What evidence is there that revalation's babylon the great is christindom?

by highdose 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  highdose

  I seem to recall that the Jw evidence for this is very thin on the ground. They take one phrase about the "bride and bridegroom"never being heard again, and say that shows it must mean christidom. But thats one line out of an entire stream of discription that quite frankly could be about anything. If it was Christindom then why not write somthing about them not being able to seek god through BTG anymore etc??? I mean the writer gos to great lengths to discribe the aspects of this babylon the great, why not discribe what Christidom actualy does?

  Feel free to correct me if you like. I just remember quickly scanning that swathe of scriptures to find that one line to show "see that means its the churches of the world!"
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  cantleave

  None!!!!!!

  In actual fact the WTS says it is the whole of "false religion" including Christendom.
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  mf6

  IMO there is no "Christendom" as the WTBS describes it. There are so many groups believing so many different things.

  I wouldn't take anything the WTBS says as unbiased.

  mf6
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  Mr. Falcon

  that's an very interesting question. While "Christendom-bashing" will forever remain a favorite pastime of the JWs, officially they have been kind of silent lately about many of the Revelation prophecies and who they represent. Kind of like how they've been quiet about how America is this 2nd wild beast with lamb horns who spits up frogs (I knew a girl in high-school who matched that description, but I digress.)

  This is just my wondering but perhaps maybe they are a little more officially reserved because of all the skeletons that lately have been piling up in their own closets? Abuse scandals, corporate profits, UN affiliation, etc. If I were them I would lay low about the "straw in everyone else's eye".
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  PSacramento

  When Revelation was being written, Babylon was the name used by Christians to refer to Rome ( Roman Emire).

  Taking it beyond that is going beyond what was written.

  At best, what one MAY do, is see that since Babylon referred to Rome then to view it in a future prospect it would have to refer to another "World Empire" and while the JW's may want to think that empire is "Christendom", it most certianly is not.

  No one will ever confuse christendom with the Roman Empire, LOL !
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  TD

  Imperial Rome was personified into a godess and worshipped. One of the first temples to Dea Roma was established in Smyrna in the 2nd century B.C. After the death of Julius Caesar, worship of Roma was absorbed into the imperial cult, (i.e. Worship of Caesar) as a political device to cement the loyalty of outlying provinces.

  Rome was already regarded as a "Second Babylon" by the Jews and under Roman domination they absolutely despised the godess Dea Roma.

  In that regard, the Dea Roma coin, which depicted the godess seated by the Tiber on the seven hills of Rome and the imagery of the harlot in Revelation 17 are striking to any impartial reader.
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  undercover

  The definition of Christendom outside the JW world:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom

  Christendom, [ 1 ] or the Christian world, [ 2 ] has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. In a historical or geopolitical sense the term usually refers collectively to Christian majority countries or countries in which Christianity dominates [ 1 ] or was a territorial phenomenon.

  The WT definition (as defined in the July 15th, 2011 WT for dummies):

  "Christendom: Religions that call themselves Christian but that do not follow the teachings of Christ"
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  sabastious

  When I read the verses in question they scream, to me, as a description of the historical relationship of Church and State; an ancient concept not a prophecy.

  -Sab
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  stapler99

  They identify it as "the world empire of false religion", unsurprisingly with no good evidence.

  They claim that false religion spread out from Babylon (maybe after the confusion of the languages). They say that similarities between religions in different parts of the world prove this. I doubt this would hold up to scrutiny. Similarities between religions are not surprising.