.S. Offer Plenty to Choose From"
. Part of the article read, "The Roman Catholic Church may be huge, but it's only one of 116 Catholic denominations. Orthodox Christians have even more, and Protestantism is notoriously splintered; it's Pentecostal segment alone counts groups in the hundreds...All are among 2,630 U.S. and Canadian faith groups..."
This is indeed religious babel!
[SIZE=4]MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS[/SIZE]
The following study will delve into all of the reasons why Babylon The Great can be clearly identified as the time spanning, world conquering, empire of false religion, and what shall become of her.
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This will be presented in succesive studies since the max character space is 20000.
STUDY 2 PEOPLES AND CROWDS AND NATIONS AND TONGUES
Babylon The Great is seen sitting on many waters. Just as the literal ancient city of Babylon did. The Scripture reads, "And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me saying: "Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters." (Rev. 17:1) The angel then explains what these waters mean, "...The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues."-Rev. 17:15.
This is the perfect description for a world spanning empire. It does not say, some peoples, some crowds, some nations and some tongues, it includes them all! It affects all parts of the earth, for from the most primitive tribes to the most advanced societies, religion infiltrates them all! Although already quoted in the previous chapter, The New Encyclopedia Britannica says, "as far as scholars have discovered, there has never existed any people, anywhere, at any time, who were not in some sense religious."
Also, A Rationalist Encyclopedia, says, "No statement is more common in our literature than that religion is of peculiar value in connection with civilization." It goes on, "And none is more massively discredited by the facts of history." Not one person, nation, science or political power has ever affected and reached all the people of the earth through the entire time span of human history as false religion has.Babylon
The Great has yet another tie back to the literal ancient city. The city of Babylon was located right on the Euphrates River. The city used this mighty river and many canals to protect it from enemy attack. Basically. Ancient Babylon “sat” on those waters. So too does Babylon The Great use her many waters that she sits on, her billions of adherents and members, for protection and support. But this religious harlots waters are being dried up, drained away in preparation for her attack and destruction.
Revelation 15:5-7 describes seven angels that were given seven bowls "that were full of the anger of God." They then were told, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the anger of God into the earth." (Rev.16:1) The seven angels then accomplish their tasks. The first pouring out his bowl into the earth, the second into the sea, the third into the rivers and fountains of water, the fourth upon the sun, the fifth upon the throne of the Wild Beast, the sixth poured out his bowl into the Euphrates River, and the seventh into the air.
The sixth angel that poured out his bowl into the Euphrates River should be of special interest. Why? Well, remember the ancient literal city of Babylon is the prototype for Babylon The Great, and that city had the Euphrates River running right through it, with it's many canals running around and throughout the city.
On the night of October 5/6, 539 B.C.E, the night of Babylon's fall, the armies of Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Mede, are outside the city waiting to attack. But Babylon is supposedly the impregnable city! It is said that there was a food supply to feed the entire city for years if it were hemmed in an attack. And it's mammoth double walls were the biggest of there day! Much too thick to go through, and much too tall to scale. But, the Medo-Persian army engineers have devised a way to get into the city. They have found a way to divert the flow of the Euphrates River, thus lowering the waters in the moats and canals to such a low level, hip-high, that their army could walk on the river beds. (Isa. 44:27, 28) Then once over the bank they entered into the city through the gates along the quay. Taking the city by total surprise, they put the resident king Belshazzar to death, and the Babylonian world power ceased to exist.
Ancient Babylon's waters were dried up, evaporated, drained away for her destruction. The same goes for Babylon The Great today.
What was the effect of the angel pouring out his bowl into the Euphrates River? Revelation 16:12 says, "And the sixth one poured out his bowl upon the great River Euphrates and it's water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun." The affect of the bowl full of "the anger of God,” or his denunciations and judgments, dried up the river. The same thing happened to ancient Babylon's river and canals by Jehovah's decree, and he declares the same for Babylon The Great today. Since the waters Babylon The Great sits one mean "peoples and crowds and nations and tongues," the drying up of the Euphrates River from the angels bowl thus means that Babylon The Greats adherents and members are being drained away, dried up. The evidence of the shrinking religious interest and support is obvious for all the world to see.
[SIZE=4]HER WATERS WERE DRIED UP[/SIZE]
“In the nineteenth century almost all weddings were religious.” -It goes on though to say that by, 1971, only 60% of English were religious, and in 2000 it was only 31%. -God is Dead, Secularization in the West, by Steve Bruce. London’s Daily Telegraph said, “All the main denominations, from the Church of England and the Roman Catholics to the Methodists and the United Reformed Churches, are suffering from long term decline.”
