Here we examine the descriptions of the Whore of Babylon as described in Revelation 14, 17 and 18. We examine the main contenders for the title, and eventually conclude that Rome, despite some historical evidence, has never met the criteria established in Revelation.

The Vatican has long been touted as the Whore of Babylon. This has been advocated for hundreds of years. Can the Biblical descriptions of the Whore be be legitimately applied to the Roman Catholic Church?

UPDATE: If you wish to see the evidence that Jerusalem is the Whore, click here:

Almost no one considers the Whore of Babylon to literally be Babylon rebuilt. The reason is simple: the Whore of Babylon must meet the criteria at the time of fulfillment. So despite Babylon meeting the criteria in the past, it does not meet it now. Whoever it is, must meet the criteria at the time immediately before Christ’s return.

Non-exhaustive list of qualities in Revelation 17-18

Identifying the Whore of Babylon is important, if for no other reason that God commands his people to flee her so we do not partake in her judgements.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of qualities of the Whore of Babylon in no particular order:

1. She is a whore.
2. The Kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her (Rev 17:2; 18:3)
3. Inhabitants of the earth made drunk with the wine of her fornication (Rev 17:3 19:2; 18:3)
4. Sits on many waters (Rev 17:1, 15)
5. Sits on 7 hills/peaks/mountains (Rev 17:9)
6. It is a great city/state. (Rev 16:19; 17:18; 18:10,16,18,19,21);
7. Is a great city/state that reigns over the kings of the earth (Rev 17:18)
8. Merchants have become rich through her (Rev 18:3,11,15,17)
9. She has great merchants who rule the earth (Rev 18:23)
10. Has a lot of entertainment and industry (Rev 18:22)
11. Hated by the kings without a kingdom (Rev 17:16)
12. Merchants around the world will stand far off and weep (Rev 18:17-20)
13. There are genuine Christians in her (Rev 18:4)
14. Dressed in purple and scarlet (Rev 17:4)
15. Luxurious living (Rev 18:3, 7, 12-14,16)
16. Drunk with the blood of the Saints (Rev 17:6)
17. Cause of death of all the saints, and all those who dwell on the earth (Rev 18:24)
18. Rides the Beast. (Rev 17:3,9)
19. Is hated by the Beast (Rev 17:16)

Whew, what a list!

Define: Whore

Some have argued there is a difference between a harlot and a prostitute (translations use both, but mostly use ‘prostitute’), one doing it for money/gain, the former merely being unfaithful. It is attempted to argue that the Whore of Babylon is an unfaithful wife/harlot, in an attempt to tie this to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Greek text πόρνη (G4204) is pornē (por’-nay) (Rev 17:1), which denotes someone who is does this for money. It is certainly clear in Revelation 17-18 that the Whore does it for financial gain. Jerusalem is also depicted as a prostitute, and God scorns her for paying her clients, rather than the other way around (Ezekiel 16:33-34). In no way is the Whore depicted as being in a relationship with God, because she is not his bride. Thus the attempt to argue that the Whore must be the Roman Catholic Church, or any church, or even an unfaithful bride of Christ cannot be sustained. Moreover, it is sexual immorality, not spiritual adultery for which she is condemned. Revelation 18:3 says that her sexual immorality brings wrath. This is repeated over and over and over again throughout the New Testament of God’s hatred for sexual immorality.

Arguments that because the Whore says she sits as a queen and not a widow, she considers herself married, are difficult to sustain. Nations are often depicted as unmarried women (Tyre (virgin daughter), Babylon (daughter Babylon) etc), not just in Scripture, but also today. The UK is depicted as Britannia, the USA is depicted as Columbia or the Statue of Liberty (Libertas). Rome is not depicted as a woman.

The argument goes that it is Rome because she sees herself as “not a widow”, then she must claim to be the “Bride of Christ”. However, not once does Revelation depict her as a bride at all or in any type of relationship, thus the argument that she is a harlot and not a prostitute falls flat. It should be understood as a depiction that she considers herself much loved by the nations that have abandoned her, while she denies reality – they loved her while she made them rich, but now that she no longer makes the nations rich, they do not care for her. None want a relationship (“trade agreement”) with her.

Exhortation to flee the Whore

Revelation 18:4 commands believers to flee, and escape from out of the Whore, so that they don’t participate in her sins, and don’t receive any of the judgements about to come.

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven:

Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins
or receive any of her plagues.

