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Summary: A must read for everyone - Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.
Review: If your Catholic, you probably won't like it or agree with it, but if you'll get outside the box of Catholicism you may be quite surprised. If you're Jewish, you'll recognize that MOST (not all) of the anti-semitism emanating from what you perceive as "Christianity" is really a product of the Catholic Church. If you're Protestant, you'll hopefully see that much of the pagan practices found within the Catholic Church were not totally done away with at the time of the Reformation, but remain within Protestantism even to this day.
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Summary: Not The Product of A Sane Mine
Review: This book is filled with all of the typical paranoid and hateful anti-Catholic polemic that pervades fundamentalist thought. Good for a laugh and not worth being taken seriously
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Summary: Inflamatory language but thought provoking
Review: In my opinion, a "must read" for those of us who are anticipating the return of Christ. Although I found the language a bit more inflamatory than necessary (at times), Mr. Hunt seems to have a lot of points that need to be considered. Even if you are "pro-Roman Catholic", you should read this to see what the concerns/fears of some of the Protestant fundamentalists are.
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Summary: Another banal attempt at interpreting scriptures.
Review: Just another re-write of the same old anti-Catholic non-sense which fundamentalists use to justify their beliefs. I suggest that Mr. Hunt spend more time reading Peter 2:1:20-21, which is not only easier to to understand, but much more appropriate to his beliefs. [20] Understanding this first: That no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.
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Summary: Hunt writes fanciful polemic against Catholic Church
Review: Mr. Hunt has taken his anti-Catholic polemics to new heights in his book, "A Woman Rides the Beast." Hunt's ravings fail, however, on at least two counts. First, his style is boorish and unimaginative. The thoughtful reader would be better served by Spencer's, "The Fairye Queen." Second, his content adds no new insight to the anti-Catholic polemic so common among fundamentalists today. The reader seeking to justify his position that over 1 billion Catholics are really "sons of Satan" and that the Catholic Church is bidding an evil plot to take over the world will find no new evidence in this book. He will find a compendium of the best fundamentalism has to hoist at the Catholic Church. After such a pathetic hoist, one must say, "Hazah!," "Her sides be made of iron!"
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Summary: Dave exposes her in all of her shamefulness
Review: This is not the best expose of the nefarious role of the Vatican in affairs past, present, and future, but it is certainly recommended reading. The Catholics hate it, but they love their church more than Jesus Christ
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Summary: Anti-Catholic Propaganda
Review: Some anti-Catholics make the alarmist claim that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon from Revelation 17 & 18. One is Fundamentalist author Dave Hunt. In his 1994 book, A Woman Rides the Beast, he presents nine arguments to try to show that the Catholic Church is the Whore. His nine are a useful summary of those commonly used by Fundamentalists, and an examination of them shows why the charge simply doesn't work. #1: Seven hills Hunt argues that the Whore "is a city built on seven hills," which he identifies as the seven hills of ancient Rome. This argument is based on
Revelation 17:9, which states that the woman sits on seven mountains. The Greek word in this passage horos. Of the sixty-five occurrences of this word in the New Testament, only three are rendered "hill" by the King James Version. The remaining sixty-two are translated as "mountain" or "mount." Modern Bibles have similar ratios. This blows the interpretation of the text wide open. Hunt claims the seven "hills" refer to the seven hills of ancient Rome, but if the passage states that the Whore sits on "seven mountains," it could refer to anything. Mountains are common symbols in the Bible, often symbolizing whole kingdoms (cf. Ps. 68:15, Dan. 2:35, Obad. 8-21, Amos 4:1, 6:1). The Whore's seven mountains might be seven kingdoms she reigns over, or seven kingdoms with which she has something in common. The number seven may be symbolic also, for it often represents completeness in the Bible. If so, the seven mountains might signify that the Whore reigns over all the kingdoms of the earth. Even if we grant the idea that the word horos should be translated "hill" in this passage, and that these are seven literal hills, it still does not narrow us down to Rome. Other cities are known for having been built on seven hills as well. And even if we grant that the reference is to Rome, which Rome are we talking about? Pagan Rome or Christian Rome? As we will see, ancient, pagan Rome fits all of Hunt's criteria as well or better than Rome during the Christian centuries. When we bring in the distinction between Rome and Vatican City--the city where the Catholic Church is headquartered--Hunt's claim is even more implausable, since Vatican City is not built on seven hills, but only one: Vatican Hill. What's more, Vatican Hill is not one of the seven ancient
Rome was constructed upon. Those seven (the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline hills) are on the east side of the Tiber river. Unfortunately for Hunt's theory, Vatican Hill, site of numerous first-century Christian catacombs, is on the west side. #2: "Babylon"--What's in a name? Hunt notes that the Whore will be a city "known as Babylon." This is based on Revelation 17:5, which says that her name is "Babylon the Great." The phrase "Babylon the great" (Greek: Babulon a megala) occurs five times in Revelation (14:8, 16:9, 17:5, 18:2, and 18:21). Light is shed on its meaning when one notices that Babylon is referred to as "the great city" seven times in the book (16:19, 17:18, 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21).
