Mat
23:9 NKJ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He
who is in heaven.
The
bishops of the Church of England provided us with good guidance in the document
which declared their independence from Rome.
They
simply stated that the Bishop of Rome was entitled to no more respect within
the realm of England than any other foreign bishop.
"That
Great City, Mystery, Babylon the Great: The Inhabitants of the Earth Have Been
Made Drunk from the Wine of Her Fornication. (Rev. 17:18,5,2)" - In Two Cities
web log.
From
a forum thread: Me:- The great city,
mystery Babylon, is the international mercantile system.
K:- I am going to disagree only because we see
the collapse of the money system in Revelation and then read the fall of
Babylon as a separate event. Also,
Babylon is called a city. It has to be a
seat of great power. Spurgeon said
during the time of John's vision that it was believed the Catholic church was
the Antichrist. Now, I doubt I agree
with Spurgeon to that extent but I do agree that Babylon is Rome unless someone
can show me a better understanding of it.
Me:-
Thanks for the prompt and thoughtful response.
The
bitter division of Christendom in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation gave
rise to a lot of over the top interpretations of scripture and accusations of
bad behavior on both sides. These have only recently begun to dissipate.
In
Luther's time the de facto authority of the Bishop of Rome was heavy throughout
Western Christendom. There was some excuse for connecting the Bishop of Rome
with the Scarlet Harlot of Rome. But this was a temporary state, the so called
golden age of the papacy when a nation's churches and sacraments could be shut
down until its king agreed to be whipped for the instigation of the murder of
an archbishop.
The
antagonism of the great colonizing nations of Spurgeon's time in regard to
missionary activity and an unhealthy mix of religion and politics and state
religions sustained the easy but over hasty identification of the Rome of
Revelation 17 with the Bishop of Rome and his inordinate claims of authority.
The
bishops of the Church of England provided us with good guidance in the document
which declared their independence from Rome.
They
simply stated that the Bishop of Rome was entitled to no more respect within
the realm of England than any other foreign bishop.
(All
the bishops signed except John Fisher of Rochester. He was terminated with
prejudice and with due process of ecclesiastical and civil law. After an
appropriate interval the martyred Fisher was canonized by the Bishop of Rome in the early 20th
century.)
British
policy and American colonial policy was much more anti-papal than anti-Roman
Catholic. (We would do well today to be anti-mullah rather than anti-Muslim.)
Interestingly,
London, in Spurgeon's time was a better candidate for mystery Babylon than
Rome. It was the financial center of the world and the international reach of
its financial operations was supported by the Empire on which the sun never set
and the Navy that ruled the waves of every ocean without a serious rival, as
well by their commercial branches in the lesser commercial centers of the
nations of the world. The City of London, was and is. a separate jurisdiction.
The London City Police are separate from the Metropolitan Police. Much as the
U. S. Capital police are separate from the District of Columbia police. An
inner city that runs a world or a nation in governmental or financial affairs
has its prerogatives. And a financial center with its worldwide outposts and
influence is a mystery city.
And
the word "mystery" is key. It explains the persistence of mystery
Babylon when there was no imperial predecessor of the anti-Christ to carry it.
It has been carried by all the commercially interconnected governing powers of
the world.
I2C 131228a Mat 23v9 Bishop of Rome / I2C / 131228
1706 / Matt. 23:9 Bishop of Rome
