666 The Number Of The...

Here we go again: Another Christian 'old wives tale' that I should sit behind a desk, and write about; debunking the panic-driven myths of some modern Antichrist (which changes every now and again), bringing about the end times, micro-chips and all the paranoid delusions accompanying it, because (some) people are incapable of thinking for themselves. Or maybe it's just because I spend so much time studying ancient biblical texts and languages, that I sometimes forget that not everyone knows what I know. However, whatever the case may be, common sense is common sense - right?! Apparently not. Common sense is a flower that doesn't seem to grow in every garden. And therefore from the Pope to Bill Gates are at the cross-hairs of every Christian tinfoil hatter's conspiracy theory, looking to attach to them that infamous 666-mark. Even Trump! However, even though I don't find it entirely unreasonable, I'm going to stick to my logic-guns anyway... In this article, I will delve a bit deeper into the myth of the "Antichrist" and the proverbial "number of the beast".

So, the Antichrist, eh? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he doesn't exist... The actual, physical existence of an antichrist-figure in Biblical texts is highly disputed, as the literary presence of such an enigma is only merely mentioned in five New Testament texts: In 1 & 2 John the ?ντ?χριστο? (antichristos) is someone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the messiah) and also denies [the existence] of "the father" ??????? (Adonai) which is another Hebrew name for the Old Testament God, Yahweh. However, in the Gospels Matthew (Chapter 24) and Mark (Chapter 13), we encounter the term ψευδ?χριστοι (pseudo-Christoi) which translates to "false Christs". Where Jesus educates his disciples not to heed the sayings of false prophets, who claim that they are Messiahs and demonstrate their supposed power as confirmation bias. Finally, the last text seemingly alluding to this ant-Christ narrative is 2 Thessalonians which many claims as having authentically Pauline authorship. However, some scholars disagree with this notion based on the fact of the ambiguity in the text towards the infamous "second coming".

Nevertheless, the above texts have often been the basis for discussion about eschatology (end-time narratives) as well as other 'prophetic' narratives about modern-day phenomena (which I will get into later), especially when used alongside texts from the book of Revelations. Such notions are extremely historically dishonest, and I cannot stress this enough. These are historical texts, composed approximately between the 1st-5th centuries C.E. - thus they were not meant for a contemporary 21st-century audience. The epistles of John constitute as letters of correspondence, between some unspecified John (of whom there are about 3x in the entire New Testament), and some unknown audience. I will not elaborate on authorship, as there are - always - loads of dispute about the factors in play, that lead to an identification of a possible author. Also, I disagree with the traditional theory ascribing John the Son of Zebedee, and disciple of Jesus, as the possible author - for the sake of the historical ambiguity and lack of concrete evidence within the text.

The Gospel texts of Mark and Matthew are, in fact, sermons/speeches of which the only historically credible text, is Mark. Matthew copied directly from Mark, and from Luke (who also copied from Matthew and Mark) along with an unknown "Q-source". Mark was written by a particular evangelist of the same name and is only 3/4 accurate -as the latter 1/3 was a later addition (to the original text). Matthew's authorship, however - just like in the case of the epistles 1&2 John - remain pseudepigraphical (written under falsehood). Both Matthew and Mark had Jewish audiences, as the themes in their literature speak to a Jewish context. The purpose of their writ was to educate (evangelise) to those, who have not heard of this political anarchist called Jesus of Nazareth, and to persuade them (the audience) to join this political agenda (against the Roman imperialists of the day).

Yet, just as any popular movement goes, there will be some who would add bits and pieces for their own self-interest. Jumping on the bandwagon to get their moment of fame, warping reality to make their versions more attractive to the masses. Hence, Jesus became hailed as the 'messiah' because he was seen as the political messianic liberation figure, the Jews had been waiting for in all their years of oppression. They believed the messiah to be a military figure, who would slay their colonial oppressors in one fell swoop. And because Jesus was educated in the temple and showed high intelligence and perception, he eventually received the admiration of many (Luke 2:41-52). "So, the boy was smart. Big whoop!" - Indeed. This obviously thus lead to his outspokenness and articulateness; Jesus wasn't the messiah, he was a sage (Jewish wisdom-teacher) like Solomon, David, Job and Qohelet, his predecessors.

So, what exactly does this have to do with the Antichrist and the "mark of the beast", then? You see, Jesus was an anarchist. He criticised every single part of his society's elitist, religious -and especially political corruption. He stood up for the voiceless and organically gained himself a following-basis from the majority of poor, lower-class and mostly uneducated communities. Who, because of their devout-religious superstition, ascribed to him certain titles, like, for example, "the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). And this was no accident. This was a political scheme, which served as the grand antithesis to the Roman monarch (emperor). As the Romans themselves declared their emperors "the son of God", to indicate their divine rulership and celestial authority. And if there was one thing the Romans were not okay with, it was insurrection and disobedience.

