“Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication” (v. 14:8).
“The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of
his wrath” (v. 16:19).
“...and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: Babylon the great,
mother of whores and of earth’s abominations” (v. 17:5).
“He called out with a mighty voice, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!”
(v. 18:2).
“...they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, Alas, alas, the
great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has
come” (v. 18:10).
“With such violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down, and will
be found no more” (v. 18, 21).
Babylon in the Book of Revelation can only refer to Rome as it was the
only “great city” in the time of Christ and the Apostles. Babylon proper in
Mesopotamia had, by 100 AD, been reduced to insignificance. Other extra-
biblical works also refer to Rome as Babylon, such as the Sibylline Oracles
(5:159ff.), the Apocalypse of Baruch (2:1) and 4 Esdras (3:1). Boettner,
however, dismisses the argument that Babylon in 1 Peter is a code for
Rome, preferring to believe that St. Peter actually visited Babylon itself:
“While there is no Scriptural evidence at all that Peter went west to
Rome, here is a plain statement of Scripture that he did go east to
Babylon. Why cannot the Roman Church take Peter’s word to that
effect? … there is no good reason for saying that Babylon means
Rome” (p. 120).
Boettner also asserts that St. Peter wrote 1 Peter (and probably 2 Peter)
while in Babylon. All credible Scripture scholars believe that St. Peter
wrote 1 Peter between 62 and 64 AD. This is because St. Peter seems to
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