666

The Mark of the Beast

Six hundred and sixty six

Rev. 13:18: "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six."

The 'antichrist' has several definitions, but is generally understood to mean the antagonist of Christ, to come and reign over the world for seven years (the Tribulation) until overthrown at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This means that when the antichrist appears, it won't be long before Christ's return; in other words, the end of the world. So, if the Beast can be identified, then we will know that we are in the final years, or days, of the existence of mankind. And knowing when the world will end has been a quest, probably since mankind has been intelligent enough to philosophize on mortality and the end of the human race.

Alternatively, if we can identify the antichrist and destroy him, then the world will not end, and we can continue enjoying life.

If only it were so simple.

Christians have been looking forward to the Second Coming since the 1^st century. Many, many generations of disappointment.

Who is the antichrist?

One candidate was the Roman Emperor, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Nero wielded enormous power and is infamous for being a Christ-hater. Also, the numeric value of the Hebrew characters of his name add up to 666. Well that's all very interesting for numerologists, but Nero isn't around anymore; he killed himself nearly two thousand years ago. His influence has no bearing on the world today; there is no Nero to overcome or destroy.

If we're searching for the real antichrist, we need to focus on a candidate who is alive now, and many people have come up with some interesting theories. Find somebody you don't like and it shouldn't take you long to associate them with 666. That will give you the smug feeling that your adversary is the antichrist and you can feel justified in calling him your enemy and hating him.

Let's take a peek at some of the sillier "proofs" that have been in circulation for a while now:

For the past few decades, a great many things in our lives have been controlled or influenced by barcodes; those curious vertical lines printed to identify the product they're attached to. Did you know that barcodes lines at the start, middle and end render 666? Well actually they don't in the majority of cases, and when they do, it's only for certain products. But that refutation doesn't stop some Christian fanatics from using the myth to justify avoiding barcodes.

Specific commercial enterprises

Our natural survival instinct means we compare ourselves to others and generally try to copy those better off than we are. Most of us would love to have lots of money and our natural greed means it's instinctive to be jealous of the wealthy. This is one reason why several successful companies have been targets of hatred. If it can be shown that a commercial enterprise is evil, then people can feel justified in attacking them.

Here we see one of many logos that supposedly conceal the demonic number 666.

Toys "R" Us were in a powerful position to directly influence the minds of the very young.

Such seemingly innocuous enterprises are obvious candidates for being the antichrist. Toys "R" Us was where you could buy a Scooby-Doo Zombie Island DVD for $9.99 (inverted 666).

The main feature of the company's logo was "Я", a backwards "R", the 18th letter of the alphabet (6 + 6 + 6). Notice also that it's centred on a pentagram. Until the online shopping revolution forced the company's closure, you could have asked them about these subliminal messages; their New York store number was (631) 666-6611. 

Sadly for conspiracy theorists, however, apart from the children's Halloween costumes, there's nothing to link this multi-billion dollar company with The Beast. The area dialling code 666 is used by thousands of businesses, and stores are opened in whatever area is likely to be profitable, rather than the area's dialling code.

The backwards "R" was the company's idea of the way a child might write – admittedly not a good example for children's education, but certainly not evil.

In 2008, the company began significantly reducing the lead content of paint used on their toys. The controversial phthalates, used in plastic manufacture and linked to reproductive problems, were prohibited by Toys "R" Us. Their line of environmentally friendly products included natural wooden toys and organic cotton dolls, coloured with natural dyes, and packaged in 70% recycled material. Millions of dollars were donated to children's charities. 

Those measures are far from being satanic, are they?

(See why we give meaning to the meaningless)

Asia

We can see evidence of 666 worldwide.

It doesn't take much research to find it appearing in all cultures, such as the (invariably black) reversed and twirling three 6's of the Tomoe symbol. Also the 666 in Japanese currency and elsewhere.

The Pope

The Roman Catholic pope has often been accused of being the antichrist. For one thing, we know that the antichrist comes to us in disguise. And what better disguise than the pope himself? (Rev. 12:9 'Satan, which deceiveth the whole world')

Then again, the antichrist could be anybody who doesn't look like an antichrist.... Hmmm. Let's see what other 'proof' there is.

One of the most popular popes, John Paul II, was known as a very Marian pope. Images of Mary are often shown with a white crescent moon at her feet. And the name of the Mesopotamian mythological moon god was known to the Akkadian as 'Sin'.

The Minaean moon god was also known by the name 'Sin', and here's another Sin: The pope's equivalent in the Philippines was the Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Sin. But like all people, all Christians, all Roman Catholics, we are all sinners. 

Ah yes, that upside-down cross favoured by the pope. This is commonly known as Satan's Cross, because it points downwards to Hell. Also his bent cross - all twisted and misshaped.

But actually the bent cross is to remind us that Jesus was crucified on a rough wooden structure. And the formal name for the inverted cross is St. Peter's Cross, named after the first pope, Peter, who was crucified on a cross. At his own humble request, Peter was hung in the opposite orientation of Christ.

I guess that rules out the Satan's Cross theory. But let's look at just one more attempt to prove the pope is the antichrist:

The pope is 'Vicar of the Son of God' and in Latin (the language of the Vatican) this is Vicarius Filli Dei. Now most of us don't know much Latin, but we recognize Roman numerals on a clock face that 'I' corresponds to '1', 'V' corresponds to '5', and 'X' corresponds to '10'. There are a few other Latin (and Greek and Hebrew) numbers represented by letters: 'L' is 50, 'C' (century) is 100, and 'D' is '500'.

So with that code, we can calculate the value of "Vicarius Filli Dei":

Ignoring the letters that have no numeric value (a, r, s, F and e) and reading 'u' as 'v', since the Romans didn't have a 'u', we see that Vicarius is 112, Filli is 53, and Dei is 501. Add those three numbers together and we have (ta taaaa!) six hundred and sixty six.

But in addition to the fact that pope John Paul II died without starting the Tribulation, another spoiler is that Vicarius Filli Dei isn't the pope's title; just something made up by people who want to support their Catholic-bashing arguments.

The pope has been the malicious target of some Protestants in the past. Fortunately now, mainstream Christian teachings do not support the idea that the Pope is the Antichrist, and instead focus on more important matters. 

Then who?

Despite predictions (such as those made by the Jehovah's Witnesses), we have no idea when the world will end and Jesus made it quite clear (Matt. 24:35-36) that the time is unknowable to mankind. Consequently, looking for any sign is not only a waste of time, but such attempts could be seen as trying to out-smart Jesus.

Not a good idea.

The failed predictions above, and countless others, are ridiculous but not harmless. They are in fact a diversion, a smokescreen, which prevents us from being on the defensive for the real antichrist. The antichrist does not have 666 tattooed on the back of his neck - that's just for the movies.

The antichrist is possessed by an evil spirit, professing to be derived from Christ. He begins as a gentle lamb, but soon reveals himself as a dragon. His goal is to draw people away from worshipping the true God.

So what does 666 mean? God knows.

We don't know. The Nero theory is flawed, the pope theory is old-fashioned prejudice, and the ToysЯUs & Japanese yen ideas are just silly. The number of the beast is given, to show the infinite wisdom of God, and to exercise the wisdom of men.