Revelation 18

Undeniably, there must be genuine saints in the Whore. The saints are NOT called to reform her, or “take her back for Christ”; they are told to flee; to leave. Uproot your life and flee just as Lot did with Sodom and Gomorrah.

It is appropriate at this point to mention the messenger of Revelation 18. This messenger is famous throughout the world, he laments her fall, the corruption, the sexual degeneracy, the other nations “ripping her off”, and the illegal aliens. His comments to fix this will resonate with Christians. But instead of trying to reform her or Christian Nationalise her, Christians are told to flee.

This by itself should tell us that this cannot be the Roman Catholic Church, but let’s continue.

It is the natural response of a Christian is to leave the Catholic church (due to the abundance of her abominations and heresies), as some will argue, a clear fulfillment of Revelation 18:4. However, Rome has had these abominations for centuries. The command wasn’t issued earlier, nor was the command for the saints to flee the Beast given. The command is for this time, now, after all these bowls of wrath; Christians should flee now. If Rome was the Whore for centuries, why weren’t Christians directed to flee earlier?

Consider if the USA is the Whore. She had a good Biblical foundation & the faith has been declared in her for centuries. In recent decades, the idolatry and heresy coming from the USA is unbounded. In fact, in the last 100 years, there is scarcely a heresy or abomination in churches around the world that have not come from the USA. Add to that, the increasing sexual perversion that is prevalent in the country, and more and more churches are supporting such perversion.

It makes far more applicable for this passage to call Christians to flee the Whore called the USA at this time, and her sexual perversion, rather than a Whore that has been spiritually adulterous for 1000+ years.

Rides the Beast & Hated by the Beast

Scripture says that the Whore rides the Beast (Rev 17:3, 7). To “ride a beast” describes a process of “taming”, dominating (or forcing submission), and control. No, this is not an 8-second rodeo ride.

Many who claim that the Roman Catholic Church is the Whore, recognise that Islam is the Beast who wants to destroy her. This is true, Islam has a goal to destroy Rome like it destroyed Constnantiople. However there is significance in the change of colour of the Beast between Revelation 13 and 17. In the article on the Sea Beast, we explain that the “kings of the East” make alliances with the Beast, which generates the colour change to scarlet. The Islam Beast, becomes a China-Islam alliance, which makes it very difficult to see how Rome fulfills this. Even with the colour change the Beast also hates the USA.

Many Islamic leaders have called the USA, ‘the Great Satan’¹ and from whom chants of “death to America” are common, we can be sure that Islam hates them both.

But even before the colour change, Rome could not be said to ride Islam. Yes the crusades occurred, but only one was successful. In the process, Rome was sacked three times, and Islam conquered Catholic Spain for 700 years, it conquered the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. It is difficult to see how Rome can be said ‘ride’ Islam.

The USA however can very much be described as riding the Beast. The USA dominates the Middle East with a massive military force. Ever since President Jefferson, within weeks of being elected and declaring war on Islamic slave traders, the USA has dominated and controlled the Middle East, primarily for oil. It has united nations around the world for many wars to punish it for perceived offenses, especially since Islam lost its Caliph. SaudiAramCo (Arab-American) is the largest oil producer in the middle east, and it is owned by America jointly with the Saudi Royal family. The USA exerts pressure and influence across the Islamic world, like no other area or group, and does it for money and oil.

Drunk with the Blood of the Saints & the cause of the death of all those who dwell on the Earth (Rev 17:6; 18:24)

This is famously used against the Roman Catholic Church. They love to quote Revelation 18:20 to prove this is Rome: “Rejoice over her, heaven, and you saints, apostles, and prophets, because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you!“. They argue that the Roman Empire (and by extension, Rome and later Vatican) killed the apostles (Peter and Paul ) and (unnamed] prophets, it must be Rome. Case closed.

However, they ignore other passages on this very topic.

Revelation 18:24 – “In her [the Whore] was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slaughtered on the earth.“

Revelation 16:6 – “Because they [the nations of the earth who worshiped the beast] poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets“

Luke 13:33 – “it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem“

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 – “you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us.“

Luke 11:47-51 –  “Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments. ⁴⁹ Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world — ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.“

This last verse is particularly important, and so let’s draw out the implications. Jesus is blaming the Pharisees for the death of Abel. Process that a minute. How does Jesus make the Pharisees responsible for the for the blood of Abel?