Other than these, there is only one reference to "the great city." That passage is 11:8, which states that the bodies of God's two witnesses "will lie in the street of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified." This tells us "the great city" is symbolically called Sodom. This is a reference to Jerusalem, which is symbolically called "Sodom" in the Old Testament (cf. Is. 1:10, Ezek. 16:1-3, 46-56). We also know Jerusalem is the "the great city" of Revelation 11:8 because the verse says it was "where [the] Lord was crucified." Christ, of course, was crucified at Jerusalem. Revelation consistently speaks as if there were only one "great city" ("the great city"), suggesting that the great city of 11:8 is the same as the great city mentioned in the other seven texts--Babylon. Additional evidence for the identity of the two is the fact that both are symbolically named after great Old Testament enemies of the faith: Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon. This suggests that Babylon the Great may not be Rome, but Jerusalem. There have historically been a number of commentators, both Protestant and Catholic, which have adopted this interpretation. One school of Protestant Bible interpreters (the followers of David Chilton) use this in their interpretation of Revelation as a covenant lawsuit against apostate Jerusalem for its persecution of Christ and Christians. On the other hand, early Church Fathers often referred to Rome as "Babylon," but every one of those references was to pagan Rome, which martyred Christians, rather than to Christian Rome. There also would be the problem of distinguishing between Vatican City and Rome, since there was no Vatican City in the days of the Fathers and it was thus never referred to as Babylon. #3: Commits fornication Hunt tells us that, "The woman is called a 'whore' (verse 1), with whom earthly kings 'have committed fornication' (verse 2). Against only two
cities could such a charge be made: Jerusalem and Rome." Here Hunt actually admits the prophets referred to Jerusalem as a spiritual whore on numerous occasions, suggesting that the Whore might be apostate Jerusalem. Ancient, pagan Rome also fits the description, since though the cult of emperor worship it also committed spiritual fornication with "the kings of the earth" (those nations it conquered). To identify the Whore as Vatican City, Hunt interprets the fornication as alleged "unholy alliances" forged between Vatican City and other nations, but he fails to cite any reasons why the Vatican's diplomatic relations with other nations are "unholy." He also confuses Vatican City with the city of Rome, and he neglects the fact that pagan Rome also had "unholy alliances" with the different kingdoms it governed (unholy because they were built on paganism and emperor worship). #4: clothed in Purple and red Hunt states, "She [the Whore] is clothed in 'purple and scarlet' (verse 4), the colors of the Catholic clergy." He then cites the Catholic Encyclopedia to show that bishops wear certain purple vestments and cardinals wear certain red vestments. This line of reasoning has unbelievable problems. Hunt ignores the obvious symbolic meaning of the Whore's colors--purple for royalty and red for the blood of Christian martyrs. Instead, he is suddenly, joltingly literal in his interpretation. He caught on well enough that the woman symbolizes a city and that the fornication symbolizes something other than literal sex, but now he wants us to assign the colors a purely literal fulfillment in certain vestments of certain Catholic clergy. Purple and red are not the dominant colors of Catholic clerical vestments. White is. All priests wear white (including bishops and cardinals when
they are saying Mass)--even the pope does so. The purple and scarlet of the Whore are contrasts to the white worn by the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ (Rev. 19:8). This is a problem for Hunt for three reasons: (a) we have already noted that the dominant color of Catholic clerical vestments is white, which would identify them with New Jerusalem if the color is taken literally, (b) the clothing of the Bride is given a symbolic interpretation ("the righteous acts of the saints;" 19:8) implying that the clothing of the Whore should also be given a symbolic meaning, and (c) the identification of the Bride as New Jerusalem (Rev. 3:12, 21:2, 10) suggests that the Whore may be old (apostate) Jerusalem--a contrast used elsewhere in Scripture (Gal. 4:25-26). Hunt ignores the liturgical meaning of the colors purple and red in Catholic symbolism. Purple symbolizes repentance and red honors the blood of Christ and the Christian martyrs
