Is it...SATAN? Ping list...
Posted on 06/02/2006 4:09:08 AM PDT by Pharmboy
"Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six." (Revelation 13:16-18, New Revised Standard Version)
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The number 666 -- the "number of the beast," according to the Book of Revelation -- conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom, are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including next Tuesday, June 6, or 6-6-06.
Fears of 666, long believed to be the dreaded mark of Satan, are based on a "widespread misinterpretation" of the chapter in Revelation -- appropriately, chapter 13 -- in which the number is discussed, according to a University at Buffalo expert on the origins, nature and meaning of cults, superstitions and cultural identities.
Phillips Stevens, Jr., Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology, explains that "like most superstitions, the avoidance of the numbers 13 and 666 are examples of magical thinking.
"People everywhere believe that things associated with other things, through actual contact or just some similarity, have causal relationships, even over space and time," Stevens says. "Things associated with good events or great people can bring good fortune; things associated with failure, disastrous events or evil people carry some of that negativity with them."
And, like many superstitions, the one regarding 666 is based on incorrect data: the "beast" referred to in the chapter is not Satan, but, in fact, several other entities.
"Revelation is a complex and confusing book, and is rarely read closely by lay people. Biblical scholars have pointed out that there are several 'beasts,' in Chapter 13 and elsewhere, and they all refer variously to Rome, Roman emperors and Roman cults of god- and emperor-worship," Stevens says.
"Revelation" author, John of Patmos, traditionally believed to be St. John the Apostle, was writing to other persecuted Christians in code, according to Stevens, so "many of the strange elements in 'Revelation' signify events, people or institutions familiar to first-century Christians.
"The mark of the beast, 666, signifies those in thrall to the emperor and thus opposed to Christianity, and is most probably the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters for Nero," Stevens says.
The First and Second Letters of John use the term "Antichrist" to denote lapsed Christians. Over subsequent centuries, the legend developed that the "end times" would be foreshadowed by the arrival of the Antichrist, an evil figure commissioned by Satan to prepare the world for his coming.
"Many perceived enemies of Christianity have been labeled the Antichrist, and Nero was one of the first," Stevens says, adding that there is an ever-growing, ever-changing list of persons considered the Antichrist that features "a long string of mostly historical figures -- Saladin was on the list, as was Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. The list varies according to who compiles it. Early Reformation-era Protestants had some popes on their list."
Chapter 13 in Revelation declares that the Antichrist was empowered by Satan, who is described as a dragon.
"So, although 'the beast' is not Satan, in Christian tradition 'the mark of the beast' was authorized by Satan," Stevens says. "And so, like that other Christian superstition, Friday the 13th -- from the Last Supper, where there were 13 people at the table, and the Crucifixion occurred the next day, a Friday -- 666 has become a strong taboo, avoided because of its negative association."
Generations have shunned the number to the point that it is erased or changed if and when it appears, Stevens notes. Authorities have re-numbered various U.S. highways previously numbered 666, and the town of Bel Air, Calif., changed the 666 street number of the house that President Ronald Reagan purchased upon leaving Washington, D.C.
Beyond mere superstition, many others believe conspiracy theories that have cropped up regarding the number 666, Stevens adds.
"They believe the sinister number 666 is encoded in our nation's banking system, in our medical and governmental records, and in our very identity, in personal documents and in UPC bar codes -- this latter is evidence of the fulfillment of Revelation prophecy," he says.
No surprise, then, that someone has found a way to make money off all these fears: coming soon is a remake of the 1976 horror film, "The Omen," the story of a modern-day birth of an Antichrist figure in the form of an evil boy named Damien (the original starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick). Producers have scheduled the movie's release date for -- when else? -- next Tuesday, June 6, 2006.
Perhaps tickets should be sold for $6.66?
My boss said I can knock off early today - around 6:66 pm.
Hey, wait a minute!
It's my brother's 42nd birthday! I need to get a card in the mail today!
Be careful! When you mail it, if a lightning bolt hits the mail box, let us know...
Looks like a 'very nice boy ' to me.
numerals are man made representations.
if we were in a base 6 system, the date might look like
10/10/10.
to ascribe hidden satanic or other nefarious meaning to them, is just plane silly.