The Dutch Social and Cultural Planning Office stated, “In recent decades, our country appears to have become decidedly more secularized...It is expected that by 2020, 72% of the population will not have any religious affiliation at all...Churches across the land are forced to close for lack of congregations.”
On May 26, 2004, CBN.com reported, "Boston Catholic Archdiocese Closes 65 Churches" "The Catholic Church will be closing 65 of its 357 churches in the Boston area. It is a major downsizing brought about, in part, by the sex abuse scandal in that archdiocese. Reverend Arnold Colletti read a letter about these closings to members of Sacred Heart Church in Lexington, Massachusetts, one of the churches being closed. Some of the members were visibly upset by the announcement. The Archbishop of Boston says the closings are necessary because of declining attendance and a shortage of priests..." The Bangkok Post of September 1987 says, "A nation wide survey found that 75 per cent of those who live in municipal areas [of Thailand] do not go to Buddhist temples to listen to sermons at all, while the number in the countryside who visit the temples is steadily declining to about fifty per cent."-Page 4.
On the cover of Newsweek, July 29th, 1999, it asked, "Is God Dead?"
In 1999 Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey said that the Church of England was "one generation away from extinction."
In less than a century the number of priests in France had fallen dramatically from 14 priests per 10,000 people to 1 per 10,000 people today. The Archbishop of Rennes, Jacques Jullien said, "The shortage of priests is our number one problem...No priests mean no church."
Two of the nations oldest religious magazines, American Baptist and Christian Herald, have ceased publication," reports an Associated Press dispatch, "Both the 115 year old Christian Herald started in 1878 and based in Chappaqua, N.Y., and the 189 year old American Baptist, whose antecedent magazine stared in 1803, cited declining circulation."
~*It is of interest to note that the Watchtower Magazine of Jehovah's Witnesses was started in 1879 with a circulation of 6,000 copies in English. It is still going strong and as of 2007 has a circulation of 28,578,000 printed in 161 languages. It is the most known and most circulated religious magazine in the world. And its companion magazine, Awake!, has a circulation of 34,267,000, printed in 81 languages.*~
A priest quoted by the Paris daily, Le Figqro, said, "Church attendance is about nil. Every morning I say Mass for sparrows and spiders." Awake! magazine of August 8th, 1999 said, "The Sunday Times of London reported that 1,500 Britons are abandoning mainstream churches every week. The Roman Catholic Church has lost some 600,000 attenders since 1980, and the Church of England-still "hemorrhaging" 600 each week-has fewer than one million at it's services, less than half the attenders of 50 years ago."
"The magic has gone out of Taoism in the land of China where it was founded some two millennia ago...Deprived of the magical devices by which they and their predecessors used to gain large followings, members of the priesthood find themselves without successors, facing the virtual extinction of Taoism as an organized faith on the mainland."-The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Sept. 12th, 1982, pg. 36-A. The New York Times of May 11th, 1987 said, "Nearly 2,000 of the 16,000 Anglican churches have been closed because of disuse. Attendance has fallen to among the lowest of avowedly Christian countries during the past three decades."-Page A4.
In 1998 the newspaper De Telegraf carried the headline, "Ice Age Sets In for the Church." It said, "Nobody is startled any more when a church is demolished. Church attendance is decreasing in a frightening way. This is true not only in Catholicism, but also of the reformed and Caluinistic churches. If this secularization continues, within a few generations, nobody will attend church any more." Hemet News, Sept. 23, 2006 said under the headline, "Southern Baptist Head Calls For Unity." It went on to read, "The new president of the Southern Baptist convention is calling for unity as divisions surface over the future of the denomination..."There are factions across our convention now...that are so distinct , so despairing, that there is literally no fellowship within some of the groups," said Page, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C....He urged the 16.3 million Southern Baptists to look outward instead of focusing on internal issues. “Too many Southern Baptists churches in the United States have stagnating or declining membership,” Page said..."If we do not start asking the question about relevancy, than we are going to lose it all," Page said. "And it is going to be a moot point, for our churches will die."
A "shortage in clergy" has spread from rural areas in the United States to the large cities, states the New York Times. Citing the example of a 110-year old synagogue that has tried in vain for over three years to attract a rabbi, the article states, "The temples plight is not unusual. Not only are synagogues finding it increasingly difficult to hire clergy members, so too are Roman Catholic and Protestant churches." Parish priests have decreased by 12 percent from 1992 to 1997. A spokesman for the Episcopal Church calls their situation grave, with fewer than 300 of the 15,000 members of the clergy born after 1964. Over 22 percent of Reform Judaism congregations do not have a full time rabbi. Only five years ago, there were more rabbis than synagogues. ... Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, president of Hebrew Union College warns, "Unless we somehow increase the number of those choosing religious professional life, ultimately this will be a disaster for organized religious life."-New York Times & Awake! Magazine Sept. 22, 2000
Speaking of the demise of the Unitarians of Britian, of which has only 6,000 members, over half of which are over 65 years of age, The Times of London stated, "One of Britain's oldest denominations...is in terminal decline and will be extinct within decades." -Awake! Magazine, May 8, 2005.
