Piranha Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Only happens once a century 6-6-6: Is our number really up? NEW YORK (AP) -- Is Tuesday's date -- 6-6-6 -- merely a curious number or could it mean our number is up? There's a devilishly odd nexus of theology, mathematics and commercialism on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year. It may be just the sixth year of this millennium, but insisting on calling it 2006 takes the devil-may-care fun out of calendar-gazing. Something about the number 666 brings out the worry, the hope and even the humor in people, said the Rev. Felix Just, a professor of theology at the University of San Francisco. A Jesuit priest, Just has taught both apocalyptic theory and mathematics and maintains a "666-Numbers of the Beast" Web site that contains history, theology, math and precisely 66 one-line jokes about 666. You can even make sport of it, betting online whether the apocalypse will happen on that date. The good news is that one online oddsmaker has made the world a 100,000-to-1 favorite to survive Tuesday -- something that Just said is supported by theology. "Many people avoid the number; they're afraid of it almost and there's absolutely no reason to be afraid of it," Just said. "It is not a prediction of future events. It is not supposed to be taken as a timetable for when the world is going to end." It all started with Revelation 13:18 in the Bible: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six." The beast is also known as the Antichrist, according to some apocalyptic theories. Many scholars, such as Just, say the beast is really a coded reference -- using Hebrew letters for numbers -- for the despotic Roman emperor Nero and 616 appears instead of 666 in some ancient manuscripts. The Book of Revelation isn't prophesying a specific end of times but "is about the overall cosmic struggle of good versus evil," Just said. But for some more apocalyptic theologians, the end of times is coming, even if not specifically on Tuesday. The evangelical Raptureready.com Web site puts its "rapture index" at 156, calling that "fasten your seatbelts" time. It's not the date June 6 that's worrisome, but the signs in our society of the approach of the 666 antichrist, said the Rev. Tim LaHaye, founder of a self-named ministry and co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic novels. And even though LaHaye said Tuesday isn't the date of the apocalypse, his Left Behind Web site promotes his new book "The Rapture" with an ominous "06.06.06 Will You Be Ready." "I don't think that people understand that 666 is not a good time," LaHaye said. He said he sees signs of an upcoming "tribulation period" that leads to the Antichrist's arrival in a movement toward one-world government, a single economic system and single religion. Apocalyptic culture and theology, especially those surrounding 666, "is especially appealing for people in an underdog situation," said Just (pronounced Yoost). So people have looked for -- and found -- 666 in all sorts of places. Believers in the number's power have used biblical letter-numeric code to convert the names of countless political leaders, including many popes, to come out 666, marking them as that generation's Antichrist. That includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. It's a number that the Reagans didn't want as an address when they moved out of the White House in 1989 to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air. So they changed their address from 666 St. Cloud Road to 668. In 1980, a TV host and others rigged the number 666 to come up in a Pennsylvania lottery drawing. It's a number that is part of every UPC barcode on groceries (a coincidence according to the code's inventor). With biblical coding, 666 also is the number for the WWW of the World Wide Web. The math of 666 is also open to biblical interpretation and manipulation. Just points out that 666 is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel. Other oddities include variations on pi and products of prime number multiplication. There's also something special about the number 6, which in the Bible stands for man, said Brian C. Jones, a religion professor at Wartburg College in Iowa. "People need to lighten up about this," Jones said. He noted that Tuesday has a more neutral reputation than other days, like dreaded Monday or bad-luck Friday the 13th. But this Tuesday is a day to cash in on the number associated with the apocalypse. It will mark the debut for a remake of the classic 1970s horror film "The Omen," the publication of LaHaye's new "Left Behind" book, and an Ann Coulter polemic called "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." And for truly cashing in, there's the nonsectarian online sports book, BetUS.com, which gives Earth a better than sporting chance. At 100,000-to-1 odds, if you bet the maximum $500 that the world will survive and it does, you win half a penny. If you bet $100 that the apocalypse happens and it does, you can earn a cool $10 million, but you might have a devil of a time collecting it. People are betting both ways, company spokesman Mike Foreman said. Commercialism based on numbers and fear bothers American University astronomer Richard Berendzen. "What it really does is use some coincidence of some numbers for commercial gain," he said. "It's superstition and money when it comes down to it. And that's about as satanic as you can get." Still scared about the date 666? Jack Horkheimer of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium has a piece of advice: "If it really spooks you, you can stand on your head and it'll be 999." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 yeah, I think its probably just a number Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_bone65 Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 The number of the beast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montster Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 this was an actual promo for fox news sunday night: "tuesday's date is six-six-six! oddmakers tell us the chances of the apocalypse happening on that day!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I think Jesus just walked by my window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I think Jesus just walked by my window. nope, that was Yukon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 nope, that was Yukon I was wondering where in the Bible the Second Coming would smell like old cheese and Busch beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I was wondering where in the Bible the Second Coming would smell like old cheese and Busch beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetlips Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I'm so surprised that no one has invented this name for this special occassion... Ouija Board..... or Ouija Bored..... We couldda had a good question answer link in honor of 6-6-06. