A recent archaeological revelation gives a new number to the "Number of the Beast" (as given in the Bible's Book of Revelations). The Oxford Oxyrhynchus gives the new number of the beast as 616 (or hexakosiai deka hex), not as 666 as countless horror movies and sermons have demonstrated.
Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham, thinks that 616, although less memorable than 666, is the original. He said: "This is an example of gematria, where numbers are based on the numerical values of letters in people's names. Early Christians would use numbers to hide the identity of people who they were attacking: 616 refers to the Emperor Caligula."
666 was a reference to NERO CAESAR.
While this will probably make a windfall to Tim LaHaye having to reprint his entire (and badly written) series Left Behind, the Satanists are on the ball:
Peter Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan, based in New York, said: "By using 666 we're using something that the Christians fear. Mind you, if they do switch to 616 being the number of the beast then we'll start using that."
So what I wonder is: how will the Right-Wing Christians react, if at all, to having one of their iconic gimmicks put in question?
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Image of the fragment