“Whore of All the Earth”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet
Though there is but one Christ, there are hosts of faithful souls who with full authority can speak in the name of Christ. Similarly, there is but one Church of Jesus Christ, yet there are hosts of congregations within that Church. And so it is with the kingdom of darkness; there is but one great whore of all the earth, spoken of by the Revelator as “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Revelation 17:5), yet she has a numberless posterity, for many have chosen to pattern themselves in her image and likeness. Thus we understand such phrases as “the whore of all the earth” or “great and abominable” to have both a specific and a general application. In this text, as in 1 Nephi 14:10, it is used in reference to the composite of all who fight against the kingdom of God.

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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