The Whore of Babylon

[ajaxfetish]

that the Church of Rome is Babylon

I think you'd be closer if you removed 'the church of.' At the time Revelation would have been written, the empire, not the pope, would be the one persecuting Christians. I don't think predicting the downfall of an institution that hardly existed yet, and which would be a strong point of Christianity once it was firmly established, would have resonated too well with the faithful. And as far as I know, in spite of internal concerns about corruption and efforts for reform, the papacy wasn't really villified by Christians until the reformation. Of course, I'm not an expert on the period. Maybe the papacy was already flexing its muscle, and this was resented in the east?

In prophetical language, a false or unfaithful church is called a harlot or a whore, both in the OT and the NT

I'd be interested to see convincing support for that claim.

Furthermore, Paul himself speaks of another power which was hindered from taking power by imperial Rome. "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" (2 The 2:6-7)

Most of your arguments against the imperial Rome interpretation are highly subjective, and could be interpreted either way. I'm not really sure of the meaning of this passage, for instance, and would be interested to hear the opinion of a disinterested Koine Greek scholar.

Ajax