Difference between revisions of "''The Two Babylons''"
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Impartial and objective evaluations by non-Catholic reviewers of this book have also determined that it is simply a [[Slander|calumny]] against the Catholic religion. This has refuted his Christian integrity as a writer. This does not prove that Alexander Hislop was a [[Lie|liar]], but only that his book is full of [[falsehood]]s. There is a difference. He may indeed have been sincere in his belief. His [[Research|methology]] was entirely wrong. His conclusions are [[error]]s. | Impartial and objective evaluations by non-Catholic reviewers of this book have also determined that it is simply a [[Slander|calumny]] against the Catholic religion. This has refuted his Christian integrity as a writer. This does not prove that Alexander Hislop was a [[Lie|liar]], but only that his book is full of [[falsehood]]s. There is a difference. He may indeed have been sincere in his belief. His [[Research|methology]] was entirely wrong. His conclusions are [[error]]s. | ||
| − | Individual Christians who have enthusiastically read ''The Two Babylons'', and have dismissed all criticism against it as [[propaganda]], and have made the effort to diligently research its claims in order to defend it, have been profoundly disappointed in the book and its author, whom they assumed was telling the truth. Many of them have been astonished that a book so fully discredited should still be sold in Christian bookstores and recommended by online internet Christian sites. It is still being promoted as factual truth. | + | Individual Christians who have enthusiastically read ''The Two Babylons'', and have dismissed all criticism against it as negative [[propaganda]], and have made the effort to diligently research its claims in order to defend it, have been profoundly disappointed in the book and its author, whom they assumed was telling the truth. Many of them have been astonished that a book so fully discredited should still be sold in Christian bookstores and recommended by online internet Christian sites. It is still being promoted as factual truth. |
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Revision as of 21:07, January 9, 2017
The Two Babylons, subtitled The Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife, is a famous treatise written by Scottish Presbyterian minister Alexander Hislop, first printed in 1853 as a pamphlet and greatly expanded in 1858, then published as a book in 1916. The author claims that the Catholic Church, with its Popes and Sacraments was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine in A.D. 325 as a blend of paganism and Christianity. The book became widely circulated as being a reliable refutation of the Catholic religion. Hislop presented Catholicism as the Whore of Babylon, and this argument has been taken up by mostly conservative Evangelical Protestants such as the Reformed Churches, Baptists, the Church of Christ, Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church of God, and the King James Only movement. In the 20th century it has been promoted mainly by Christian Fundamentalists, and has been a standard source for children's and adult Sunday School education, and its arguments have been widely promulgated in publications, religious dictionaries and encyclopedias, and comic books, and most recently on a multitude of popular internet sites. It has influenced countless multitudes of Christians and non-Christians, and has been a source (but not the only source) of polemical invective against Catholics, particularly against those involved in government and politics. For more than a century (1853-1955) it was among the top best-sellers in England and America, and is still being published.
Historians who have carefully researched the historical claims made in this book, and the source materials that author Hislop relied on, have determined that he is unreliable as an historian. Almost all of his "facts" are shown to be false, and his reasoning from superficial similarities of appearances and ritual actions is demonstrated to be completely unsound and without merit as "proofs" of pagan origins. This has demolished his credibility. 19th century anthropologists who were contemporaries of the authors of his source materials have also shown that even among historians in the 19th century most of his sources had no reliable historical credibility as researchers.
Impartial and objective evaluations by non-Catholic reviewers of this book have also determined that it is simply a calumny against the Catholic religion. This has refuted his Christian integrity as a writer. This does not prove that Alexander Hislop was a liar, but only that his book is full of falsehoods. There is a difference. He may indeed have been sincere in his belief. His methology was entirely wrong. His conclusions are errors.
Individual Christians who have enthusiastically read The Two Babylons, and have dismissed all criticism against it as negative propaganda, and have made the effort to diligently research its claims in order to defend it, have been profoundly disappointed in the book and its author, whom they assumed was telling the truth. Many of them have been astonished that a book so fully discredited should still be sold in Christian bookstores and recommended by online internet Christian sites. It is still being promoted as factual truth.
See also
Essay:Reasons the Catholic Church is Unbiblical
External links
Christian Research Institute. The Two Babylons, by Ralph Woodrow (equip.org) a critique and rebuttal of anti-Catholic arguments used by Alexander Hislop, the 19th century author of "The Two Babylons"
The Two Babylons (godfire.net) analysis and critique
The Two Babylons - Hislop's hypothesis debunked, by D. Burke (google.com/site/christadelphianinfo)
Hislop's 'Babylonian Mystery Religion' Teaching Exposed and Overturned. The Commendable Intellectual Honesty of Ralph Woodrow..., by Robin A. Brace (2005) (ukapologetics.net) he is astonished that Hislop's discredited book is still for sale by Christian bookstores
Escaping Armstrongism (xhwa.blogspot.com) "The Babylon Connection" by Ralph Woodrow and the biblical errors of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God
The Bible Truth Discussion Forum. The Two Babylons (btdf.org/forums/topic/1006-the-two-babylons) lists Hislop's mistakes—explicit point by point analysis
TEXT: Babylon Mystery Religion, Ancient and Modern, by Ralph Woodrow (biblicallifestyleseminars.org) pdf
A Profile in Integrity: Ralph Woodrow, by David Kowalski how research changed Ralph Woodrow's mind and prompted him to refute his book "Babylon Mystery Religion" with another book "The Babylon Connection?"