666? And the system?

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PeterII

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What is 666? Is it the Antichrist? Why is his number three sixes? And what is this thing that I have heard of called the “Antichrist System?”

When I was young my Mom told me that at a certain period of time those who did not accept Christ would be subject to the devil and that they could only go to Heaven if they accepted Christ, but to do so after they already had their first chance they would be tortured into not accepting Him.

Do I have that right? I just want to know two things, really: first, what does 666 mean. And second, what is “the antichrist system?”

Thank you.

P.s. I’m not trying to scare anyone. Truth be told I’m a little freaked out myself about all of this. I love you my brothers and sisters, and I appreciate your replies.

P2
 
So I’m not a scholar on the Hebrew numerical system but they used to use letter and numbers interchangeably. I think it was Nero a “type” of Antichrist much like Joseph is a “type” of Christ.

the number 6 also is representative of man as opposed to 7 which is holy
 
Nero. Was he a ruler? I’ve heard of him. But if was a ruler then that would in my mind help me understand a system of sorts (i.e. Nero’s government?).

Thanks!
 
But I am thinking Saint John wrote about the Antichrist and identified him as 666 in order to let us know who he is.
 
I’m not really understanding why you think he has a “system” … are you talking about the number of the beast? which some groups say is like a mark or a barcode? Truth be told nobody knows what the mark of the beast is, (though you are entitled to your own ideas as long as it doesn’t interfere with your faith)

Rest Assured, if you are a devout Christian and/or Catholic nothing will prevent you from God’s presence as long as you act according to the good of your conscience and under his will.
 
Most of this 666… the number of the beast…getting a number on your forehead or your hand…barcodes…it’s primarily an Evangelical myth started here in the US …popularized by Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye with the End Times Rapture theory series of books…most Christians…either Catholic or Protestant don’t swallow this fiction…the end time will be when we pass from this life into the next…so always be ready.
 
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Until now I had never heard of the “Antichrist system”.What is it?

On the question of the number 666, there is no single explanation that everyone agrees on. The emperor Nero is one possibility, because of numerology. If you have ever seen Quo Vadis, with Peter Ustinov as Nero, I’m sure you will remember the terrible persecution of the Christians that followed the fire of Rome in 64.

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I dunno. The phrase “system” was passed down to me by sources I was too young to remember. Maybe my mom. That phrase is just something that is in my head and I can’t get it out. Just like a system like Orwell’s 1984 where you have no freedom, a “stamp” on your hand, and total subservience to the Antichrist who sets up his own reign after Jesus takes away His people.

Hmm. Peebo, I really believe you hit the nail on the freaking head! If I may contribute to your statements, I would say that INDEED the Protestants are big on understanding Revelations in ways the Church doesn’t need to because We the Church understand more of Metaphors and ART when it comes to interpreting this stuff from the Bible. Like for example please to anyone, read Scott Hahn’s The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. In it Hahn says why the book of Revelation is Mass that we go to and Celebrate.

Yeah, if there is an Antichrist Government (“system”), it verily may be LIMITED to Protestants’ heads. The fact that we have a Promise (do we not?) that our Kingdom will be forever–the Catholic Church will never pass away–means that Jesus already rules the world through the Vatican and the Churches and Catholics around the world and will not pass away. We only await for more from Heaven. Do you think? Poor Protestants, to think such a thing. So I guess, in Reality, it doesn’t “get darker” before the Dawn… IT GETS BRIGHTER BEFORE THE DAWN. Hallelujah.

Still. I welcome other thoughts on this. One person thought “666” was the Internet somehow coming alive. Who knows. [sigh…] P2
 
Well, I will say that we are indeed living in a time of conflict and (in my opinion) on the precipice of great trial if things continue like they have for the past 100 years. That being said, I think it is very important not to fall into the sin of Despair or Lack of Trust, or just plain obsession.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a reason this kinda stuff gets brought up!
  1. Its kinda fun to talk about.
  2. It really does play to our sense of wonder both spiritually and in a worldly analytical sense.
  3. Talking about the Devil and Evil always seems to be a popular topic (hmm wonder why…maybe its because the devil uses it to distract from the real issue at hand → a lack of focus/trust on God).
Its also particularly hard to be a Catholic in times where the general culture is so vehemently anti-Catholic even if its in the subtleties of life. All this being said you can still investigate all this stuff as much as you want but remember to not get addicted to it or at least supplement it with an equal spiritual practice of good.

Maybe you can’t stop thinking about…idk…this COVID thing and whether or not those conspiracies are true. But at the same time, did you pray a rosary (if that’s how you like to pray) for all of the people affected by it, and those who are suffering anxiety, depression, loneliness worrying or staying at home from this disease?

The point I’m trying to make is, God has seen this moment and all moments of the future as well. If you are living in a particularly trying time, God himself has deemed that YOU should live in this time. So what are you going to do with your time? are you going to worry about it? or are you going to prepare yourself and others for the coming trials of life.

PS: There are types of Anti-Christ everywhere and in every age. But the one nice thing about being Christian is that you already know how the story ends! The good guys win! Make sure that you get to celebrate with them when its all over haha!
 
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We dont know and it has not been definitively declared that anyone was/ is the antichrist yet.

Do not be afraid or concerned. Just stay close to God and be guided by God.

There is a chain of events described in the Bible, that include the antichrist, the beast, a mark and suffering. They culminate with Jesus returning.

