Babylon the Great

 Relief regarding death: "Neither the people nor the leaders of religious thought  [in Babylon] ever faced the possibility of the total annihilation of  what once was called into existence. Death was a passage to another kind of life. - The Religion of Babylon and Assyria, p. 556.

Position of the priesthood: "The distinction between priest and layman is characteristic of this [Babylonian  religion" - Encyclopedia Britannica (1948), Vol 2, p.861.

Practice of astrology, divination, magic, and sorcery: Historian A.H. Sayce  writes:  "[In] the religion of ancient Babylonia . . . every object and force of nature was supposed to have its zi or spirit, who could be controlled by the magical exorcisms  of the Shaman, or sorcerer-priest." (The History of Nations, New York, 1928, Vol.1, p. 96)  "The Chaldeans [Babylonians] made great progress in the study of astronomy through an effort to discover the future in the stars. This art called 'astrology." - The Dawn of Civilization and life in the Ancient East (Chicago,, 1938), R,M. Engberg, p. 230. 

Babylon the Great is like and immoral harlot, one living in shameless luxury

Revelation 17:1-5 says:  "Come and I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters [peoples], with whom the kings [political rulers] of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.' . . . And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery:  "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth." (Revelation 18:7 adds that  "she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury. 

Is it not true that the dominant religious organizations have made it a practice to consort with political rulers for power and material gain, though this has resulted in suffering for the common people?  Is is not also true that their higher clergy live in luxury. even though many of the people to whom they should minister may be impoverished?

Next time: Babylon the Great -Continued

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