Advocates must explain how Rome is responsible for all those slain on the earth, how Rome killed the prophets in Jerusalem (such as Abel) before Rome was even a power, and how Paul attributes the deaths of the prophets and their own persecution to the Jews, not Rome, and how Jesus blames the Pharisees for the deaths of all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah.

We see in Revelation 16:6 that the nations “poured our the blood of the saints” and in Revelation 17:6 that the Whore is “drunk with the blood of the saints“. It is the nations that killed the saints, not the Whore. Party-goers drink alcohol for effect – to get drunk. Wine is the means to an end. Similarly for the Whore, the death of the saints is a means to an end. Revelation 18:3 says that kings and merchants become rich because of the whore’s partying, drinking and luxurious living, indicating that the death of the saints was a means to an end of the revelry between the whore, the merchants, and the kings of the earth. Party-goers do not care about the alcohol, they want the effect. The Whore does not care about the death of the saints in pursuit of wealth and luxury. But make no mistake, it is the nations that poured out the blood of the saints (Rev 16:6), not the Whore.

Jesus put the blood of Abel on the Pharisees, because they did not renounce the since of their fathers, but owned them.

If it were a simple contest of numbers of the saints killed, Islam easily beats the Roman Catholic Church by the hundreds of millions. The Roman Catholic Church has done great harm to Christians; before, after, and during the Reformation, the Catholic church killed 10s of thousands. The Spanish Inquisition, renowned for its brutality in going after heretics, lasted approximately 150 years, and is said to have resulted in the execution of 3000-5000 heretics and sinners, many of them Jews, and confiscated their wealth. The Roman Catholic Church has been instrumental in many, many wars, but it is difficult to argue that it is responsible for all those killed in the world. Islam, for example, has killed an estimated 350 million people, which by the end of the 1800s would be 1/3 of the entire world. Tamerlane, just 1 ruler, was responsible for the murder of an estimated 5% of the world at the time.

Unlike the Catholic church which waged many wars with Islam because of the persecution it meted to Christians, the USA looks the other way when it comes to the persecution of Christians at the hands of Muslims or any totalitarian regime, to ensure continued access to trade and oil. In other words, the Whore literally exchanged the lives of Christians for oil and trade. The USA also barely raises a whisper at the persecution of Christians in China, to ensure a cooperative trading environment. Despite claiming to have a Christian foundation, the USA is living large because it sacrifices the lives of Christians in exchange for profitable trade. The USA does not care how many Christians are killed or persecuted, so long as it gets its trade and oil. Revelation 18:3 says that the kings and merchants of the earth were made rich from her revelings.

How can the Whore be the cause of all those killed on the earth when it says the Beast kills them as well?

Rahab the prostitute, in choosing to side with Israel and her God, renounced the ways of her people in Jericho. God told Israel to welcome aliens, sojourners, refugees because that is what they once were. But, those refugees had to leave their gods and their fathers’ heritage behind if they were to become part of Israel.

The USA had a very strong Christian foundation. “One nation under God”, and “In God we trust” are written on money, monuments, and proclaimed loudly. However, the USA no longer requires those who come into her, to abandon their pagan practices. Immigrants who come from every, tribe, tongue and nation who come into her are told that they should continue to worship their gods and demonstrate this to their fellow citizens. The USA today proudly welcomes and claims the heritage of all who come into her, as her own heritage.

Jesus said the Pharisees were responsible for the deaths of all the prophets because they claimed the heritage of their fathers (Luke 11:47-51).

The USA tells its immigrants they should hold to the heritage of their fathers, to hold to the beliefs, practices, traditions: the people from every tongue, tribe, nation, and creed, that have persecuted and killed literally everyone on earth that has been killed. The USA is proud to say these tongues, tribes, nations, and creeds, are part of her now. Muslim immigrants, for example, do not renounce Islam nor do they embrace the Christian heritage of the USA. Instead, they are proud that they are Muslims and the USA is proud that they are Muslims who have wiped out Christianity in many parts of the world. In this way, like Jesus said of the Pharisees, they are guilty of the blood of the saints, and of all those killed in the world.