Jesus and those who admired him, made the Roman ruling elite very uncomfortable. Jesus was thus seen as a challenger of political authority, which if left unchallenged; could result in a civil war between the Romans and the Jewish majority. And losing Jerusalem would deal a significant blow to the Roman economy because Jerusalem was a very central and strategic trade route. And of course, the reputation of the Roman empire challenged by a bunch of 'peasants', who could topple the Roman government in Jerusalem with a single uprising (worst case scenario) -if push came to shove, was a risk for disgrace the Romans weren't willing to take. Therefore, the Roman empire had to assert their dominance: killing Jewish first-borns (Matthew 2:16-18), their valiant Messiah (Mark 15:24; Matthew 27:35; Luke 23:33; John 19:18) and hunting his followers (Acts 5:41; 8:1-4 & Luke 6:26). And if the Jews hated the Romans for their high tax rates before, they emphatically deplored them then.

And so the book of Revelations was written in 96 C.E. and contains events that happened 200-300 years after Jesus' crucifixion (33 C.E.); therefore 50-60 C.E. and also after the apostolic establishment of the Christian church by Peter (30-100 C.E.). Alas, the Roman prejudice did not stop. In fact, it worsened. And the Roman emperor Nero (54-68 C.E.) was the prime suspect, because during that time there was a great fire that erupted in Rome, which became known as "The Great Fire of Rome" (64 C.E.). The fire burnt for about nine days, and after six; was brought under control. Just to reignite again and burn for another three. The fire, in its aftermath, destroyed about 2/3 of Rome. And it was said that Nero started the fire as an excuse to build his palace (which would've covered 2/3 of Rome) and instead blamed the Christian community for its start. This resulted in an empire-wide crusade against them (the Christians).

The Revelations-text contains three literary genres: epistolary (letter of correspondence), apocalyptic (describing complete destruction of the world) and prophetic (advocacy/teaching). All of these text-traditions are prevalent throughout the New Testament, and in the context of Revelations merely means that it is a text that prophesied (controversially advocated and taught about) about a perceived apocalypse (end of the world). Now, there is a difference to be understood between apocalypse and eschatology: ?ποκ?λυψι? (apokalupsis) means "uncovering/revelation" which is merely an epiphany or an 'a-ha!' moment, concerning itself with the end of the material world. Whereas ?σχατο? (eschatos) which means "last/final", and λογ?? (logos) means the "study/consideration" of something. In this case, it refers to the study of the final things concerning life and existence (apart from the world).

Also, prophetic from the Greek πρ?φημι (profemi) generally means "inspired preacher/interpreter", and does not mean the predictor of future events 2000 years later, or things that would happen in your life in the next few weeks. It was an acquired perceptive understanding of patterns occurring in the prophet's immediate socio-historical context. And relaying them to society as a means of giving them direction/purpose. A prophet was thus a moral compass to his people; not a soothsayer (contrary to popular belief and modern practice)! Now that I've covered all these bases, and illustrated the important background details and complexities, we can finally get to the matter at hand.

The 'mark of the beast' or as it is known in Greek ?ριθμ?? το? θηρ?ου (Arithmos tou Theriou) "the number of the beast", is found in Revelations 13:15-18 and it's not some modern construct, referring to a microchip and barcode that all people will receive because governments under the authority of Satan (the perceived Antichrist); are working together on a covert ploy, to enslave humanity in an autocratic one-world order, spearheaded by the Illuminati, with the help of the Rothschilds and the Freemasons... - Did I miss anything?

Nevertheless, the mark of the beast is rather a compilation of three Greek alphabetical syllables (because the New Testament was written in ancient Greek): χξ? (chi-ksi-sigma), whom each represents a numerical value, collectively forming 666. As the digits (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0) we use today known as Hindu-Arabic Numerals, originated in India during 600-700 C.E. and was only introduced to Europe in about 1200 C.E. through the writings of Middle-Eastern mathematicians. Before that, the Greeks and other cultures (including the ancient Israelites and Romans), used their respective alphabets as numerical systems. Therefore, χ (chi) = 600; ξ (ksi) = 60 and σ/? (sigma) = 6 surmounts to 666, or as in some other modern editions of the Greek text, ?ξακ?σιοι δ?κα ?ξ (heksakosioi deka heks) "sixhundred sixty six".

