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And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “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. (Revelation 18:4)
An article on Wikipedia states:
“Historicist interpreters commonly used the phrase “Whore of Babylon” to refer to the Catholic Church. Reformation writers Martin Luther (1483–1546, author of On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church), John Calvin (1509–1564), and John Knox (1510–1572, author of The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women) taught this association.
Most early Protestant Reformers believed, and the modern Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches, that in Bible prophecy a woman represents a church. The connection noted on the seven hills of Rome is argued to locate the church.
Identification of the Pope as the Antichrist was written into Protestant creeds such as the Westminster Confession of 1646. The identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon is kept in the Scofield Reference Bible (whose 1917 edition identified “ecclesiastical Babylon” with “apostate Christendom headed by the Papacy”). An image from the 1545 edition of Luther’s Bible depicts the Whore as wearing the papal tiara.
Latter-day Saint view
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) views the Whore of Babylon and its Book of Mormon equivalent, the “great and abominable church”, as having dominion over the entire earth and representing a powerful collection of groups and carnal individuals seeking wealth, sexual immorality, dominion, and the persecution or death of saints. The Whore of Babylon, or the Devil’s Church, consists of all organisations not associated with the followers of Christ or that are against his followers. Ultimately, the Whore of Babylon’s fate is to be destroyed in the last days.
Seventh-day Adventist view
Seventh-day Adventists believe that the whore of Babylon represents the fallen state of traditional Christianity, especially the fallen state of Christianity in the Catholic Church. Other churches (predominantly Protestant) are generally considered either part of the harlot or her daughters. Adventists further hold the view that the persecution of the “saints” in Revelation 17:6 represents the persecution of believers who rejected the doctrines which were introduced by the Roman Catholic Church because they were based on pagan Roman beliefs. The Persecution of anyone who opposed the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages, especially by the Inquisition, and the persecution of the Waldensians and the Huguenots are cited as examples of this persecution.
Seventh-day Adventists interpret Revelation 17:18 as a prophecy about the false church, which has power over the kings of the earth. They consider the pope to be in apostasy for allowing pagan rituals, beliefs and ceremonies to come into the church. They consider the Papacy, as a continuation of the Roman Empire, to be a fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:7: “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”
Ellen G. White’s The Great Controversy (1858) states that “Spiritual Babylon” would have worldwide influence, affecting “all nations”, that the Imperial Roman Empire could not meet the criteria, because she wrote that it only had influence in the Old World. Like many reformation-era Protestant leaders, her writings also describe the Catholic Church as a fallen church, and it plays a nefarious eschatological role as the antagonist against God’s true church and that the pope is the Antichrist.
Jehovah’s Witnesses view
Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose early teachings were strongly influenced by Adventism but have since diverged, believe that the Whore of Babylon represents “the world empire of false religion”, referring to all other religious groups including, but not limited to, Christendom. Jehovah’s Witnesses literature frequently refers to the “Great Harlot” of Babylon and the subsequent attack on her by the political powers, signaling the beginning of the “great tribulation”. They believe that the empire of false religion has persecuted God’s people, and that “false religion” has committed “fornication” with the world’s political and commercial elements, based on their interpretation of Revelation 17:1, 2 (Whore of Babylon From Wikipedia)
What all of these views depend upon is the ability to identify true Christians as being God’s people that he calls out of Babylon prior to her destruction. From the early Protestant Reformers to our modern day, each movement was an attempt at restoring first century Christianity as taught by the apostles. In order to accomplish this, each of these movements has placed doctrinal teachings as the primary means to separate true from false, right from wrong, heterodoxy from orthodoxy, wheat from weeds. By developing a unique body of interpretations of scripture as the only ones that are truly based on the Bible, they then feel justified in condemning all other groups that do not accept these as being apostate harlots and part of Babylon. They further feel justified to embark on a campaign, as if they were God’s appointed ministers, to call others out of Babylon before it is too late.
But did Jesus indicate that such would be the situation shortly before his return? Did he instruct his disciples to preach a message that consisted of warning persons to flee from false religion before the coming of Armageddon?
Something that may shed light on this is a consideration of how Jesus dealt with congregations that had problems, even false teachings in the first century.
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, by means of the apostle John, Jesus gave instructions to seven congregations. For example, note his instructions to Pergamum:
“‘Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, that you have there those adhering to the teaching of Baʹlaam, who taught Baʹlak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those adhering to the teaching of the sect of Nic·o·laʹus. (Revelation 2:14, 15)
To the congregation in Thyatira:
“‘Nevertheless, I do hold this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezʹe·bel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:20, 21)
Rather than instruct his faithful slaves to get out from among them and separate themselves, he promised to come and deal personally with those causing the disruptions.
So repent. If you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will war against them with the long sword of my mouth. (Revelation 2:16)
Look! I am about to throw her into a sickbed, and those committing adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with deadly plague, so that all the congregations will know that I am the one who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts, and I will give to you individually according to your deeds. (Revelation 2:22, 23)
It’s difficult to imagine that Jesus would act differently in the future. In fact his illustrations of both the wheat and the weeds and the dragnet powerfully indicate that he will deal with corruption among his people in the same way:
Then after dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples came to him and said: “Explain to us the illustration of the weeds in the field.” In response he said: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; the field is the world. As for the fine seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out from his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and people who practice lawlessness, and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be. At that time the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears listen. (Matthew 13:36-43)
For more on this subject, please see the article Who Are the True Worshipers?