A recent example illustrates the point. Ilhan Omar, a US Congresswoman, recently told a group of Somali’s, that her first loyalty is to the Somalia, and that she works to protect Somalia from inside the USA. Her speech was all the more horrifying because it demonstrates that these people, far from being ashamed that they have killed each other (she even mentions this in her speech), are proud of their heritage. They have no intention of renouncing the evil of their fathers or their loyalty to their heritage, and place it over their loyalty to the nations who adopted them. Watch the full video here: https://rumble.com/v49z10u-ilhan-omar-rips-the-mask-off-and-pledges-her-allegience-to-somalia-in-distu.html

The USA is the most ethnically diverse nation on earth. People of every creed, religion, colour have flocked to her, and the USA welcomes them and claims their heritage as her own. The USA openly celebrates every festival practice of religions such as Islam etc (https://www.ilctr.org/about-immigrants/ilc-publications-and-resources/how-immigration-has-enriched-american-holidays/ and https://www.onepercentforamerica.org/the-guide/embracing-diversity-and-immigrant-contributions).

In like fashion, because they do not renounce the sins of their fathers, and that the USA embraces the sins of their fathers and proudly calls them her own, just as Jesus said the Pharisees would be blamed for the deaths of all the prophets, the USA is guilty of the blood of all those slain on the earth.

Merchant activity

There are two types of merchants in Revelation 17 & 18. There are the great merchants (Revelation 18:23) who rule the earth, and who deceive the world with their pharmakeia. These are the 10 kings without a kingdom (Rev 17:12), who lend their influence and power to assist the Beast (Rev 17:13), because they hate the Whore and seek to destroy her. Revelation 18:23 makes it clear that these great merchants are part of the Whore – “…for your great merchants…”. The economic destruction of the Whore, occurs because of the great merchants of the Whore.

The other type of merchants are common merchants, both internal and external (Rev 18:11,15), to the Whore. These merchants deliver luxuries from all parts of the world, as well as the bodies and souls of men. These common merchants became wealthy from the trade because the Whore bought so many goods and in vast quantities.

Is this a description of the Vatican, or of the United States?

The United States has >$5.6 trillion in imports and exports, in 2019². It imports more than any nation on Earth. Its exports are only 2nd to China. The United States is an economic powerhouse.

The Vatican controls considerable assets, but nothing like the amount of the United States. The RCC imports luxuries, but on a scale far below most nations, and exports almost nothing. Not enough to make the merchants of the world wealthy.

Revelation 18:21-23 says there were musicians, craftsmen, flour producers, and families. This is not a description of the Vatican, but if you wanted to push the allegory, it is true of Catholics around the world. It is definitely true of the United States.

It is mentioned in the section on Whoredom, that much of this trade is possible because of sexual immorality. The Whore compels these nations to fornicate and commit sexual immorality, by which they grow wealthy. This indicates that the trade agreements are either linked to (a) promoting Catholicism, or (b) promoting “sexual equality”. My money is on the latter.

The challenge is how to best understand the term “bodies and souls of men”. It is the merchants who trade these, it is not the whore itself – there is no indication that the Whore herself is party to this trade.

Some possibilities exist:

1. Actual slave trade/forced physical labour (includes trafficking) & voluntary acceptance of low wages
2. Human smuggling, people wanting to get in, without official documents
3. Non-literal, trading their data, e.g., identity theft, or marketing purposes, online/sexual exploitation
4. Non-literal/spiritual, e.g., conversion.

I think the spiritualistic interpretation of this is unlikely to be a fulfilment. It is merchants who trade in the bodies and souls of men, apparently without the explicit consent of the Whore. If merchants are now “ministers delivering a corrupt gospel”, then the list of goods they trade is incongruent, unless you’re referring to colonial expansion. However that was centuries ago and is not something that the merchants will weep over at the future return of Christ, and so cannot be a fulfillment.

Both the USA and the Vatican have endorsed slavery and the slave trade in their histories. The USA banned slavery before the Vatican officially condemned it (although it had been lobbying to end the slave trade as early as 1814)³. Both are guilty.

As emphasised at the start of this post, it matters whether the description matches the candidate, at the time it is to be fulfilled, in this case, immediately before the return of Jesus.

Does the USA, or the Catholic Church trade in the bodies and souls of men, via merchants? The answer is both do. The USA permits large numbers of undocumented immigrants, to fill menial roles, and politicians (mostly Democrats) have defended this practice including Senator Pelosi⁴. The USA pays organisations, such as the Catholic Church to help migrants enter and settle into the USA⁵⁶ with $730.9 million tax-dollars to assist 120 000 immigrants in 2012⁷, and is being used to boost the number of Catholics in the country ⁸. There are literally over 1 million people each year illegally entering and remaining in the country. [Update: 27 April 2025 – The Trump Presidency has terminated Catholic organisations’ agreements to help bring illegal immigrants into the country, and illegal immigration is down 90%+). This is to be expected as one of the criticisms of the Whore was her illegal immigration/slavery, which the Messenger opposed].