In other later (younger) manuscripts, like Papyrus 115 (the oldest preserved original manuscript of Revelations) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (a 5th Century Greek manuscript of the Bible), the number of the beast is written as χισ or χι? (chi-iota-sigma) which equals 616. Now, you might think that this second number destroys the whole argument, but it doesn't. Both refer to Emperor Nero because in Hebrew ??? ???? (Kaisar Neron) equals 666 - if the name were to be transliterated from the original Latin spelling. However, should the "n" (which equals 50) fall away, we are left with ??? ??? (Kaisar Nero), which comes down to 616. Therefore, based on the above historical evidence, the number of the beast does not refer to Baphomet (a.k.a Satan) or the Pope, but to the Emperor Nero of Rome. Yet, why 666? 6 numerologically stands for 'unholy imperfection/incompleteness' (work), in contrast to 7 which is the number symbolising the 'holy perfection/completeness' (rest) of the 7th-day ordained by Yahweh in the Genesis creation-narrative, as "good" (cf. Gen. 1:31).

And even though there are other Hebrew nouns like ???? (stor) "hidden", ????? (yatron) "advantage" and also ????? (terion) meaning "beast", which all quantifies to 666, there is not enough collective historical evidence to support their validity as prevalent alternative options. So, was Nero the Antichrist that Revelations refers to? Yes. Because as I mentioned earlier, Nero persecuted Christians. And subsequently, he was vehemently despised -for that, and other things... - In what is known today as St. Peter's Square, in Vatican City, Rome: Emperor Neuro built a circus (a large open-air venue that hosted public events in the ancient Roman Empire). These public events included: Gladiator fights, Chariot races, animal fights etc. but specifically Nero also used it to execute Christians publically and in great numbers after the Great Fire. He even executed the founder of the church in Rome (Peter) and crucified him upside down. Others were crucified and lit on fire. And the St. Peter Basilica, commemorating his (Peter's) death in the circus, attests to this.

The text of Revelations was written at a time where the Christians feared that Nero would return, and thus they thought it safer to refer to him (and the Roman Empire) in a manner of code, along with employing other metaphors and allegories. Therefore, now that we have established that the number of the beast and the Antichrist is Nero. What about "the beast(s)"? Yes, there are two. These (again) are not Satan or some crazy modern politician, but referential to the Roman Empire. The first beast comes from the sea (thus is a foreigner) and is given authority by the δρ?κων πυρρ?? (drakōn purros) "Red Dragon" (a Roman mythological creature, also commonly misinterpreted to be Satan) which is symbolic of the Roman Empire (Revelations 11-13:1-10 & 17:7-18). The second beast, comes out of the earth with "two horns like a lamb" (looks innocent, but is inherently evil) and "speaks like the Dragon" (like the Roman empire), but instead demands that people obey the dragon and commands the people (the Jewish Christians) to make an image (statue perhaps) to this beast (Roman Emperor), and everyone who did not obey or 'worship' this image, will be killed. Thus anyone who does not submit to the Roman empire, will be killed (Revelations 13:1-10).

Therefore, Revelations is a huge political protest and a marvellous literary work, and of course, because Jesus played a key role as the biggest political anarchist and martyr he gets to play the common immortalised hero, shooting down from above with celestial armies, to kill and conquer Israel's colonial persecutors (cf. 19:14) and save a suffering and hopeless nation. A nation who had been violated (chronologically speaking) almost in succession by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and now the Romans. This is the most dramatic text in the whole of the New Testament and contains hundreds of Hebrew-cultural and eschatological metaphors and allusions. And the linguistic phrasing is much like that in the Hebrew text of Daniel (also a prophetic-genre text), in the Old Testament. It is basically the closest we'll get to an ancient version of a Steven Spielberg movie, scored by Hanz Zimmer.

In conclusion, Satan is still a myth. And Jesus of Nazareth was just a well-spoken, humanist and political anarchist, fighting for liberation from Roman oppression. And ended up dying a martyr which fueled a powerful Jewish cultural movement. The Revelations-text sought to blame someone for the great injustices that had befallen the Jewish people and their patriots. And Neuro and the Roman Empire was at the top of the unknowable John author's hate-list.

Moreover, I suspect the author(s) probably used some psychedelics or opiates during their writing. Either that, or they just had a rich imagination and exceptional literary and linguistic training, because to come up with such elaborate imagery is pure genius. It's not a mystical text that requires constant decoding. It simply states that evil has a face: injustice and oppression - it wasn't (and still isn't) Satan or demons, and no imminent or future doom awaits us that is not already a fact of life. And conspiring elaborately in denial does not remove our responsibility to free ourselves from the oppression of dragons and beasts, alive and well in our society today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTl7L_O4Aso