Happy Devil's Day

                           

Today, according to some legends and Christian prophesies, is the Devil’s Day. So, what exactly would the devil do on his special day? He will reveal himself off course! The sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year is the day when some believe the Antichrist will be revealed. What is the significance of the number 666 and why would the devil be associated with it? Here are some theories and happenings related to this number:

- It is the first time in 100 years that the date coincided with 666

- The number 666 is named the “Number of the Beast” and is mentioned in the closing chapter of the Book of Revelation. In the Bible, Revelation 13:18 says: "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, three-score [and] six."

- There is even a name for the fear of the number: hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Now, try pronouncing that!

- The full name of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan contains six letters each in his first (RONALD), middle (WILSON) and last (REAGAN) names, thus earning him the nickname "666". Additionally, when Reagan moved to California following the end of his presidency, he asked that his house number be changed from 666 to 668.

- Not to outdo Reagan, some are associating George Bush with the Antichrist: the number of letters in his name…George (six) Walker (six) Bush Jr (six) add up to 666, the number of The Beast.

- In commemorating this doomsday, The Omen is released in theaters today. In the previous 1976 version of the film, the scriptwriter was struck by lightning, an actor’s brother died after drawing three sixes in a card game and one of the stars who survived a plane crash was later shot in the head. Creepy but there is always a logical explanation, right?

-Several Christian websites suggested Tuesday would bring people closer to "the rapture" -- when God calls his Christian faithful up to the heavens, with www.raptureme.com showing a rise in its "rapture index" to 157.

- 2,000 Dutch Christians took part in a 24-hour prayer marathon to counter the forces of darkness on Tuesday.

- 666 is the numerical value of: "ועתה יגדל-נא כח אדני" ("Ata yigdal na koach Ado-nai"; Now, let the power of my Lord grow) (Numbers 14:17). This was Moshe's (Moses) prayer invoking Divine Mercy on behalf of the Jewish People.

- In Chinese, '666' sounds a lot like the words 'Things going smoothly'. It is considered one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture. It can be seen prominently in many shop windows across the country, and people there often pay extra to get a mobile phone number including this string of digits.

- In a warning to Internet users, Father Felix Just said that following the ancient practice of gematria -- assigning numerical values to letters -- "www" was also equivalent to 666.

- A Jesuit priest and professor of theology and religious studies called for calm on his web page devoted to 666, underlining that "combinations of three sixes can be found almost anywhere we want, if we look hard enough".

I wonder what my favorite preacher, Pat Robertson, is doing on this special day?

Comments

[~~Silk]

My contribution to the day: 666, "the number of the beast", does not represent Satan, or any version of Satan. It represented a real person known to the author.

The ancient Romans, Greeks, and Jews often used letters of the alphabet to represent numbers. And words or names made up of these letters would have numerical value (today's version is numerology). Isaac Asimov, in Asimov's Guide to the Bible, explains that the writer of Revelation was apparently afraid to mention the name of the man he castigates, for fear perhaps of a charge of treason, so he refers to the man by the number his name represents. The person Isaac says most commentators mention as most likely is Neron Caesar (Greek version of Nero). Isaac likes Domitian better - a ruler who was in power at the time Revelation was written, and who heavily persecuted Christians. (Note - the "Antichrist'" means one who is against (anti) Christians.)

[johnny]

In the Bible, Revelation
-----------------------------------

if you study its history, you will discover that it was not considered reliably and "scripture" by Christians in the past. The book has an extremely dubious history. Does it not bother crosstians that to base thier belief upon a document of such a dubious history, that was not fully accepted in the past and was rejected by many for a very long time? Another point to note is that Christians are still not united upon one canon of the Bible. They have never been united upon a single canon of Bible at any point in time.

[sunrunner]

Ann Coulter is the beast! (Don't you get just a little scared just looking at her?) Her new book was released yesterday and what a vile piece of work it is.

As for Pat Robertson, I am sure he was diligently searching for signs, signs of life in his own mind.

[Abu Sinan]

Hum, look at The Qur'an and realise that most of it start with Bismillah, other with A-L-M. Any association?

[Irving Karchmar]

666 was actually the holy number of Goddess worship, standing for girl, woman, crone. The patriarchal church comdemned it and made it a devil sign. They didn't want anyone challanging their male authority.

[johnny]

The Jews, Paul and especially trinitarian god were biased. Why else do you think god didn't come as a female? The story was invented with the values of that culture

[Aya]

Dear all, I am no expert on religious symbolism. This post reports few theories surrounding the number 666 and, thus, doesn’t represent an exclusive list. Attempts to make one theory more superior than the other will not be achieved here simply because of the apparent abundance of diverse opinions and backgrounds.