We have seen human caravans pour into the US. They are well funded⁹. Human trafficking and smuggling is a real issue for the United States.

While the Roman Catholic Church is highly involved in human “immigrants” into the USA, they participate in a relatively small portion of it, despite the mass of funding.

The US has one of the largest human trafficking markets worldwide in absolute terms^{10 11}.

Whether the trade in human bodies is literal, the USA, rather than the Catholic church, is one of the largest participants today. Planned Parenthood literally sells baby parts from abortions. If we include non-literal trade such as data, and online sexual exploitation (e.g., OnlyFans), the USA is by far the largest consumer of pornography and literally trades in users’ data (e.g., Facebook, Google etc).

It is clear that human trafficking is actually an important part of the Whore. A recent movie release The Sound of Freedom, documents that human trafficking is at the greatest its ever been in human history. Whistleblowers from the HHS have spoken openly about the trafficking that happens on the US border.

At the moment, the only clear candidate is the USA. The RCC may have been a candidate in times past, but at the time required for the fulfilment, the return of Jesus, the RCC is not a viable candidate today.

Whoredom

The MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: Is the sexual immorality of the Whore, spiritual idolatry, or sexual perversion, or both? This is vital in correctly identifying the Whore. Does she promote idolatry? Or does she promote sexual perversion?

There is no doubt that sexual fornication is used in the Bible to describe spiritual idolatry, after all, the very description of the woman being the Whore of Babylon, the home of spiritual idolatry, does lend itself to the imagery of being spiritually idolatrous. Not to say that she isn’t also sexually immoral, both can be true; after all, the chief goddess of Babylon was Ishtar, the goddess of sexuality¹². She was also known as the Queen of Heaven ¹³and had many temple prostitutes. She is mentioned in Jeremiah 7 & 44 & Revelation 18:7. This is the same as the Roman goddess as Venus, but her name in Latin is Libertas.

But is spiritual idolatry the primary meaning of the text? Some examples of the concept of harlotry as a reference to idolatry:

• The whole book of Hosea is dedicated to calling out Israel’s idolatry as depicted in the adultery of Hosea’s wife.
• Jeremiah 3
• Ezekiel 16
• and many others.

But sexual perversion was also a common occurrence even during times of spiritual idolatry. 1 Kings 14:24 gives but one example also pointing out that these sexual perversions were what caused the Lord to drive the nations out before Israel. We see in this passage the overlap of idolatry and sexual perversion.

She is described as “the great prostitute”. In Greek, “pornas tas megalace.”   “Pornas” can also imply “idolatrist”, but more frequently, it is literally “harlot”. In English, the prefix “megalo” means “large”. So this could be translated as the “great prostitute” or more literally, “large prostitute”. Whether it is large in size, area, influence, or notoriety, is unclear.

The Whore luxuriates in her wealth and denies herself no pleasure. This is not mere symbolism; the merchants grow wealthy from her luxurious living (Rev 18:3), and the lists of exotic goods are extensive. If sexual immorality here is to be taken primarily as spiritual idolatry it is not only a departure from an otherwise straight-forward description of the Whore, and it is indeed strange that there would be no mention of actual sexual perversion within her list of other sins, despite indulging in sensuality (Rev 18:3), and given her connection to Ishtar, the goddess of sexuality.

In Revelation 21:8 and 21:15 sexual immorality is explicitly listed as a different sin from the sin of idolatry, and in Revelation 2:14 & 20, we know that the sexual immorality here is actual sexual immorality. This is known because of the reference to Balaam and Balak, who precisely taught Israel to commit sexual sins in order to incur God’s judgement (Numbers 25:1; 31:16; 1 Corinthians 10:8; Revelation 18:3). Since sexual immorality appears to be distinct in Revelation, from idolatry, the onus is on those who claim it is primarily idolatry rather than immorality, to prove their case.

