Alexander Hislop
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hislop was a Free Church of Scotland
minister
infamous 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.
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.
He wrote several books, his most famous being The Two Babylons: Papal worship Revealed to be the worship of Nimrod and His wife
.
, then greatly revised and expanded and released as a book in 1858. Hislop's work has been described as conspiracy theory propaganda which mixed "sketchy knowledge of Middle Eastern antiquity with a vivid imagination."
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".
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 began with a blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman named Semiramis
.
According to Hislop, Semiramis was an exceedingly beautiful woman, who gave birth to a son named Tammuz, was instrumental as the queen, and wife of Nimrod
the founder of 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.
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.
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.
Though Constantine had been exposed to Christianity by his mother, Helena, there is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother's Christianity in his youth, or gradually over the course of his life, and he did not receive baptism
until shortly before his death. Whatever the case, Constantine's endorsement of the tradition was a turning point for Early Christianity
. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan
legalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church, and set a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor within the Church and the notion of orthodoxy
, Christendom
, and ecumenical councils that would be followed for centuries as the State church of the Roman Empire
.
Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...
minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
infamous for his outspoken criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He was the son of Stephen Hislop (died 1837), a mason by occupation and an elder of the Relief Church
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland
The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland was a Scottish Presbyterian denomination. It was formed in 1847 by the union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church, and in 1900 merged with the Free Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland, which in turn united with...
. 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.
Alexander was for a time parish schoolmaster of Wick, Caithness
Wick, Highland
Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
. In 1831 he married Jane Pearson. He was for a time editor of the Scottish Guardian newspaper. As a probationer
Ministers and elders in the Church of Scotland
A Church of Scotland congregation is led by its minister and elders. Both of these terms are also used in other Christian denominations: see Minister and Elder...
he joined the Free Church of Scotland
Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...
at the Disruption of 1843
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...
. He was ordained in 1844 at the East Free Church, Arbroath
Arbroath
Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...
, where he became senior minister in 1864. He died of a paralytic stroke the next year after being ill for about two years.
He wrote several books, his most famous being The Two Babylons: Papal worship Revealed to be the worship of Nimrod and His wife
The Two Babylons
The Two Babylons is an anti-Catholic religious pamphlet produced initially by the Scottish theologian and Presbyterian Alexander Hislop in 1853. It was later expanded in 1858 and finally published as a book in 1919...
.
The Two Babylons
This book was initially published in 1853 as a pamphletPamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
, then greatly revised and expanded and released as a book in 1858. Hislop's work has been described as conspiracy theory propaganda which mixed "sketchy knowledge of Middle Eastern antiquity with a vivid imagination."
He claimed the Roman Catholic Church was a Babylonian mystery cult
Mystery religion
Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....
, and pagan, whereas Protestants worshipped the true Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and the true God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. He contended that Roman Catholic religious practices are actually pagan practices grafted onto true Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
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
Jupiter-puer
Jupiter-puer was, according to Alexander Hislop's book The Two Babylons, a boy-saviour deity worshipped in ancient Rome. Hislop writes that he was depicted as sitting on his mother's lap, supposedly inspiring the image of the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus, in Roman Catholicism.Apart from Hislop's...
, or "Jupiter the Boy".
Hislop's theory was that the goddess, in Rome called Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
or Fortuna
Fortuna (mythology)
Fortuna was the goddess of fortune and personification of luck in Roman religion. She might bring good luck or bad: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Justice, and came to represent life's capriciousness...
, was the Roman name of the more ancient Babylonian cult of Ishtar
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
, whose origins began with a blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman named Semiramis
Semiramis
The real and historical Shammuramat , was the Assyrian queen of Shamshi-Adad V , King of Assyria and ruler of the Neo Assyrian Empire, and its regent for four years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age....
.
According to Hislop, Semiramis was an exceedingly beautiful woman, who gave birth to a son named Tammuz, was instrumental as the queen, and wife of Nimrod
Nimrod
Nimrod means "Hunter"; was a Biblical Mesopotamian king mentioned in the Table of Nations; an eponym for the city of Nimrud.Nimrod can also refer to any of the following:*Nimród Antal, a director...
the founder of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, and its religion, complete with a pseudo-Virgin Birth
Virgin Birth
The virgin birth of Jesus is a tenet of Christianity and Islam which holds that Mary miraculously conceived Jesus while remaining a virgin. The term "virgin birth" is commonly used, rather than "virgin conception", due to the tradition that Joseph "knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn...
. 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.
Hislop claimed that the cult and worship of Semiramis spread globally, her name changing with the culture. In Egypt she was Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, in Greece and Rome she was called Venus, Diana, Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, and a host of other names, but was always prayed to and central to the faith which was based on Babylonian mystery religion.
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.
Though Constantine had been exposed to Christianity by his mother, Helena, there is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother's Christianity in his youth, or gradually over the course of his life, and he did not receive baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
until shortly before his death. Whatever the case, Constantine's endorsement of the tradition was a turning point for Early Christianity
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan
Edict of Milan
The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
legalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church, and set a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor within the Church and the notion of orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
, Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
, and ecumenical councils that would be followed for centuries as the State church of the Roman Empire
State church of the Roman Empire
The state church of the Roman Empire was a Christian institution organized within the Roman Empire during the 4th century that came to represent the Empire's sole authorized religion. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches claim to be the historical continuation of this...
.
External links
- The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop (online)
- Ralph WoodrowRalph WoodrowRalph Woodrow is an Evangelical Christian minister, speaker and presently the author of sixteen books. Woodrow formerly supported the thesis of 19th century Presbyterian churchman, Alexander Hislop, that Roman Catholicism is a syncretistic pagan religion in his book Babylon Mystery Religion and...
, The Babylon Connection?, 1997, ISBN 0-916938-17-4 (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
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)