2. Theological Seminary : Projects, Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing 2. Theological Seminary : Projects, Theses and Dissertations by Author "Akinola, Oluseyi Caleb"

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    A theological and contextual study of “Babylon” in Revelation 17-18
    (Adventist University of Africa, 2016-05) Akinola, Oluseyi Caleb
    A proper interpretation of Babylon in Revelation 17-18 is a key to a better understanding of the meaning, identity and time of the fulfilment of Babylon in prophecy. The identification and fall of Babylon has been a topic of endless debate in biblical studies. Almost every item of the passage has been debated. The Preterist holds that the fulfilment of Babylon prophecy primarily addresses the situation of the Christian church in Roman province and it does not contain any predictive prophecy. The Idealist sees the fulfilment of this prophecy solely as the ongoing struggle between good and evil which cannot be applied to any historical time period. The Futurist places the entire significance of the study in the future. However, the Historicist interprets the future course of history from the Apostolic times until the time of the end. In spite of some previous studies on the symbol of Babylon and its judgment, some questions are yet unanswered such as: why was Babylon singled out as a whore? The fall of Babylon—is it historical or futuristic? What is the nature of the judgment of Babylon? This thesis seeks to examine this passage from theological views in order to understand the original intent of the author. This study is limited to Revelation 17 and 18. Hence, it uses the theological and contextual approach. This engages the biblical text and seeks the meaning its author most likely intended for its original audience and the theological aspect is to help historically. From this study, it appears that Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18 can be seen as an apostate church which can as well be the Roman Catholic Church. It is clearly seen that the symbol of the woman sitting on a scarlet beast stands for the apostate church. Therefore, Babylon can not be identified as imperial Rome, for it is not political but rather a religious system dominating political powers of the world at the conclusion of this world’s history.