Jesus returning, the old world giving way to a good and holy world. How great is that 👍🙏
 
PeterII said:
What is 666?
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The Number of the Beast mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Is it the Antichrist?
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While the Beast is often identified with the Antichrist, the terms are actually in different books of the Bible altogether.
Why is his number three sixes?
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It isn’t. It’s six hundred sixty-six. In our number system that’s written out as 666 but in Greek it was three different symbols altogether (one symbolizing 600, one 60, and the other 6… that was how you wrote numbers in Greek back then).

But as for why it’s six hundred sixty-six? That’s highly debated. One explanation that seems plausible is that it was meant as a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero (reigned 54-68 AD), as his name transliterated into Hebrew adds up to 666.
And what is this thing that I have heard of called the “Antichrist System?”
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Haven’t heard of that term before, but apparently it’s a term a few people have used for whatever organization the Antichrist/Beast makes.
 
Revelation 13:18 “let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

John tells us that the number must be “calculated,” which means there must be a hidden meaning behind it.
"The number represents Nero Caesar. The Greek Neron Kaisar adds up to 1,005, but when the name is transliterated into the Hebrew letters nrwn qsr , the sum is 666. Nero Caesar also would explain the variant number of the Beast (616) found in some New Testament manuscripts. Transliterating the Latin Nero Caesar into Hebrew, nrw qsr , yields 616, suggesting John may have been thinking of the well-known Nero Redivivus myth when writing about the Beast (i.e., that Nero would rise from the dead to destroy Christians).

The gematria solution presents three major problems: It could be viewed as cheating with the spellings (the usual Hebrew spelling for Caesar is qʾst , not qsr , although the qsr form does exist). It assumes that readers knew Hebrew well enough to do the transliteration from Greek back into Hebrew. And, perhaps most tellingly, the early Christian commentators who knew of the Nero redivivus myth never identified 666 with Nero."
Another possibility: 666 is a magic square. From very ancient times, philosophers and mathematicians were fascinated that the numbers 1–36 could be arranged in squares so that each row and diagonal would add up to the same sum (the same principle as modern Sudoku). One magic square has four rows and two diagonals that each add up to 111. The six lines of 111 equal 666. Each magic square in ancient Jewish and Greek tradition was also associated with a celestial body. In the case of the 666 square, that body was the sun, which was associated with Zeus, the highest god in the Greek pantheon.

Zeus was often associated with Baal and the mythological north ( tsaphon ) of Canaanite religion. Most relevant to the Beast of Revelation is Baal’s (and Zeus’) title, “lord of heaven” ( Baal- shamem ). It is possible that the “abomination of desolation” in [Daniel 9:27] ( shiqquts-shamem ) is a play on Baal-shamem, since the Old Testament writers sometimes substituted words that meant “shame” or “abomination” into proper names that formerly contained “Baal” (e.g., Mephibosheth, Ish-Bosheth).

This would mean 666 is a symbol for the abominable Baal, the dark lord of the Old Testament world—satanic power in New Testament thinking."—Michael Heiser
 
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To understand 666, you first must understand the number 6.

Three is the Trinity, that is obvious. Therefore, twice 3, or 6, is the reflection of the Trinity, its infernal double.

It represents the individual trapped in Indecision, or temptation, between that which is Holy, and that which leads to the abyss.

Therefore, 666 is the one with three 6’s: In the head (evil thoughts), in the heart (evil emotions or evil will, e.g. hatred or anger), and in the sex (impure desires). These three temptations make us as beasts.
Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six. – Revelation 13:18
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Who is 666? It is every one of us that is afflicted by these three temptations! We must free ourselves from the tyranny of the Beast (our own bestial nature) if we do not wish to perish in the abyss.
 
And with regards to the “system,” St. John writes:
It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads, so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name. – Revelation 13:16-17
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To have the beast on your hand is to have it in your deeds, and to have it on your forehead is to have it in your thoughts.

Behold, how the engines of commerce in our world are driven by the power of the Beast: vanity, avarice, lust, fear, envy, and exploitation.
 
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White_Tree said:
To understand 666, you first must understand the number 6.

Three is the Trinity, that is obvious. Therefore, twice 3, or 6, is the reflection of the Trinity, its infernal double.

It represents the individual trapped in Indecision, or temptation, between that which is Holy, and that which leads to the abyss.

Therefore, 666 is the one with three 6’s: In the head (evil thoughts), in the heart (evil emotions or evil will, e.g. hatred or anger), and in the sex (impure desires). These three temptations make us as beasts.
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The problem with this interpretation is that, as I noted earlier, the Greek text of Revelation does not write three 6’s. Here is how the number 666 was written in the Book of Revelation, which will hopefully show up right for people as it’s in, well, Greek:

χξϛ

The χ means 600, the ξ means 60, and the ϛ means 6. You add them together and you get the number six hundred and sixty-six. Trying to posit some meaning to a triple 6 doesn’t work because there never was a triple 6 in Revelation to begin with.
 
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That is a fair point, and I thank you for pointing that out. I always enjoy learning more about the Bible. 🙂

Nevertheless, those three letters still represent the same archetype, which is six. Six hundreds, six tens, and six units.

A helpful heuristic to help keep track of the archetypes in the numbers is to add the digits. Thus,
χ = 600 = 6+0+0 = 6
ξ = 60 = 6+0 = 6
ς = 6

If St. John had said the mark was the number 18 (6+6+6) it would still have been the same archetype. But χξς is more explicit, because it gestures to a specific decomposition of that 18, into three, to warn us of the three traitors we have within.

Just as 6 is twice 3 (the infernal double of the Trinity), 18 is twice 9. Nine is the 144,000 (1+4+4+0+0+0 = 9), those sealed with the sign of the Lord (Rev 7:3-8). Thus, the Beast is the infernal reflection of the 144,000. It is the inverse of those who are redeemed.
 
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