Alexander Hislop (Born at Duns, Berwickshire, 1807; died Arbroath, 13 March 1865) was a Free Church of Scotland minister famous for his outspoken criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the son of Stephen Hislop (died 1837), a mason by occupation and an elder of the Relief Church. Alexander's brother was also named Stephen Hislop (lived 1817-1863) and became well known in his time as a missionary to India and a naturalist. Location within the British Isles Duns is a town in the Scottish Borders. ... Berwickshire (Siorrachd Bhearaig in Gaelic) is a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council and a Lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The ruined Arbroath Abbey, built from local red sandstone. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900) was a Scottish denomination formed by the withdrawal of a large section of the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the Disruption of 1843. ... For other types of minister, see Minister In Christian churches, a minister is a man or woman who serves a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such persons can minister as a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain, Deacon or Elder. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (1847-1900) was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. ...

Alexander was for a time parish schoolmaster of Wick, Caithness. In 1831 he married Jane Pearson. He was for a time editor of the Scottish Guardian newspaper. As a probationer he joined the Free Church of Scotland at the Disruption of 1843. He was ordained in 1844 at the East Free Church, Arbroath, where he became senior minister in 1864. He died of a paralytic stroke the next year after being ill for about two years. Location within the British Isles Wick is an estuary town in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland, on the main highway (the A99-A9 road) linking John O Groats with southern Britain. ... A Church of Scotland congregation is led by its minister and elders. ... The Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900) was a Scottish denomination formed by the withdrawal of a large section of the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the Disruption of 1843. ... In one sense the Free Church of Scotland dated its existence from the Disruption of 1843, in another it claimed to be the rightful representative of the national Church of Scotland as it was reformed in 1560. ... The ruined Arbroath Abbey, built from local red sandstone. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

He wrote several books, his most famous being The Two Babylons: Papal worship Revealed to be the worship of Nimrod and His wife. Original cover of The Two Babylons, which alleges that many of the Roman Catholic churches doctrines and ceremonies came from ancient Babylonian culture. ...

The Two Babylons

It has been suggested that this section be merged into The Two Babylons. (Discuss)

This book was initially published in 1853 as a pamphlet, then greatly revised and expanded and released as a book in 1858. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Original cover of The Two Babylons, which alleges that many of the Roman Catholic churches doctrines and ceremonies came from ancient Babylonian culture. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard cover or binding). ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

He claimed the Roman Catholic Church was a Babylonian mystery cult, and pagan, whereas Protestants worshipped the true Jesus and the true God. He contended that Roman Catholic religious practices are actually pagan practices grafted onto true Christianity during the reign of Constantine. At this point, he alleged, the merger between the Roman state religion and its adoration of the mother and child was transferred to Christianity, merging Christian characters with pagan mythology. The Goddess was renamed Mary, and Jesus was the renamed Jupiter-Puer, or "Jupiter the Boy". A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or secret wisdom. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Image:Http://www. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ... Head of Constantines colossal statue at Musei Capitolini Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (Latin: IMP CAESAR FLAVIVS CONSTANTINVS PIVS FELIX INVICTVS AVGVSTVS[1] (February 27, 272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or (among Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic[2] Christians) Saint Constantine, was... Saint Mary and Saint Mary the Virgin both redirect here. ... Jupiter-puer (Jupiter, the Boy) was, according to Alexander Hislops book The Two Babylons, a boy-saviour deity worshipped in ancient Rome. ...

Hislop's theory was that the goddess, in Rome called Venus or Fortuna, was the Roman name of the more ancient Babylonian cult of Ishtar, whose origins begun with a blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman named Semiramis. Statue of Venus in the British Museum. ... In Roman mythology, Fortuna was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck. ... Ishtar is the Assyrian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

According to Hislop, Semiramis was an exceedingly beautiful white woman, who gave birth to a son named Nimrod, a large, ugly black man, and later married him, thus founding Babylon, and its religion, complete with a pseudo-Virgin Birth. This he called a foreshadowing of the birth of Christ, prompted by Satan. Later, Nimrod was killed, and Semiramis, pregnant with his child, claimed the child was Nimrod reborn. Nimrod may refer to: People: Nimrod (king), a Mesopotamian king mentioned several times in the Bible Pseudonym of Charles James Apperley (1777-1843), English sportsman and author Places: Nimrod, Minnesota Nimrod Fortress, in Israels Golan Heights Other: The 9th variation in the composition Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar Nimrod... Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu (bāb-ilû, meaning Gateway of the god, translating Sumerian Kadingirra), an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ... The Virgin Birth is a key doctrine of the Christian faith, and is also held to be true by Muslims (Quran 3. ...

Hislop claimed that the cult and worship of Semiramis spread globally, her name changing with the culture. In Egypt she was Isis, in Greece and Rome she was called Venus, Diana, Athena, and a host of other names, but was always prayed to and central to the faith which was based on Babylonian mystery religion. It has been suggested that Isis in literature be merged into this article or section. ... Diana was the equivalent in Roman mythology of the Greek Artemis (see Roman/Greek equivalency in mythology for more details). ... Drawing from a sculpture of Athena at the Louvre. ...

