Enigma Babylon One World Faith (originally Global Community Faith) was the name of the one-world faith instituted by Nicolae Carpathia and the Global Community in the book Tribulation Force. It was an interfaith group that believed that all religions were valid pathways to God, though it condemned the Bible's message that Jesus Christ is the only way to God as heresy, and also encouraged the belief that there was inherent goodness in every person. (This latter belief is contrasted by Scripture that states that all have sinned and fell short of God's glory in Romans.) It was led by former Roman Catholic archbishop Peter Mathews, who was nominated into the role as Pontifex Maximus and then later adopted the simpler Pope Peter the Second. Enigma Babylon lasted until Peter Mathews was assassinated by the ten subpotentates at the time of the Global Gala and was immediately dissolved, replaced by Carpathianism. This one-world faith can be seen as part of the fulfillment of the Great Harlot mentioned in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.
After Mathews' assassination, Enigma Babylon dissolved into the aforementioned Carpathianism, as all people were required to worship Carpathia. The Potentate was considered a deity and worthy of glory and honor when he rose from the dead after his own assassination, therefore morphing the deceased One World Faith into a worship of Carpathia.
Pantheism and polytheism[]
The religion has a pantheistic theology. In The Search, Darrion Stahley, who was at the time an adherent to Enigma Babylon, said that she "believes in the unity of all living things. God is in us and all that exists". Darrion objected to her religious aunt and uncle who were raptured because they talked about hell and made God out to be mean. In Darkening Skies, Janie McCanyon said that Enigma Babylon says that "God is an idea that lives inside all of us".
Enigma Babylon One World Faith also has a vaguely polytheistic theology. In Apollyon, during the Meeting of The Witnesses in Teddy Kollek Stadium, Nicolae Carpathia, Leon Fortunato, and Peter Mathews interrupted the meeting by landing in a helicopter piloted by Mac McCullum in the center of the assembly. Peter Mathews said that he would defend their right to oppose and disagree and to seek their "multilayered plural godhead". Mathews also gave a benediction to gathering in the name of the "universal father and mother and animal deities who lovingly guide us on our path to true spirituality". In Secrets of New Babylon, The Enigma Babylon One World Cathedral in New Babylon had framed speeches of Nicolae Carpathia, pictures of people on their knees before pieces of stone and wood, statues of various gods and goddess. The religion also seems to venerate animism and fetishism (the belief that certain objects have supernatural potency). Its depiction of the gods does not seem to be indicate that they are in a canonical pantheon of gods, but rather a gesture of inclusion indicating that all sorts of historical and regional deities are acceptable and welcome.
Relativism of Enigma Babylon One World Faith[]
In Soul Harvest, Tsion Ben-Judah's address to the Internet insinuated that many religions eagerly forfeited their claim to exclusivity to Enigma Babylon because those following those religions realize that their claims never made sense. Tsion also criticized the concept of deity of Enigma Babylon to be incoherent (in contrast to the clear claim in Christian orthodoxy that Jesus is God):
- Enigma Babylon, sanctioned by the Global Community itself, does not believe in the one true God. It believes in any god, or no god, or god as a concept. There is no right or wrong; there is only relativism. The self is the center of this man-made religion, and devoting one's life to the glory of God stands in stark relief.
In The Mark, Nicolae Carpathia after his resurrection imposed Carpathianism, a religion where he is judged to be a supreme being worthy of worship, upon the world. In introducing Carpathianism, Carpathia acknowledged that Enigma Babylon One World Faith failed due to its relativism and amorphous creed and proposed a monotheistic religion where he exalts himself as the personal god of the world:
- The Enigma Babylon One World Faith failed because, despite its lofty goal of unifying the world's religions, it worshiped no god but itself. It was devoted to unity, yet that was never achieved. Its god was nebulous and impersonal. But with Leon Fortunato as Most High Reverend Father of Carpathianism, the devout of the world finally have a personal god whose might and power and glory have been demonstrated in the raising, of himself, from the dead!
