Babylon is not the Symbolic CIty of False Religion.

by proplog2 73 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  binadub

  .

  Hello, Proplog2:

  Long time no chat. You seem to have come a way since we last corresponded. ;-D))))

  Your subject is one near and dear to my heart. I have discussed it numerous times on the Internet and many times before.

  You see, this subject was probably the main point of contention I had with the Watchtower religion while I was struggling to believe it for years. But when the book Babylon the Great was published, it was the first time I knew consciously that I definitely disagreed with the Watchtower on a doctrine. It was a biggee in waking me up from "The Lie".

  Mine was simply by reading the chapter on Babylon the Great.
  Without going into what I believe "she" is, let me simply point out that by reading Chapter 18, it has always seemed very clear to me that Babylon the Great has nothing whatsoever to do with religion. She is not about religion. I used to argue that with overseers before and even got warned one time that "you might be right--but you could be disfellowshipped for 'getting ahead of the organization'."

  Question: If religion fell the world over tomorrow, would the merchants be weeping and waling? Would they care?

  I could write a book on my discussions and arguments on this topic. What's amazing is that the WTS is not the only religious denomination that makes the absurd interpretation that Babylon the Great is religion.

  I am a "partial Preterist", but I do not agree with their interpretation that Babylon the Great was solely Rome.

  ~Ros
  (Sorry for the other pseudonym. I used to have two--ros and binadub. They stopped letting us have more than one and I got binadub. :-))
• 

  proplog2

  Ros? (Channel C?)

  I think we have talked about Babylon the Great. This has been an irritant for me since 1980.

  It was really hard to sit through the book study tonight listening to the conductor extoll the logic of the Watchtowers explanation of Babylon the Great.
• 

  binadub

  I'm not surprised if we have talked about Babylon the Great.
  It's one of my favorite topics that I disagree with just about every religion I know of--except the WWCoG.

  The Worldwide Church of God, before its reform, used to teach the same as the Watchtower--that it was "false religion."
  I knew that. I had an occasion to be seated for lunch next to the WWCoG organization treasurer and a professor at their college, and we had a brief discussion about why I had left Jehovah's Witnesses. Knowing they had the same teaching :-))), I told him that one of the reasons was my disagreement with their interpretation of Babylon the Great as "false religion." He asked me what I thought it was and I told him.

  I will never know whether our conversation was an influence, but within a year they had a new publication out titled "Babylon the Great" and it explained in far more elaborate detail and graphics what I had discussed with their Treasurer-Business Manager (i.e., high member of their GB). I still have three copies of that publication, but I don't know what their teaching is on it now.

  ~Ros
• 

  LittleToe

  Hey, Ros,

  I'm afraid I didn't realise it was you!

  {{{hugs}}}

  Ross.
• 

  a Christian

  Babylon was the nation that held the Jews, God's people in the 6th Century BC, in bondage.

  Who enslaves God's people, Christians, today? A former JW should have no trouble answering such a question.

  The obvious answer is the thousands of legalistic so-called "Christian" sects which now make up "Christianity." And they do so on a Grand (make that "Great" ) scale. They now enslave the hearts and minds, to a greater or lessor degree, of some two billion people. And they do so, to a greater or lesser degree, in every nation on earth.
  
  Though the ancient nation of Babylon was primarily a political entity and the bondage it imposed upon the Jewish people was primarily one of physical and geographical restraint, Babylon the Great binds God's modern people in a different way. It robs them of their Christian freedom.

  By telling Christians what they must think, what they must do, what they must believe, how they must act, where, how and when they must worship God, etc., etc., the "Christian" Churches of this world enslave God's people, Christians, today just as effectively as Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon enslaved God's people, the Jews, in the 6th Century BC.
• 

  proplog2

  A Christian:

  How would the destruction of the "thousands of legalistic so-called "Christian" sects which now make up Christianity" wreck the business of those involved in world trade?
• 

  binadub

  Hi, LittleToe:

  I'm afraid I didn't realise it was you!

  Yes, I used to have two posting names. I just like the handle "binadub". So when I asked what happened, they deleted "Ros" and gave me back "binadub"--so that's the way I left it. :-)

  I haven't been around here too much for a while, so I didn't know until this thread that you are Ross. (Nice name. :-)))))))

  {{{hugs}}}

  Ross.

  {{{Back atcha! }}}

  Blessings,
  ~Ros
• 

  Satanus

  A christian

  Haven't seen you for a while.

  That is an interesting take on it. I guess, since i am free of christendom, that means that i am freed from babylon.

  S
• 

  a Christian

  Hi Prop,

  You asked: How would the destruction of the "thousands of legalistic so-called "Christian" sects which now make up Christianity" wreck the business of those involved in world trade?

  I assume you refer to Rev. 18. There we read: 11 "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. I believe organized Christianity will one day be outlawed worldwide, probably as part of a global ban on all religious activity, a ban which will in all likelihood be prompted by the terrorist acts of religious extremists. However, I believe Revelation deals only with events which will befall the "Christian" world, a world which in population now - according to "The World Almanac" - amounts to almost exactly "a third of the [entire] world" (Rev. 8:7,8,9,10,11,12; 9:15,18) When this happens many merchants will certainly "weep and mourn." Not just those merchants who are in the midst of selling various church organizations supplies to build their many cathedrals and mega-churches, ("every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble"). But also merchants who are then regularly selling church organizations all of the other kinds of things mentioned in Rev. 18, which they are then buying to make use of during their religious services and missions works. Satanus, You wrote: Haven't seen you for a while. I have had little time to spend on the Net lately. You wrote: I guess, since i am free of christendom, that means that i am freed from babylon. Yup. But sometimes freedom can be a dangerous thing. I hope you are using yours wisely. : ) Mike
• 

  Satanus

  Welcome back, a christian. You sound worried, like maybe i have too much freedom.

  S