The Great and Abominable Whore

I inherited from my mother a first edition of McConkie's "Mormon Doctrine" wherein Elder McConkie asserts the Catholic Church is the Church of the Devil. This was redacted from volumes published after the first edition and later renounced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tonight I present an alternate explanation. It is not authoritative and is only my opinion based upon my research.

Let's begin with a quotation from the first edition of Mormon Doctrine:

"Similar visions were given to John as recorded in the 17th and 18th chapters of Revelation. He saw this evil church as a whore ruling over people, multitudes, nations and tongues; as being full of blasphemy, abominations, filthiness, and fornication; as having the name, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"; as drunken with the blood of the saints; as revelling in wealth and the delicacies of the earth; as ruling from Rome, the city built on "seven mountains"; as making merchandise of all costly items and of "slaves, and souls of men." And then John, as did Nephi, saw the fall and utter destruction of this great church whose foundation is the devil." ("Mormon Doctrine", Bruce R. McConkie, Deseret Book, 1958, pg.130)

Elder McConkie deduced the whore sitting on seven mountains must refer to the Catholic Church because Rome was built on or around seven mountains. I will suggest an altogether different interpretation.

A whore is a woman willing to prostitute herself for money. For a price she reveals her most sacred parts and exposes her nakedness for compensation. Payment for services and a willingness to sell even her most sacred private parts for a price expose the desires of her heart. Money, not personal sanctity is the desire of her heart. She willingly sells even herself to obtain it.

The seven mountains has duel meaning. Seven is a symbol/sign meaning perfection or completion, suggesting the seven mountains that support the whore embody their perfect support for her perfect wickedness. The seven also plays a numerical role in identifying how many nations support the whore. Avraham Gileadi was the first author with which I am familiar that suggests the word "mountain" in the book of Isaiah was a synonym for the word "nation." If this applies in Isaiah it should also apply in the book of Revelation. Consequently the "seven mountains" symbolically represent seven nations who support and sustain the whore. They have intercourse with the whore and sustain her in her livelihood. Having arrived at these conclusions I have come to believe the whore is not a literal church but a church upon which all men and women approach the alter in false worship to differing degrees. They worship the object of their desire and that object is money. Paul wrote to Timothy that "For the love of money is the root of all evil", (1 Timothy 6:10) so I believe the seven nations that support the whore are the seven central banks from G-7 central banking system.

The Savior taught "For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also." (Matthew 6:21) If your heart is focused on treasure it distracts your focus away from God. The Lord said to Jeremiah: "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart...," (Jeremiah 29:13) If even a portion of your heart is on treasure it prevents us from finding God. Hence the Lord explained to Joseph:

"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson- That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness." (D&C 121:34-36)

Currency is a powerful tool when used to divert man's attention away from God and the acquisition of true, Priesthood power. Men and woman become focused on rewards from the material world they are easily distracted or misdirected from acquiring the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood and reintroduction to the knowledge and presence of God. (See D&C 84:19-26) Not only do they not pursue these blessings but they cease believing they exist.

The Lord has a two fold objective in destroying the whore sitting on the seven mountains. First, God wants our distractions removed to regain our attention and turn our focus toward Him. He intends to destroy our man made crutches so we come to realize how powerless and foolish we really are and how dependent we truly are on God. The second objective is remove evil from the earth. If the love of money is the root of all evil, God intends to tear evil up by its roots. Consequently, if you want to destroy evil, destroy money. If money is gone, there is no money to love or compete for our devotions.

Consistent with these objectives is the Lord's mission statement for restoring the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ:

"The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh-" (D&C 1:19)

God intends to remove every single man made support. FDIC insurance, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Federal Government of all countries. (D&C 87:6) At the end of the day when all these man made supports are removed our lives become condensed down and simplified, turning our focus back to basic's. Things that truly matter like God, family and food. Everything else is window dressing. Those who long for Babylon and her man made indulgences, supports and assurances will be candidates for "pillarhood" with Lots wife. (Genesis 19:26)