Originally a pamphlet published in 1853, ‘The Two Babylons’ is Hislop’s most famous work. In this book, he argues that the Roman Catholic Church is nothing more than a pagan cult, with roots in Babylonian mystery cults, which have a bank of secret knowledge only available to those who have been formally accepted into the cult.
Roman Catholics, Hislop argues, are descendants of early Christians who adopted the Roman religion descended from the worship of Semiramis, the wife of the founder of Babylon. By discrediting the true Christianity of Catholics, Hislop hoped to bolster the legitimacy of the Protestant and Scottish Reformations. Students of theology and those interested in the complex history of Christianity will find Hislop’s arguments provocative enough that they may be moved to further research of their own.
Alexander Hislop was a Free Church of Scotland minister known for his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the son of Stephen Hislop, a mason by occupation and an elder of the Relief Church.