This is just a scant few of the many, many reports in magazines, newspapers and televised news from the world over of Babylon The Great's waters, her members, being drained away.
~*It is of interest to note that Jehovah's Witnesses are losing no members like this. In fact, they are growing at an astounding rate. Due to Jehovah's blessing, they are only growing. From 3,000,000 in 1988 to almost 7,000,000 as of 2007, with close to 100,000 congregations spread all over the earth! And each year over 6,000,000 in home Bible studies are conducted.*~
Well, what of the supposed growth in the churches of Christendom we have been hearing so much about? All one need to do is stand back and look at the real picture. Attend a convention of say, the famous preacher Benny Hin, and one is counted as a convert. Just send in a card saying you’ve accepted Jesus, and your counted as a convert. Most churches, in view of their fast decline, are starting to offer entertainment to attract potential members. Mega-churches offer restaurants, cafes, beauty salons, saunas, sports facilities, theater, visiting celebrities, and jazzed up music services, featuring live performers, light shows and pyrotechnics. The 2005 issue of Newsweek magazine commented on the popularity of “hollering, swooning, foot-stomping services.” It also pointed out, “Whatever is going on here, its not an explosion of people going to church.”[Underline Mine]
The “explosion” of people going to church, is not really to be spiritual but, to be entertained, to see a good show. The people enjoying these shows simply for entertainment are counted as converts, people of the flock of Christendom. When the Scriptures speak of Babylon The Great’s waters, her members, being drained away, it speaks of her loyal, die hard supporters, and these are being drained away. When the time comes for her annihilation, the wishy-washy, half-hearted people now being counted as growth, will be no more of a problem than the hip-high water for the Medo-Persian army. They will simply vanish when Babylon The Greats judgment arrives!
[SIZE=4]HER DESTRUCTION IS NEAR[/SIZE]
Jehovah is clearing the way for Babylon The Great's destruction before Armageddon. He is taking away the opposition to her destruction "that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun" to use the earth's political powers to remove Babylon The Great. However, who are these two “kings from the rising of the sun"? Remember that Jehovah used Darius and Cyrus to end the Babylonian world power. (Isa. 44:28) When marching upon the city, these two kings came from the east, the side of the earth the sun appears to rise from. But, who are these kings today? They are none other than Jehovah God and His Son Jesus Christ! They are the "kings from the rising of the sun" who will use the United Nations Organization and it's member nations to destroy Babylon The Great! For God will "put it into their hearts to carry out His thought..." (Rev. 17:16, 17)Yes, Jehovah and Jesus are cleverly removing a huge obstacle in order that they may use the nations of the earth to carry out his righteous judgments!
Not only is she a harlot herself but, she is the mother of them, and these are in Jehovah's eyes, disgusting things. Revelation 17:5 says, “And upon her forehead was written an name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.” Yes indeed this is a mystery. It is not easy at first glance to identify Babylon The Great. As if a clue to the mystery of the harlot, her very name is written upon her forehead. In ancient times, those belonging to certain religious organizations would have the name of their god or their temple written on their forehead. Roman author Seneca said of an errant priestess, “You stood, girl, in the house of ill repute...your name hung from your forehead; you accepted money for your dishonor.”(Controv. I, 2; As quoted by Swete)
All of the individual false religions of the world, including sects of Christendom, are like her daughters, imitating her in committing spiritual harlotry. Babylon The Great is also the "mother of the harlots" in that she has given birth to the pagan beliefs, practices and traditions that permeate all the false religions of the world today. Belief in life after death, (Rom. 3:23; Ezek. 18:4; Eccl. 9:5, 10) talking to spirits, (Deut. 18:10-12; Lev. 20:27) using of images and icons in worship, (Ex. 20:4,5; 1 John 5:21) worshiping other saints, gods and goddesses, (Ex. 20:2,3) temple prostitution, (Ex. 20:14; 1 Cor. 6:18, & 10:8) human sacrifice, (Ex. 20:4,5) and more God-dishonoring beliefs. (2 Cor. 6:14-16) Notice too that all of these go against Divine Law. It should tell you of the one who originated them, Satan the Devil, the "father of the lie." (John 8:44) This is why it is so disgusting in Jehovah's eyes and why the warning is given, "Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues." (Rev.18:4)
Not only do all the religions that make up Babylon The Great have these beliefs in them, but Christendom as well. Her adherents can blindly deny the truth, or, even worse, as many do, know these things and continue practicing them! Indicating the non-Christian origin of many of apostate Christendom's doctrines, ceremonies, and practices, 19th Century Roman Catholic cardinal John Henry Newman wrote in his book, Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, ornamented on occasions with branches of tree's; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylum; holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastic chant, and the Kyrie Eleison [the song, "Lord, Have Mercy"] are ALL of PAGAN origin, and sanctified by there ADOPTION into the church." [caps mine]
[SIZE=4]“DISGUSTING THINGS OF THE EARTH”[/SIZE]
Lets delve more deeply into the pagan Babylonian origin of today’s religious practices.