Enigma Babylon One World Faith's relativism is relatively benign due to its inclusive nature, emphasis on respect and tolerance, and its encouragement of following one's personal judgments and experiences as opposed to demanding adherence to a firm, external creed and requiring tangible acts of devotion and loyalty. In contrast, Carpathianism impels one to choose sides and pledge allegiance to the Potentate, Nicolae Carpathia, by taking the mark of loyalty and tangibly worshiping his image, leading one to be damned. In The Rise of False Messiahs, Aron Ben-Eliezar resisted taking the mark because it means identifying with Carpathia as opposed to merely taking on identification, but other characters did not see the significance of taking the mark of loyalty.
Muslims were one of the few Gentile non-Christian groups that opposes Enigma Babylon One World Faith.
Beliefs about the God's judgments[]
The Enigma Babylon One World Cathedral also had recorded sermons of Peter Mathews available to anyone that entered as each seat had its own interactive screen and headset. Often during the sermons, a question would be asked about theology such as whether god is angry and mean-spirited, a thinly veiled gibe at the God of the Bible, insinuating that He is vindictive and petty for sending the various plagues. During the recording of the sermon, the audience unanimously disagreed that god (probably what each participant understood about the godhead of Enigma Babylon) was like that.
In Soul Harvest, after the Wrath Of The Lamb earthquake, Nicolae Carpathia addressed the survivors, asking them not to blame God:
- “So, my brothers and sisters, do not blame God for what we are enduring. See it simply as one of life's crucibles, a test of our spirit and will, an opportunity to look within ourselves and draw on that deep wellspring of goodness we were born with. Let us work together to make our world a global phoenix, rising from the ashes of tragedy to become the greatest society ever known. I bid you good-bye and goodwill until next I speak with you.”
At least shortly after the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake, the Global Community and its extension Enigma Babylon regarded the God of the Bible as non-existent, not as a existing supernatural foe who dispenses judgment. In that speech, Carpathia made an approving reference to Enigma Babylon as promoting religious freedom and tolerance, while also criticizing the belief that earthquake was God's doing.
In Apollyon, Peter Mathews indicted Eli and Moishe as practitioners of "black magic" after the spell of global cooling during the forth Trumpet Judgment when the sun darkened. Since the plagues did not come from God, Mathews implies that their powers come from some unknown natural source that they harnessed for malevolent means or they have allied themselves with some unknown entity that has some supernatural or preternatural qualities.
Other beliefs[]
In Battling the Commander, Lionel Washington and Judd Thompson Jr. caught a program on television that was approved the Enigma Babylon One World Faith that purported to teach viewers how to cast spells against one's enemies. It is unknown whether the spells taught were efficacious against their targets as those spells can work by genuinely harnessing demonic powers or some preternatural pantheistic power to work on behalf of the caster. Judd and Lionel saw this and many other television programs as evidence of the increasing moral depravity of the media after the Rapture.
In Attack of Apollyon, Janie McCanyon remarked to Conrad Graham that God may let her into heaven for helping and comforting a starving Lenore Barker who was in threadbare clothes and lost her husband as he was searching for food. Janie later continued this discussion that the Enigma Babylon spiritual guide at the reeducation camp said that "we're all God's children" and that "anything we do to another child of God will be repaid in the next life". If one does not do good, one may come back as a snail or an ant.
Worship[]
Worship is usually dictated by the local religious leader, whether it be a pastor, priest, shaman, or whatever title the leader carries, with the Pontifex Maximus issuing the papal decrees. Since Enigma Babylon does not have specific guidelines as far as proper worship, except most likely for the worship to be as nonviolent as possible, religious leaders are free to lead worship however they want, including incorporating elements of worship from other religions if they are led to doing so. However, an adherent of this religion cannot declare that Jesus Christ is the only way to have salvation with God, as that was declared a heresy.