The Judgment of Mystery Babylon

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b.        She is the source of other abominations in the earth

E.        NOTE: The Mystery Religions of Babylon 

1.         The Eastern Religions 

a.         From Persia and Asia

b.        Centered around Babylon

c.         Offered man a spiritual release from death

d.        Promised eternal happiness

e.         Required initiations

f.          Provided a mediator between God and man

g.         The Babylonian Mystery Religions has a direct influence on Roman Catholicism (Easter, the sacraments, etc.) 

2.         Babylonian Mystery Religions 

a.         Orphic Cult

(1)      Taught dualism between good and evil. (Although this may sound proper at first, eastern dualism tried to make a complete distinction between good and evil.  If the flesh was evil, then it had to be punished, etc.)

(2)      Taught celibacy and abstention from meat and wine for priests 

b.        Magna Mater

(1)      Means “the Great Mother”

(2)      Baptism required for membership: required to forgive sins; was in blood

(3)      Their priests “were eunuchs who wore female garb, who kept their hair long and perfumed with ointment, and who celebrated the goddess’ rites with wild music and dancing until their frenzied excitement found its culmination in self-scourging, self-laceration, or exhaustion.” –Encyclopedia Britannica in the article on “Mystery Religions” 

c.         Mythraism

(1)      Taught triumph of light over darkness

(2)      Taught baptismal regeneration

(3)      Had sacramental meal

d.        Isis Mysteries

(1)      Originated in Egypt

(2)      Related to Ishtar, Ashtaroth and Astarte

(3)      Centered around mother (Isis) and her son

(4)      “The Christian representations of the Madonna and child are clearly the continuation of the representations of Isis and her son suckling the breast.” –Encyclopedia Britannica

3.         Feasts

a.         Easter

(1)      Term is of pagan origin

(2)      Was first observed as a celebration of the resurrection of Christ at the time of the Jewish Passover

(3)      Later observance was changed to match the pagan celebration of Easter

(4)      Pagan traditions were brought over into the celebration (eggs, rabbits, etc.)

(5)      Celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs either on or after the vernal equinox of March 21^st.  This formula was first developed in Egypt.  It means that Easter can occur anywhere from March 22 to April 25.

b.        Christmas

(1)      The development of the feast celebrating the birth of Jesus is directly connected to fading expectations of the imminent return of Christ

(2)      The Christian celebration of Christmas replaced the Roman festival of Dies Invicti Solis (the Day of the Invincible Sun) which was introduced by the Emperor Aurelian in the 3^rd century and was celebrated on December 25^th

(3)      December 25^th was also the birthday of Mithra, the Persian god of light; the day was devoted to the invincible sun

(4)      Festivities of the pagan holiday included:

(5)      All work and business suspended

(6)      The giving of gifts

(7)      Many celebrations and parties

(8)      Easing of certain moral restrictions

(9)      Many Christian writers (including Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Epiphanius) opposed the celebration of Christmas in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries.  In like manner, the Puritans of the 16^th and 17^th centuries opposed the celebration of Christmas.

(10)  The celebration of holidays is a personal decision according to the scriptures.  No one should be forced to keep a holiday or refused a chance to celebrate—as long as the acts of celebration themselves are scriptural.  See Romans 14:4-10 and Colossians 2:16-17.

4.         Deified Mother

a.         During this period of time, Mary began to be exalted above what is stated in scripture.  However, many of the teachings concerning Mary did not develop for many centuries and will be considered later.

b.        Pagan cultures had a long tradition of goddesses of fertility

c.         Ashtaroth (Canaanite)

d.        Astarte (Phoenician)

e.         Ishtar (Babylonian and Assyrian)

f.          Isis, the mother of Horus (Egyptian).  Isis is often shown as a mother with her infant son.

g.         Aphrodite (Greek)

h.         Venus (Roman)

i.           The Mary of the Bible was slowly being transformed into “the queen of heaven” (Jer.44:17-19, 25)

F.        The Drunkenness of the Great Whore (17:6)

1.         She was drunk with the blood of the saints

2.         She was drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus

3.         Her drunkenness was a cause of great wonder to John

a.         John would not have been amazed if the great whore had been the Roman Empire. He had seen and was presently experiencing persecution from Rome.

b.        John wondered because he saw Christians being killed in great numbers by others who called themselves Christians

G.       NOTE: The Donatists of the Early Fourth Century

1.      Arose in North Africa following the Diocletian Persecution (284-303AD).  Resulted from the total willingness of the catholic churches to receive back into the churches those who had denied the faith

2.      The split came in 311 with the election of Caecilian as biship of Carthage. 

3.      The Donatists unwisely appealed the decision to Constantine who turned the decision over to the bishop of Rome who at the Council of Arles in 314 condemned the Donatists

4.      Constantine therefore declared the Donatists heretics and persecution of the 400 Donatist churches began.  The Donatists were the first Christians to be persecuted and have their blood shed by other Christians.

5.      The movement was, to a great extent, an opposition to the worldliness of the catholic churches. They maintained that the churches should be made up only of visibly true believers.

6.      They seem to have rejected infant baptism but many of them did believe in baptismal regeneration (which was the common doctrine of the catholic church of this time).

7.      However, they rejected the authority of the catholic church to baptize and thus rebaptized those who came to them from those churches.  As such, they were called Re-baptizers or Anabaptists.

8.      After their initial run-in with Constantine, they came to believe in the separation of the church and state

9.      They opposed many of the superstitions which were becoming common in the catholic churches, such as the worship of relics

10.  They continued in North Africa until somewhere in the seventh century