I am in law enforcement and have been warned about this terrible date. Unfortunately it follows the birth of my daughter. Don't worry though... I checked her scalp and there is no "mark" there.
I've heard Jimmy Akin express the same opinion.
Yesterday I blogged about the fact that in Greek, Jesus' name adds up to 888. In response, a reader asked:Revelation is written in the style of "apocalyptic" literature, like the Book of Daniel, a form of literature that is highly symbolic.All this brings to 666, the number of the beast. I've read somewhere this backtranslates to Nero, though intentionally without determinism. Is there a known spelling of Nero that makes the connection in Latin or ancient Greek?
It is true, though the language isn't Latin or Greek. It's Hebrew or Aramaic. These two languages use the same alphabet, though the shapes of the letters are sometimes quite different, and as a result they used the same numbering system. Since first century Jews were Aramaic-speakers, Aramaic is really the more relevant language in this case, but because modern pastors tend to know more Hebrew than Aramaic (since most of the Old Testament is in Hebrew), you often hear that "Nero Caesar" adds up to 666 in Hebrew.
Here's how it works:
Aramaic and Hebrew did not have vowels in the first century, so words were spelled with consonants. There were different ways one could spell words (in the absence of Webster's dictionary), and one spelling of "Nero Caesar" (or "Caesar Nero") was NRWN QSR.
Nun = 50
Resh = 200
Waw = 6
Nun = 50
Qop = 100
Samekh = 60
Resh = 200TOTAL = 666
Now, there's lotsa folks who have names that add up to 666, so why should one be confident that the emperor Nero was who St. John/God had in mind in the book of Revelation?
Well, in Revelation the beast is described as a leader who demands to be worshipped as a god and who persecutes Christians? Any of St. John's contemporaries fit that bill? Yep: Nero.
Any reason we should think that it would be one of St. John's contemporaries? Yep, again: At its beginning and its end, the book stresses it deals with what will happen "soon" (Rev. 1:1, 22:6).
Anything else?
Yep the third: Another spelling of "Nero Caesar" in Aramaic(/Hebrew) is NRW QSR, which leaves off a nun (50), resulting in the total number 616 instead of 666.
It turns out that some early manuscripts of Revelation record the beast's number as 616 rather than 666.
Somebody back then got it--and was used to a different spelling.
(Note: It's interesting when you're taking a class in Aramaic and are learning the numbering system--still in use among Aramaic-speakers today--and all this comes up. Startling confirmation of the solidity of all this.)
Perhaps even more importantly, the book of Revelation is suffused by images of the Mass. See this audio link at the top of the page.
In Roman Numerals, it is DCLXVI. Must be some hidden meaning that the DaVinci Code believers can find.
I thought is will be 6/6/06, 6606 not 666. I'm confused.
We've already been through 06/06/1006 and the sky didn't fall then.People get so hysterical now a days, it's silly.
I'll be 43 on 6 June ;-)
guaranteed to distract from the realities...
666 is already here.
Social
iSecurity
xiSystem
.xi
..x
"except that no man may be able to buy or sell save he that had the number of the beast, OR THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME!!!"
The idea that revelations is prophecy is not popular among Roman Catholics because it means that the anti Christ will come from Rome. That is why from time to time we hear Roman Catholics insist that John is only talking to Christians of that age and not to us. It gives them the warm fuzzy again. Not buying it.
Craig
Just a bunch of sheep fooled by a flawed calendar. If we were going by Jesus' birthday and a '666' correlation, then the End of the World as we know it would have happened years ago. Our current calendar is off by a few years.
Yes but what if the infamous Senate immigration bill was passed on 6/6/6/? It is an EVIL bill! Would the sky fall than? Yup on taxpayers.
You hope. LOL.
I'm kinda partial to the number 66 myself. I was assigned a certain important number with 666 in it and my late mom was a little concerned for me (so are most people who see or hear it).
But she later said one of the few nice things to me that I can recall her saying, lol. She said "they give that number to nice people to overcome the evil power." I've hung on to that and that's what I tell others.
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