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Summary: An excellent treatise on the paganization of Christianity
Review: "A Woman Rides the Beast" is an excellent treatise on the paganization of Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church. Presented within the prophetic context of Revelation chapter 17, Hunt provides clear and consistent evidence as to the identity of "The Whore"
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Summary: Think About It!
Review: Dave Hunt has done a servicable job of presenting his view that the "Woman" of Revelations is the catholic church and her hierarchy in Rome. Had he not tried to be as inclusive of counterarguments and had written more succintly only on the major chapter headings,the book would have had more cohesiveness. Catholics will be so threatened by the assault on their belief systems that they will "trash" this book without exploring the validity of its main points. As an ex-catholic who spent years learning catholic doctrine but who came to know God and the grace of Jesus as my personal savior only after reading the Bible, the antitheses of catholic doctrine and Biblical Word as presented in the book are both accurate and undeniable. I cannot attest to every reference but can attest to the accuracy of the main points presented when Biblical word and catholic doctrine are opposed and compared. Those who would be so threatened as not to contrast the two from as neutral and nonpersonal a point as possible would miss the benefit of the arguments put forth in the text. A difficult but enlightening read for the Christian non-catholic and a distressing but possibly life changing read for the catholic who can objectively and undefensively read the text and concommitantly read a copy of the Bible. (I recommend The New Living Version for modern syntax but original Biblical accuracy and intent.) The text contrasts faith in God through Biblical understanding and acceptance of Jesus as a personal savior, the faith of a protestant, and catholic faith, faith as good works,indulgences and purgatory mediated through Mary and administered by the church in Rome and its designees. It unearths the core differences between catholic and protestant religions, including the reliance on the Bible as basis of religion for the protestant versus the reliance on the institution of the catholic church for the catholic. A church, which the text contends, purposefully kept the Bible from the hands of its members and made its members feel unworthy and ill-advised to read themselves. The book may, for the first time, make the typical catholic by birth aware of and questioning of the unbiblical principles and practices of the religious institution of the catholic church.
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Summary: I am not even chrisitan
Review: I am not even a chrisitian but I enjoy studing christianity-as well as ALL religions in all aspects and I find that more often then not people who say they are "experts" know nothing and are blinded by their own faith.Mr. Hunt is one of those people. He spills out hatred in pretty words and ignores truth. I would say don't read this book but if you do open your eyes. No book gives complete information and truth if it is written by someone with an agenda. I have studied revelations with a completely open mind-as something interesting to read about and have found that all teh propaganda out there is wrong to a T. If there is a Woman who rides the beast it definatly isn't rome. Its much closer to home but it kindly ignored by people who don't want to look at themselves as workers of evil. Anger, fear, hatred those are the works of evil. Those who speak with those words and preach such thoughts and feelings are workers of evil. Spread love not fear. Don't wait for the rapture-live your life the best you can. You don't make the decision. How selfish to want other people to suffer so you can go to your heaven. And a lot of "rapture" and "enbd of times" theories are full of those things. Just like the Left Behind series this book is a prime example.
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