"Essentially, All Souls is the adaption of an almost worldwide custom of setting aside a part of the year (usually the last part) for the dead. The Babylonians reserved a monthly Feast of All Souls in which sacrifices were made by priests. The Greek commemorative feast of All Souls was held on the last day of the Anthesteria; the Romans celebrated theirs during the Parentalia, which fell on Feb. 13-21, the end of the Roman year. The Buddhist Feast of the Dead is celebrated on April 15, the date of the death of Buddha and his attainment to Buddhahood. In China and Japan the ceremony in honor of the dead is known as the Feast of Lanterns. In many Catholic countries the belief that the dead return on this day is so strong that food is left on the tables (Tirol, Italy) and people (France, Italy, Germany) still decorate the graves of their dead."-Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend (New York; 1949), Vol. 1. pg. 38.
"Most of the Christmas customs now prevailing in Europe, [now the whole world] or recorded from former times, are not genuine Christian customs, but heathen customs which have been absorbed or tolerated by the Church...The Saturnalia in Rome provided the model for most of the merry customs of the Christmas time..."-Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh; 1911), edited by James Hastings, Vol. 3. pg. 608, 609.
"A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life in the early spring...The rabbit is a pagan symbol symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility,"-The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York; 1909),Vol. 5, pg. 227.
"The distinction between priest and layman is characteristic of this [Babylonian] religion."-The Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago; 1946) Vol. 2. pg. 861.
"Church and State [in ancient Babylon] were so inextricably mingled that while the State has to be regarded as a theocracy the Church must in part at least must be judged as a political institution and the state religion as a political instrument."-The Sumerians (Oxfard; 1929), C. Leonard Wooley, pg. 129.
Archaeologist Robert Koldewey, leader in excavation of the ruins of Babylon (from 1898-1917) said, "Once I saw the silver image, larger than life, of the Virgin Mary laden with rings, precious stones, gold, and silver as votive offerings, being carried by fourteen men on a litter out through the portal of the Syracuse Cathedral. It seemed to float high over the heads of the teeming throng as it was brought forth to the accompaniment of ecstatic music and the crowds stormy prayers, into the Gardens of the Stonecutters. A procession of the god Marduk, I think, must have look the same when the god was carried in triumph out of E-sagila, perhaps through the peribolos (enclosed court) and along the great Procession Street [of Babylon]."-As quoted from Gods, Graves and Scholars (New York; 1954), C.W. Ceram, pg. 296, 297.
“The Chaldeans [Babylonian's] made great progress in the study of astronomy in an effort to discover the future in the stars. This art we call 'astrology.'...The group of stars which now bear the name 'Twelve Signs of the Zodiac' were mapped out for the first time, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were known. Since these planets were thought to have special powers over the lives of men, they were named for the five leading gods and goddesses. We refer to these planets by their Roman names, but the Romans had adopted the Babylonian terms and simply translated them into their equivalents in Rome. Thus the planet of Ishtar, the goddess of love, became Venus, and that of the god Marduk was changed to Jupiter."-The Dawn of Civilization and Life in the Ancient East (Chicago; 1938), Robert M. Engberg and Fay-Cooper Cole, pg. 230-232.
"In the sphere of ritual and religion there are many details which are taken direct from Mesopotamia, and the whole feeling and atmosphere are purely oriental. the most striking identities are in the practices of divination and augury; for the custom of divining from the livers of sheep or the flight of birds is purely Chaldean."-The Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago; 1946), Vol. 8, pg. 786.
