BABYLON’S NEW HOME
This review of the history of Babylon exposes her principles and tactics. Babylon is a religious system that contains elements of truth mixed with error, but which is at a most basic level hostile and rebellious against the revealed will of God. Religious Babyon seduces the followers of God to incorporate her pagan gods and enchanting rituals, and uses an aggressive state to capture, enslave and destroy God's people. The ancient city of Babylon disintegrated, but the mystery religion of Babylon did not fade away. Peter, sending greetings from the Christian Church in Rome, wrote “She who is in Babylon,[1] elect together with you, greets you” (1 Peter 5:13). By Peter’s time pagan Rome had become the new Babylonian.
"As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world their policy in general was to absorb the deities and cults of other peoples rather than try to eradicate them, since they believed that preserving tradition promoted social stability. One way that Rome incorporated diverse people was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of the Roman religion...By the height of the empire numerous international deities were cultifvated at Rome...amongh them Cybele, Isis, Epona, Mithras and Sol Invictus."[2]
The college of pontiffs, headed by the Pontifex Maximus, was responsible for the oversight of all the religions in the empire. "The pontifex was not simply a priest; he had both political and religious authority...The main duty of the pontifices was to maintain the pax deorum or "peace of the gods."[3] Even when the Roman empire became "Christian" with the "conversion" of Constantine, the emporor retained this pagan title. "Constantine showed equal favour to both religions. As Pontifex Maximus he watched over the heathen worship and protected its rights...Shortly before his death Constantine confirmed the privileges of the priests of the ancient gods."[4]
Continue to next section: BABYLON INVADES THE CHURCH
[1] "Babylon...allegorically, of Rome, as the most corrupt seat of idolatry and the enemy of Christianity" Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Bibleworks L.L.C. 1992-2001
[2] Wikipedia contributors, "Religion in Ancient Rome," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religion in ancient Rome&oldid=623982353 (accessed September 16, 2014)
[3] Wikipedia contributors, "Pontifex Maximus," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipediaorg/w/index.php?title=PontifexMaximus&oldid=23830252 (accessed September 16, 2014).
[4] Charles Herbermann and Georg Grupp. "Constantine the Great" The Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295chtm (accessed September 16, 2014).