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The Language of Zion versus the Language of Babel  by J. Parnell McCarter

 

Date: 11/17/16

 

 

A careful reading of Revelation chapters 14 to 19 makes it clear that Babel (aka Babylon) comes in two guises in two distinct entities in the modern era.   The first is one the Protestant Reformers were very familiar with: the Papal kingdom (aka the Romish Beast of 7 Hills).  The second is one they could not know because it did not exist during the Protestant Reformation or before, but was raised up in the modern era with the pivotal assistance of the Papal kingdom.  It is this latter Babel which has sucked in much of the nominally Protestant world.  Notice Revelation 17:3-5:  "I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns... the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour... And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."  Mystery Babylon, which I believe is the modern USA (having abandoned its Protestant Christian colonial order), sits atop the Romish Beast of 7 Hills.  They are two distinct entities in two distinct guises, but both a manifestation of Babel opposed to Christ’s Zion.  One important tool of this modern manifestation of Babel to propagate its spiritual poison is a language which supports its humanistic worldview.  Those who profess to be spiritual citizens of Zion should not employ the language of Babel to evaluate the world around us.  These two languages are contrary, reflecting diametrically opposed worldviews.  The language of Zion includes such evaluative terms and concepts as “Thy law”, “Thy precepts”, “the ten words”, “righteousness”, “holiness”, “abomination”, “sin”, “mercy”, “just”, “love”, “wicked”, “Adam”, “man”, “woman”, “nation”, “transgression”, etc.  The language of Babel includes such evaluative terms and concepts as “homophobic”, “Islamophobic”, “racist”, “hate speech”, “sexist”, “gay”, “sexual orientation”, “bigotry”, etc.  Elijah’s words to Israel are apropos to us today: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” (I Kings 18:21)  We cannot be spiritual citizens of both Zion and Babel, and the language we employ to evaluate the world around us should be consistent with that spiritual kingdom we profess to be a part.

Babel’s terminology has been coined by people who have been opposed to Biblical Christianity, quite often as a way to smear it and those who adhere to it.  For example, psychologist George Weinberg coined the term “homophobia” to deride the Biblical view regarding sodomy and those who adhere to it.   For a Christian to employ the term in ethical evaluation is implicitly a betrayal of Biblical Christianity and a siding with Satan’s Babylonian kingdom, even if that is not always the conscious intent.  The same thing can be said regarding Babel’s other terms which incorporate notions consistent with Babel but not fully consistent with spiritual Zion.  Those terms are even the most dangerous which contain elements of truth, but in totality are not Biblical.  For example, the term “racist” as commonly used in Western society would suggest and imply that it is wrong to express contempt or condemnation for a certain people group (at least if that people group is not historically white and Protestant).  But this Babel-speak view is not consistent with the doctrine of scripture.  Consider these verses, for instance: 

  • “And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.“ (Malachi 1:3)
  • “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.  Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” (Psalm 137:8-9)
  • "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith..." (Titus 1:12-13)

It is never right to express contempt or condemnation for a person or people group without good cause, but it is right and proper to express such contempt or condemnation when there is good cause (Matthew 5:22).  The term “racism” generally does not allow for such, and in the process reflects an ideology at odds with Biblical Christianity.  To use this Babel-speak term is sinful, because it evaluates the world in a morally wrong way. As Christians, we must not allow Babel to set the evaluative terms for us.

This is analogous to the way Christians must never accept the uniformitarian assumption that God never extraordinarily intervenes in the universe.  Accepting a uniformitarian assumption as a condition for investigating the universe’s origins will inevitably lead to conclusions contrary to scriptural doctrine, since scripture teaches that God has extraordinarily intervened at certain times, notably including in the Creation of the universe.  If Christians accept Babel’s language as the evaluative terminology of discourse and debate, then Christians should expect Babel to be the victor at the expense of Zion every time.  Satan has raised up one Babylonian empire after another in human history, and each one has represented rebellion against God.  By God’s grace we need to depart from spiritual Babel, fleeing to Christ and His spiritual kingdom.  Part of this fleeing entails abandoning the language of Babel and using the language of Zion.

We Christians need one term that references all of the jargon used by the modern Babel.  I propose it be the term “Babel-speak”.  In addition, we need terms to counter Babel's vocabulary.  Based upon current usage, here is some I have seen:

 

Babel-Speak

Zion-Speak

 

 

homophobic, homophobia

Christian view of sodomy

gay

sodomite

racist

racially realistic, racial realist, Biblical view of race

sexist

gender realistic, gender realist

sexual orientation

proclivity to sodomy, abandonment to sodomy

Islamophobic, Islamophobia

Christian view of Islam

hate speech, bigotry

Biblical Christian perspective

 

So the next time you hear people employ Babel's jargon to critique others, point out how they are using Babel-speak and you do not approve of it.  Biblical Christianity has its own vocabulary consistent with God’s word.  Part of dismantling Babel is replacing Babel-speak with Zion-speak.