"After death the souls of men were supposed to continue in existence. It can hardly be called life. The place to which they have gone is called the 'land of no return.' There they lived in dark rooms covered with a garment of feathers, and under domination of Nergal and Ereshkigal. When the soul arrived among the dead he had to pass judgment before the judge of the dead."-The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1960), Vol. 1, pg. 373.
"Advantageous as is Babylon's geographical position, other factors helped to make her a dominate city for a long period. Throughout the whole history of Mesopotamia, ancient as well as modern, religion has played an important part in giving prestige and power to a city. In Mesopotamia from the time of Hammurabi onwards the worship of Marduk was specially associated with Babylon. The priesthood acquired considerable power, and even the kings of Assyria found it politic to receive what was practically a coronation rite in Babylon." -The Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago; 1946), Vol. 2, pg. 841
"Sumerian civilization [which embraced Babylon] was largely dominated by priests; at the head of the state was the lugal (literally 'great man'), the representative of the gods. Sumerian religion was polytheistic."-The Encyclopedia Americana (New York; 1956), Vol. 3, pg. 8.
"In the ancient world...Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Babylonian religion...In Persia, the Mithra cult reveals the unmistakable influence of Babylonian conceptions; and if it be recalled what a degree of importance the mysteries connected with the cult acquired among the Romans, another link will be added connecting the ramifications of ancient culture with the civilization of the Euphrates Valley. The strong admixture of Semitic elements both in early Greek mythology and in Greecian cults is now so generally admitted by scholars as to require no further comment. These Semitic elements are to a large extent more specifically Babylonian."-Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston; 1898), Morris Jastrow, Jr., pp. 699, 700.
"The researches of modern writers...uniformity regard Babylon as the cradle of the ancient Paganism."-The Worship of the Dead (London; 1904), Colonel J. Garnier, pg. 8.
"It was from Babylonia that the Assyrians had brought their religion...Their gods were the gods of Babylonia."-The Races of the Old Testament (London; 1891) A.H. Sayce, pg. 60.
"By the side of their depravity, the Babylonians were the most religious people of antiquity."-Nebuchadnezzar (London; 1931), G.R. Tabouis, pg. 364, based on La Religion assyro-babylonienne (Paris; 1910), Paul Dhorme, pg. 220 ff.
Cuneiform inscription "Altogether there are in Babylon 53 temples to the chief gods, 55 chapels of Marduk, 300 chapels for the earthly deities, 180 altars for the goddess Ishtar, 180 for the gods Nergal and Adad and 12 other altars for different gods."-The Bible As History (New York; 1956), Werner Keller, pg. 299.
"The shape of the [two-beamed cross] had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd century A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ."—An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (London, 1962), W. E. Vine, p. 256. The Ancient Church by clergyman W. D. Killen says, on page 316: "From the most remote antiquity the cross was venerated in Egypt and Syria; it was held in equal honour by the Buddhists of the East; and, what is still more extraordinary, when the Spaniards first visited America, the well-known sign was found among the objects of worship in the idol temples of Anahuac. It is also remarkable that, about the commencement of our era, the pagans were wont to make the sign of a cross upon the forehead in the celebration of some of their sacred mysteries."
Author Baring-Gould in his book Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: "In the state of Oaxaca [Mexico], the Spaniards found that wooden crosses were erected as sacred symbols . . . In South America, the same sign was considered symbolical and sacred. It was revered in Paraguay. In Peru the Incas honored a cross made out of a single piece of jasper . . . Among the Muyscas at Cumana, the cross . . . was believed to be endued with power to drive away evil spirits; consequently new-born children were placed under the sign."
[SIZE=4]AN INTOXICATING DRINK[/SIZE]
Why does one see the ancient Babylonian religious beliefs and customs in all the cultures of the world? It is because when those who were building the ancient tower of Babel were scattered and traveled the world, they took all of their religious beliefs with them. (It is of interest to note that nearly all ancient civilizations built their own types of pyramids, because their forefathers had taken the design of the ziggurat-the Tower of Babel-with them) Revelation 17:4, goes on to say that Babylon The Great "...had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication." This is the cup containing "the wine of the anger of her fornication" with which she made the nations drunk (Rev. 14:8; 17:2.) The 'cup' looks rich on the outside, but its contents are disgusting and unclean. (Compare Matt. 23:25, 26) It contains all the filthy practices and lies that Babylon The Great has used to seduce the nations, and bring them under her influence. As if her cup wasn't full enough of her abominations, she is, "...drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." (Rev.17:6a) Yes, under the direction of Satan, Babylon The Great’s leaders and members have persecuted and even killed many, many true servants of Jehovah and Jesus. </I>-Rev.17:6a
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PARTS 4-10 COMING LATER
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Babylon The Great, Study 1