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I'm so surprised that no one has invented this name for this special occassion... Ouija Board..... or Ouija Bored..... We couldda had a good question answer link in honor of 6-6-06. Our wiegie board is generally only used for FF questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetlips Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Our wiegie board is generally only used for FF questions. oh right! wiegie (although I usually think of wedgie like "give a" rather than pronounce as ouija) Must be my Midwestern accent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Soup Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 It is just a number. Can anyone tell me something significantly evil that happened on June 6th of the year 6 AD or 1006? Didn't think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetlips Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 It is just a number. Can anyone tell me something significantly evil that happened on June 6th of the year 6 AD or 1006? Didn't think so. I think its more what the 666 represents more than the actual day. 666 was the Graffiti expression used by many 1st century Jewish / The Way believers to communicate Roman aggression. Nero was the 6th Cesar, or the sixth emperor of Rome (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero--yes, I know Julius Caesar technically wasn't an emperor, but he was a Caesar.) Nero Sadistically threw Christians & Jews in the coliseum pit just so 50,000 romans could watch them get mauled by Lions. BTW...Tom Cahill's book; "Desire of the Everlastin Hills". This is a pretty good book on the rise of the Christian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Soup Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 (edited) I think its more what the 666 represents more than the actual day. 666 was the Graffiti expression used by many 1st century Jewish / The Way believers to communicate Roman aggression. Nero was the 6th Cesar, or the sixth emperor of Rome (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero--yes, I know Julius Caesar technically wasn't an emperor, but he was a Caesar.) Nero Sadistically threw Christians & Jews in the coliseum pit just so 50,000 romans could watch them get mauled by Lions. BTW...Tom Cahill's book; "Desire of the Everlastin Hills". This is a pretty good book on the rise of the Christian Oh...so you want to change history a little bit so it fits in with the six thing...got it. Not to mention, Vespasian started the Colliseum about 10 years after Nero's death and it opened after Vespasian died in 79 or 80 AD (something like that). I do understand what the number means. You could probably pick any number out there and find some kind of significance...like people did after 9-11 and how New York City equalled 11 and all the other coincidences people could find for 11...but they are just that...coincidences. I will say the number 666 means nothing to me and has had no impact on me or anyone I know...sorry to be so critical. Edited June 7, 2006 by I Like Soup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 The number of the beast Someone mentioned on the radio today that the upside down star (pentagram) is a historically a symbol of evil and tied to the number 6. It all makes so much sense now.... 6 6 6? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I'm scared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Carbon-12 is the more abundant of the two stable isotopes of the element carbon, accounting for 98.89% of stable carbon isotopes in the natural environment. It contains 6 protons, 6 neutrons and 6 electrons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Soup Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Carbon-12 is the more abundant of the two stable isotopes of the element carbon, accounting for 98.89% of stable carbon isotopes in the natural environment. It contains 6 protons, 6 neutrons and 6 electrons. So I would infer from that that the number 666 is actually the most stable number out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Steve Vai was born on 6/6/60. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingfootball Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Steve Vai was born on 6/6/60. And he sold his soul to the devil in Crossroads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I think Jesus just walked by my window. he didnt stop? oh man, you are screwed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeohiostate Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 (edited) 666 isn't even the mark of the beast , just a number create from a misread text . The actual number is 616 Just another example of old biblical text being misinterpreted, changed or flat out made up by early scholars and the Roman church in 200-400 AD Furthermore, it is believed that this number doesn't have anything to do with Satan at all, and more likely to reference Nero, the Roman Emperor around the time the political document , now known as Revelations was written Edited November 8, 2008 by theeohiostate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneymakers Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 666 isn't even the mark of the beast , just a number create from a misread text . The actual number is 616 Just another example of old biblical text being misinterpreted, changed or flat out made up by early scholars and the Roman church in 200-400 AD Furthermore, it is believed that this number doesn't have anything to do with Satan at all, and more likely to reference Nero, the Roman Emperor around the time the political document , now known as Revelations was written Did Obamas preacher tell you that or you stay up late watching the discover channel again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Did Obamas preacher tell you that or you stay up late watching the discover channel again. Nope, he pulled back some of you hair and saw it written on your scalp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 In May 2005, it was reported that scholars at Oxford University using advanced imaging techniques[11] had been able to read previously illegible portions of the earliest known record of the Book of Revelation, from the Oxyrhynchus site, Papyrus 115 or P115, dating to the mid to late third century. The fragment gives the Number of the Beast as 616 (chi, iota, stigma), rather than the majority text 666 (chi, xi, stigma).[1] In Eastern Greek 616 is chi-iota-stigma or XIC. Eastern forms of Greek used the Lunate Sigma (which resembles an upper case C) as seen on many ancient Christian religious artifacts. The other early witness Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus © has it written in full: hexakosiai deka hex (lit. six hundred sixteen).[12] Significantly, P115 aligns with Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus © which are generally regarded as providing the best testimony to Revelation. Thus, P115 has superior testimony to that of P47 which aligns with Codex Sinaiticus and together form the second-best witness to the Book of Revelation. This has led some scholars to conclude that 616 is the original number of the beast.[13] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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