The nations grow rich because of her sensuality (Rev 18:3). This seems to be at odds with a description of spiritual idolatry. How do many nations grow rich because of spiritual idolatry? Nations were spiritually idolatrous before the Whore arrived. Nations were already wealthy prior to the arrival of the Whore. But they become even more wealthy because of the Whore’s sensuality. It appears this wealth is more in line with trade agreements that are conditioned upon sexual perversion, or “equality” laws, than with spiritual idolatry. Some might argue that indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church, of which nation-states took a cut, helped nations grow rich, however, this was centuries ago, and it would not be an apt description of the Whore or the nations at the time of the destruction of the Whore immediately prior to the return of Christ.

On balance, I am persuaded the reference to sexual perversion, is about sexual perversion, and the reference to whoredom, is a separate reference to spiritual idolatry.

I would conclude that the evidence favours the USA to be the Whore at the present time. The sexual perversion of the USA is mountainous, unmatched in the history of the world. The Statue of Liberty, is created in honour of the Roman goddess Libertas, the matron/mother goddess of prostitution because she promoted sexual freedom. She was also the goddess of slaves and immigrants.¹⁴. The USA is the source of most pornography¹⁵, LGBT, Trans, sexual mutilation of children, are promoted everywhere and even included as mandatory in free trade agreements¹⁶ with other nations.

The RCC has certainly had its moments of sexual perversion, however, it never taught that this was good or right. Today, US churches openly defend homosexuality and condemn those who warn those caught in its trap.

The spiritual idolatry of US churches is even worse than that of the RCC. The heretical teachings that flow from the USA on a daily basis plague the world. Most cults, televangelism, perverted doctrines, prosperity doctrines, LGBT inclusions, etc originate in the churches in the USA. As bad as the Roman Catholic Church is, unlike many denominations in the USA, she still teaches that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the saviour of the world, and condemns those heretical or abominable practices celebrated in many US churches. For a nation that was founded on the pilgrims’ spiritual faithfulness, and declares that it is ‘One nation under God’, the USA has long departed and even despises its Christian heritage, banning even the display of the ten commandments and public prayer; it can rightly be described as a great harlot all by itself.

The great city

The Whore is a great city according to Revelation. The Greek word polis is translated usually as ‘city’, but as we know Babylon is not merely a reference to a city but represents the nation-state of the Assyrian empire. When we speak of London, we often mean the UK. When we speak of Brussels, we speak of the European parliament. When we speak of Washington, we are speaking of the United States. The description of the extent of the trade, of merchants and tradespeople, and the volume of luxuries, of the ‘city’ lends itself to a description of a large nation-state.

The English translates it as ‘great city’ (megas polis). ‘Polis’ according to LSJ lexicon is ‘city’, ‘community’, ‘state’, even ‘country’¹⁷. Thus the “city” that the Whore sits on, is possibly a nation. Megas (‘great’) lends support to that idea.

Advocates that the RCC is the fulfilment of the Whore of Babylon do not believe that the Whore is a single city, but rather the church as a whole covering the earth, but represented by the Vactican City.

In Revelation, the Whore sits on many waters, which the angel tells us are many peoples. The Statue of Liberty welcomes people from all parts of the world, the seven spikes represent the seven continents, and the home of immigrant processing on Ellis Island in New York City. If the Roman Catholic Church (the Vatican) can be said to sit on many waters, the USA is more so. The USA has within it more nationalities and ethnicities than any other nation, including the RCC. Most nations of the world have embassies or consulates in Washington, and the United Nations’ home is in New York City.

If the RCC can be said to be Rome, and so fulfil this description of many peoples, both Washington and New York can be said to fulfil this even more. The USA declares itself to be the home of the refuse of the world on the Statue of Liberty¹⁸, the goddess Libertas. The Roman goddess Libertas (also known as Ishtar – the chief goddess of Babylon, Isis, Ishtar, Astarte, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite, and Venus) was the goddess of harlots¹⁹, social outcasts, which is how she became to be associated as the ‘mother of exiles’ or ‘mother of refugees’.

Seated on 7 hills

Many commentators believe this is a literal 7 hills, while many believe due to the reference to the many waters (peoples), others believe this refers to the 7 continents. While I don’t have a strong view either way, it cannot mean literal possession of all 7 continents, for the simple reason that the description in Revelation talks explicitly about the Beast that dominated the whole world but is not part of the Whore, and kings of other nations. Thus, it cannot refer to a world empire.

There are a lot of cities built on 7 hills/peaks. Rome (but not the Vatican) is the most famous, because of this passage. However, Washington DC and New York City are both also built on 7 hills/peaks²⁰.

