An Appalling Bloodguilt

in conclusion, the strong angel tells why Jehovah judges Babylon the Great so severely. "Yes, says the angel, "in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth." (Revelation 18:24) When on earth, Jesus told the religious leader in Jerusalem that they were accountable for "all the righteous blood spilled on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel" onward. Accordingly, that crooked generation was destroyed in 70 C.E. (Matthew 23:35-38) Today, another generation of religionists bears blood guilt for its persecution of God's servants.

In his book The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany, Guenter Lewy writes: "When Jehovah's Witnesses were suppressed in Bavaria on April 13 [1933] the Church even accepted the assignment given it by the Ministry of Education and Religion of reporting on any member of the sect still practicing the forbidden religion." The Catholic Church thus shares responsibility for consigning thousands of Witnesses to concentration camps, its hands are stained by the lifeblood of hundreds of Witnesses who were executed. When young Witnesses, such as Wilhelm Kusserow, showed that they could die courageously by a firing squad, Hitler decided that the firing squad was too good for conscientious objectors; so Wilhelm's brother Wolfgang, at 20 years of age died by the guillotine. At the same time, the Catholic Church was encouraging young German Catholics to die in the army of the fatherland. The blood guilt of the church is plain to see!

However, the prophecy says that the blood of "all those who have been slaughtered on the earth" must be charged to Babylon the Great. That has certainly been true in modern times. For example, since Catholic intrigue helped to bring Hitler to power in Germany, the Vatican shares in a terrible blood guilt with regard to the six million Jews that died in Nazi programs. Further, in this 20th century alone, well over a hundred million people have been killed in hundreds of wars. Is false religion to blame in this connection? Yes, in two ways.

Next time: Continue with An Appalling Blood guilt

Revelation Its Grand Climax At Hand! Watchtower Bible And Tract Society, 1988