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June 6 Focuses Attention on "666" Superstitions
"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.
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^^ Yeah, I remember being at a party on New years that day and one of my friends spent that night at a church service looking nervously at his watch.
Time is just the concept of the passage of linear events. There is no evidence of the supernatural phenomenon being related to symbols such as the dawn of the millenium or a day marked by "the sign of the beast".
The millenium wasn't the end of the world.
The date 666 wasn't the end of the world.
I guess we'll have to wait until 2012 to see if the rumors about the Mayan calendar come true.
Aside from the movie Omen I haven't heard too many people talking about this day.
Then I turn on the news and it's all some channels were talking about.
Posts: 1203 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by QUEEN OF THE THE UNIVERSE:
LOOOOOL this reminds me of 1999 where everybody thought the yr 2000 would be the end of the world
I'm glad to say that I was not one of them.
I recall some corp. media in the U.S. glossing over the idea that Africans weren't prepared for the Y2k, and made it seem that prospects were gloomy for Africans. We are still here. Lol.
Posts: 5964 | Registered: Jan 2005
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nice points on it (the date, and a lot of other things) not meaning anything. It's ironic that most of these misunderstandings happen because "Christians" don't read the bible.
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We have to realize that even the year is not consistant! It may be 2006 in the present Western calendar but it is all year 2567, 3000, 5000, etc in some nonwestern calendar.
Posts: 1290 | From: usa | Registered: May 2005
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LMAO The only 'beast' I'm concerned with is the one with all mouth and no brains, and there are several of those in this forum right now! Posts: 26286 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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If you want the real take on 666 and the anti-Christ who is Matreiya visit the website of this pastor of the "web "(?),one Pastor Harry and this rev is real..
Note=during the nite of "666" on the "Coast to Coast am radio show", "goofy G. Nooray" had a Catholic Jesuit as a guest and his take about 666,end of the world etc..
He told the intelligent(well,that is an extension of reality here) that nothing to worry about,the anti-Christ is not coming out of your closet to grab you and send you to hell,etc..
Well,the show had many angry calls from "Yahoo Christians" listeners that were offended and really did not believe he was a Jesuit..
Guess sane reasoning is not a typical trait of the US public anymore..
Posts: 305 | Registered: May 2006
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