If the 7 hills refer to the 7 continents signifying global influence or dominance, both the Roman Catholic Church and Washington, and New York all qualify. Obviously, the Catholic church is found throughout the 6 major continents (and even 8 chapels are found in Antarctica). Washington DC symbolising America, also has military and commercial interests across all continents with over 750 overseas military bases in over 80 countries. New York also symbolises the USA, and would fulfil all that Washington does, however, New York also is home to the United Nations Headquarters, and Statue of Liberty, the home of immigrants from every part of the world. There are over 800 languages spoken in NYC ²¹. The United States and especially NYC, is the most ethnically diverse nation on Earth and is famous for taking in refugees from all parts of the world.

Of note, the goddess Libertas (the Statue of Liberty) has seven stars or points to represent the seven continents or seven seas²². It is literally seated on seven waters: the Atlantic Ocean, the New York Bight, Rockaway Peninsula, Upper New York Bay, Lower New York Bay, Jamaica Bay and the Hudson River. The Statue of Liberty is regarded as the home of US immigration next to Ellis Island.

the Whore is arrayed in Purple and Scarlet

I have written much about the type of purple used in John’s time. See here and here. By way of reminder, purple has a range of tones and hues.

Tyrian purple, the purple of John’s time, is the process, not a specific colour, it was the method used by the producers of purple in Roman times. According to Pliny the Elder (died: AD.79), the colour depended on the species, location, fashion, and ratios used²³. Also it appears that the colour of purple changed according to fashion. Pliny the Elder writes²⁴:

Cornelius Nepos, who died in the reign of the late Emperor Augustus (ruled 27 BC to 14 AD), has left the following remarks: “In the days of my youth,” says he, “the violet purple was in favour, a pound of which used to sell at one hundred denarii; and not long after, the Tarentine red was all the fashion.

According to Wikipedia on Tyrian Purple:

The actual color of Tyrian purple seems to have varied from a reddish to a bluish purple. According to the Roman writer Vitruvius, (1st century BC), the murex shells coming from northern waters, probably Bolinus brandaris, produced a more bluish color (sic) than those of the south, probably Hexaplex trunculus ²⁵….The chemical composition of the dye from the murex [family of sea snails – ed.] is close to that of the dye from indigo, and indigo was sometimes used to make a counterfeit Tyrian purple, a crime which was severely punished. What seems to have mattered about Tyrian purple was not its color, but its luster, richness, its resistance to weather and light, and its high price.

That indigo was used to counterfeit Tyrian purple, suggests that the purple referred to by the Apostle John was blueish, not reddish. The species of shells used to produce the purple changed the colour. At the time and location of John’s writing, the bluish-purple shells were more common than the red-purple. Emperor Charlemagne was crowned in 800A.D. wearing a mantle of Tyrian purple and was buried in 814A.D. in a shroud of the same colour, a portion of which still exists today. It was made of gold and Tyrian purple from Constantinople (near Patmos where the Apostle John was writing) (eastern/southern end of the Mediterranean)²⁶.

The Apostle John writes in Revelation 17:4 that the Whore is ‘arrayed’ in purple and scarlet.

The Roman Catholic church lists its liturgical colours²⁷ and they do not include purple, despite what many websites tell you. However, I do note that violet is sometimes referred to as purple, so I could concede that purple is in the liturgical colours, with a caveat:

Purple and scarlet are not the only or even primary colours of the Roman Catholic Church. Purple and red are only used on certain events or times of the year, for the rest of the year RCC liturgy and vestments use a variety of other colours, including green, white, black, and rose²⁸.

It is worth noting that in the USA, purple features more in the Lutheran, Episcopalian and Presbyterian than the Catholic church²⁹. And since these churches are a frequent source of heretical teachings, perhaps that’s appropriate.

Contrast the use of purple and scarlet in the RCC with the United States who bathes herself in the purple and scarlet, what we today call red and blue (as documented previously). In fact, the phrase “red, white, and blue” are associated with the USA, even in countries that also have red, white, and blue flags. Even the major parties are represented by these colours.

An interesting fact about the Statue of Liberty

We’ve already discussed the connection of the Statue of Liberty to the goddess Libertas and Ishtar the Queen of Heaven, and is the mother of harlots. However, there is another very interesting fact about the Statue of Liberty and its connection to being adorned in purple and scarlet.