Then, according to Hislop, Constantine, though claiming to convert to Christianity, remained pagan but renamed the gods and goddesses with Christian names to merge the two faiths for his political advantage, under Satan's guidance.

The book has been severely criticized for its lack of evidence, and in many cases its contradiction of the existing evidence: for instance, the Roman state religion before Christianity did not worship a central Mother Goddess, and Jupiter was never called "Jupiter-Puer." Likewise, Semiramis lived centuries after Nimrod, and could neither have been his mother, nor married him. Hislop also makes unacceptable linguistic connections and fanciful word plays, e.g. the letters IHS on hosts in Catholic Holy Communion are alleged to stand for Egyptian deities Isis, Horus and Seth, but in reality they are an abbreviation for Ihsous, the Latin spelling of Jesus's name in Greek (Ιησους), although popularly, they stand for the Latin Iesus Hominum Salvator meaning Jesus, Savior of Mankind (which also fits the teaching of Transubstantiation, where the bread and wine are said to become the body and blood of Christ). The Eucharist is either the Christian sacrament of consecrated bread and wine or the ritual surrounding it. ... It has been suggested that Isis in literature be merged into this article or section. ... Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survived so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Apocopation be merged into this article or section. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Transubstantiation (from Latin transsubstantiatio) is the change of the substance of bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ, the change that according to the belief of the Roman Catholic Church occurs in the Eucharist. ...

Despite this, and the fact that his book, if proven true, would discredit Christendom as a whole, since the concepts that it attacks in Catholicism are shared by some Protestants, this book was, and still remains in some circles, a staple of anti-Catholic polemic. Hislop is a favorite source of Jack Chick, who published reprints of his book, and Dave Hunt, who on occasion alludes to his work. While strong criticisms of this book have been published, it is still considered by many as a definitive work of Protestant Christian apologetics. Anti-Catholicism is opposition to the Roman Catholic Church or to Catholics, often employing mischaracterizations, stereotypes and negative prejudices. ... Jack Thomas Chick (born April 13, 1924) of Chick Publications is a comic book artist and publisher. ... Dave Hunt, born in 1926, is a Christian apologist, speaker, radio commentator and author. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ...

External links

• The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop (online)
• Critical Evaluation of The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop
• Ralph Woodrow, The Babylon Connection?, 1997, ISBN 0916938174 (critique from former advocate).
• Genealogical page on Jamie Hayter's family history site Note: shows different date of birth for Alexander Hislop - clarification being sought

Hislop's book reveals the obvious connection between the Roman Catholic Church, or the "church of the seven-hilled city" and the ancient pagan religion called Babylonian Mysteries. His evidence draws of historical data from Ninevah, Babylon, Egypt, Pompeii, and others that has been used not only for his purposes in revealing the basis of the Roman Catholic faith, but also by secular scholars for unrelated purposes. This article is being considered for deletion for the 2nd time in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Books by Alexander Hislop

(Sources of information include COPAC )

• Christ's Crown and Covenant: or national covenanting essentially connected with national revival (Arbroath and Edinburgh, 1860)
• Infant Baptism, according to the Word of God and confession of faith. Being a review, in five letters, of the new theory of Professor Lumsden, as advocated in his treatise entitled, "Infant baptism: its nature and objects." (Edinburgh, 1856)
• The Light of Prophecy let in on the dark places of the Papacy (exposition of 2 Thess 2: 3-12) (Edinburgh, 1846)
• The Moral Identity of Babylon and Rome (London, 1855)
• The Red Republic; or Scarlet Coloured Beast of the Apocalypse (Edinburgh, 1849)
• The Rev. E.B. Elliott and the "Red Republic" (Arbroath, circa 1850)#
• The Scriptural Principles of the Solemn League and Covenant : in their bearing on the present state of the Episcopal churches (Glasgow, 1858)
• The Trial of Bishop Forbes (A lecture delivered in East Free Church, Arbroath) (Edinburgh, 1860)
• Truth and Peace (in reply to a pamphlet, entitled "Charity and mutual forbearance" by "Irenicus") (Arbroath, 1858)
• The Two Babylons; or, the Papal Worship proved to be the worship of Nimrod and his wife (Edinburgh, 1853 & 1858)
• Unto the Venerable the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland : the petition of the undersigned (relates to James Lumsden on "Infant Baptism": Hislop was head signatory of this petition) (Edinburgh, 1860)

Bibliography

• Ewing, William: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland 1843-1900 (Edinburgh, 1914)
• The Monthly Record of the Free Church of Scotland, 1 April 1865, Obituary
• Dictionary of National Biography, Vol 9 (London, 1908), Article on Stephen Hislop
• Smith, George: Stephen Hislop, Pioneer Missionary & Naturalist in Central India from 1844 to 1863 (London, 1888)