Counting on the fact that 6/6/06 will not be the end of the world, marketers are planning to launch scary products on that momentous day, from Ann Coulter's new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism to Fox's The Omen (complete with a 66-second teaser-trailer). The "satanic" rock group Deicide is even planning to release a new single--"The Stench of Redemption." Too bad June 6 doesn't fall on a Sunday. In any case, what a great opportunity to talk about the one who was most likely the real bad guy behind the number ... at least from the perspective of the Apostle John's readers in Revelation 13:18: Nero. As many scholars have argued, when the numeric values of the Hebrew consonants in "Caesar Nero" are added together, they equal 666. Thus, 666 may have served as a code word among persecuted Christians of the first century--in much the same way the symbol of a fish scratched in the dirt led the way to fellow Christians without arousing the suspicion of pagan authorities. (The letters in the Greek word for "fish," ichthus, are an anagram for "Jesus Christ God Son Savior.")
# posted by Matt Green : 12:43 PM
Counting on the fact that 6/6/06 will not be the end of the world, marketers are planning to launch scary products on that momentous day, from Ann Coulter's new book Godless: The Church of Liberalism to Fox's The Omen (complete with a 66-second teaser-trailer). The "satanic" rock group Deicide is even planning to release a new single--"The Stench of Redemption." Too bad June 6 doesn't fall on a Sunday. In any case, what a great opportunity to talk about the one who was most likely the real bad guy behind the number ... at least from the perspective of the Apostle John's readers in Revelation 13:18: Nero. As many scholars have argued, when the numeric values of the Hebrew consonants in "Caesar Nero" are added together, they equal 666. Thus, 666 may have served as a code word among persecuted Christians of the first century--in much the same way the symbol of a fish scratched in the dirt led the way to fellow Christians without arousing the suspicion of pagan authorities. (The letters in the Greek word for "fish," ichthus, are an anagram for "Jesus Christ God Son Savior.")