It is not realised by many that the Statue of Liberty is constructed from an iron frame and covered with copper sheeting. What started as a bright copper colour, through a natural oxidation and weathering process changed to dull scarlet (cuprite), then to purple (tenorite), and then to the final greenish-blue (brochantite) colour you see today. Obviously, not uniformly all over the statue at the same rate. The American Chemical Society has a brochure on the colour changes of the Statue of Liberty³¹.

The Statue of Liberty was literally dull scarlet and then purple before it stabilised in its final colour. And even the final colour is found in the Tyrian purple process documented by William Cole of Bristol in 1685 ³².

Unfortunately, as the transition was prior to colour photography we must rely on eye witneses³³ and chemists who have studied this at length. However, even if we are to ignore the natural colouring of the Statue of Liberty as fulfilling prophecy, it is easily said that the USA clothes itself in purple and scarlet, in my opinion, more abundantly and frequently than the Roman Catholic Church.

The Cup of Abominations

Despite the above, Rome-Whore advocates argue “where is the cup of abominations”? It must be Rome!

While it is true Rome’s practice of the “cup” of the Eucharist is probably idolatrous, that is not the reference to the cup here.

The cup of the Lord is holy.

Scripture uses a cup as a symbol of life. The abominations are a way of life.

Summary

There is a great deal more than can be said showing that, at the moment, the USA is the Whore of Babylon, rather than the Vatican or any other city or nation. Perhaps if the Lord tarries, other nations will rise and meet the criteria even better than the USA.

FOOTNOTES:

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/9/20/who-is-the-great-satan
2. https://ustr.gov/countries-regions
3. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/02/15/catholic-church-slavery-244703
4. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-says-farmers-need-illegal-immigrants-pick-crops-florida
5. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-usa-immigration-idUSN1128221420080111
6. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/07/29/fox-friends-kilmeade-catholic-charities-241149
7. https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/migrants-refugees-and-travelers/fundingtherefugeeprogram
8. https://www.prb.org/resources/immigration-gives-catholicism-a-boost-in-the-united-states/
9. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/20/george-soros-to-invest-500-million-in-help-for-refugees-through-his-open-society-foundations.html
10. https://ocindex.net/country/united_states
11. https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states
12. Ryrie, the NIV and Unger’s Bible Dictionaries
13. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/ishtar
14. https://www.ancientpages.com/2018/09/28/is-there-an-ancient-secret-connection-between-the-statue-of-liberty-and-the-anunnaki-goddess-inanna/
15. https://www.statista.com/chart/1383/top-10-adult-website-host-countries/
16. USTR officials use the term “gender equity and equality.” Executive Order 13985 defined the term “equity” to be “consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of colour; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.” The National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality defined gender equality as “a world in which equal opportunity is afforded to all people regardless of gender or any other factor.”
    https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104711.pdf
    https://lawecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1173&context=lucilr
    https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3376051
    https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2446&context=gjicl
    https://geneva.usmission.gov/2011/03/22/lgbtrights/
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/869592/UK_US_FTA_negotiations.pdf
17. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=po%2Flis&la=greek&can=po%2Flis0#lexicon
18. nps.gov
19. http://www.wpsanet.org/papers/docs/Cicero%20after%20Exile%20pdf.pdf
    http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0020%3Atext%3DDom.%3Asection%3D112
20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_claimed_to_be_built_on_seven_hills
21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_York_City
22. https://bensguide.gpo.gov/j-statue-of-liberty
23. Plinius, NH: IX, 61 & 62, 137;
    http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D61
    http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D62
24. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D63
25. …archeologists have confirmed Hexaplex trunculus as the species used to create the purple-blue dye; large numbers of shells were recovered from inside ancient live-storage chambers in Tyre that were used for harvesting. Apparently, 10- to 12,000 shells yielded only one gram of dye. Because of this, the dye was highly prized. Also known as Royal Purple, it was prohibitively expensive and was only used by the highest ranking aristocracy.- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexaplex_trunculus
26. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5393/tyrian-purple-shroud-of-charlemagne/
27. https://www.catholic.org/clife/lcolors.php and
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgical_colours
28. https://www.catholic.org/clife/lcolors.php
29. https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/liturgical-colors.php
30. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/003685013X13680345111425
31. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/pressroom/reactions/infographics/statue-of-liberty-became-green.pdf
32. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/003685013X13680345111425
33. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4652254/The-Statue-Liberty-RED-turned-green.html