author=knuckle board=scripturaldiscussion thread=1206571027 post=1207388893]Hi Cepha----------------
Good morning Knuckle.
RCC not proper term. No such thing as a "Roman" Catholic Church.
I dont' know what the "official" consensus is as to what The Church says the whore is, but most believe it to be Jeruselum as John was talking about the events that were happening in his day while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos.
Why is Jeruselum the whore? Because Babylon was code for Rome. The Jewish authorities were in bed with Rome as she and Rome conspired to reject and condemn Jesus to death and crucifixion. The Beast is Nero (who's name literally equals the 666 number in the numerology method they used to create that name). Because Nero was killing The Apostles and hunting them down (as well as all Chrisitans), he was the one who was "drunk on the blood of The Saints). The city of 7 hills is "not" Rome, but Jeruselum. Where Vatican City resides, there are no hills. In Jeruselum, there are 7 hills (not in Rome).
That's a theory that:
A) Locks in together all of the characters and events in Revelations
B) Makes sense as they were happening at the time of the writing of the book
C) Timeline fits perfectly
That wasn't Peter's faith nor was it "his" revelation. Remember, Jesus said that it was God who revealed that to Peter, not any man (including Peter himself who is but a man).
That wasn't Peter's faith, but God's revelation to Peter. God chose Peter for Jesus to start His Church. God placed those words in Peter's mouth so that Jesus could know who to pick.
If one would believe that it was upon a group of words upon which Jesus would build His Church, then you'd have to believe that He not only built His Church upon words that float in the air and are said once and dissappeared, but that He also gave those words the authority to bind and loosen in heaven and on earth and also gave those words the Keys to The Kingdom of Heaven because Jesus said that all these things would be given to what/whoever it was that He was addressing at the moment.
Ultimately, one cannot separate the following...Jesus said "Blessed art thou [to Simon, not to Simon's words]. He called Simon "Cephas" in Aramaic [literally "rock"]. This would stick with Simon for the rest of The New Testament.
Here is the Aramaic Translation of that verse:
Matthew 16:
15.
He said to them, "You, however, who do you say that I am?"
16.
Replied Simon the Rock [Peter] and said, "You are the Anointed One,* Son of the Living God."
17.
Jesus replied and told him, "Blessed are
you, Simon son of Yoanah*, that
flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, except my Father in heaven.
18.
I am also
telling you that you are the Rock [Peter] and on
this rock I am building my Church, and the doors of sheol cannot draw* it in.
19.
"
To you I give the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven and
whatever you undo on earth, shall be undone in heaven."
The whole time, Jesus is talking to Peter, not to Peter's confession (which there is no confession because Peter didn't create that response, but God did create it in Peter's heart so that Jesus could identify him as the foundation upon which His Church is to be built upon).
This ties in to Matthew 7 in which Jesus talked about building His Church upon a "rock" foundation and with Eph 2 which states that The Apostles (along with the Prophets) are the foundation of The Church, Jesus being the cornerstone (the cornerstone in a structure is the first piece laid and stands proud of the soil and is visible to the world where the information of when and by whom the building was constructed...men are made of soil and as men, they return to soil [dust to dust, ashes to ashes], so it makes sense that the Apostles and Prophets who are mere men would be buried in the soil not to be recognized and that Jesus would be the cornerstone which is visible "after" the constructioin of the building which is The Church).
Matt 7
24. "Whoever thus listens to these words of mine and performs them,
will resemble the wise man
who built his house on the rock.
25."And the rain came down and the floods* came
and the winds blew and drove against that house
and [
the house] did not fall,
for its
foundation was placed on rock.
Eph 2
19. Henceforth, you are neither outsiders, nor migrants, except you are inhabitants of the saints' towns, and the children of the
house of God.
20. And so you may build upon the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, and he is the cornerstone* of the building, Jesus Christ himself. I love Peter. While I was making my confirmation at 30, I chose his name to emulate as is Catholic Christian tradition to choose a Saint's name. Why? I wanted to choose Saint Joseph because he was the prime example of a good, righteous and just man. A great father, a great husband and protector and he did his job in raising the Son of God. I still love Joseph and strive to emulate him. But Peter, I'm more like Peter. Loudmouthed, not afraid to question Jesus, ready to confront, ready to attack anybody who tries to take away my Jesus [like he did to the temple guard when he cut off his hear with a sword]. Peter is the example of how we almost all at one time or another, no matter how much faith we are filled with, have failed Jesus and have abandoned him.
Peter was The Apostle who loved Jesus more than any of the others and the one to whom Jesus not only gave the authority to lead His Church (The Keys and power to bind and loosen), but Jesus also told Him to be the Shepherd to His Flock when He would go to Heaven back to The Father in John 21 after Jesus redeemed him for his 3 denials with Peter's 3 affirmations.
What does that term "whore of Babylon" mean to you?
To me, it means one who is in league with Rome and works "with" Rome and succumbed to Rome's ways.
I never saw Peter like that.
And God bless you and yours brother Knuckle.
