Thursday, January 10, 2008

Rethinking the Number of the Beast


The following was sent to me by one of my students, who in turn got it from a UMC Church source-- This just shows that it is not true at all that the United Methodist Church is uninterested in apocalyptic speculations :) Thanks to Arlen for the picture.

BW3
----------------
The Number of the Beast

We all know that 666 is the Number of the Beast. But did you know:

· $665.95......................Retail price of the Beast
· $699.25......................Price of the Beast plus 5% sales tax
· $769.95......................Price of the Beast with all accessories and replacement soul
· $656.66......................Walmart price of the Beast
· $646.66......................Next week's Walmart price of the Beast
· 00666.........................Zip code of the Beast
· 1-666 .........................Area code of the Beast
· 1-900-666-0666 ............ Live Beasts! Call Now! Only $6.66/minute.
· 670............................Approximate number of the Beast
· DCLXVI.....................Roman numeral of the Beast
· 666.0000.....................Number of the High Precision Beast
· 0.666 .........................Number of the Millibeast
· / 666 ..........................Beast Common Denominator
· 666 ^ (-1).....................Imaginary number of the Beast
· 1010011010..................Binary of the Beast
· Phillips 666..................Gasoline of the Beast
· $6.66 9/10....................Price of a Beast gasoline
· Route 666....................Way of the Beast
· 666 F.........................Oven temperature for roast Beast
· 666k..........................Retirement plan of the Beast
· 6.66%........................5 year CD rate at First Beast National Bank, $666 minimum deposit.
· i66686........................CPU of the Beast
· 666i .......................... BMW of the Beast
· DSM-666.....................Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Beast
· 668............................Next-door neighbor of the Beast
· 666 mg........................Recommended Minimum Daily Requirement of Beast
· Lotus 6-6-6...................Spreadsheet of the Beast
· Word 6.66....................Word Processor of the Beast
· 6 h. 66 min....................Beast Standard Time (BST)
· Boeng 666....................."A jet for the Beast Age"
· Beverly Hills 66666..........Beast's favorite TV show
· 6/6/66..........................The birthdate of the Beast
· 666-66-6666..................The Social Security number of the Beast
· 6666............................The PIN of the Beast
· 25.806975.....................The square root of the Beast
· Motel 666......................Beast Western
· Windows 96 ver.666.........OS of the Beast

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Shouldn't the approximate number of the beast be 670? 666 rounds up, I believe...

Great list though.

Falantedios said...

Did something happen here with your settings? Everything is now severely left-justified.

Nick

Marc Axelrod said...

What a beastly list!
I read Smalley's commentary on Revelation right before I read yours. Yours is better. Smalley spiritualizes everything into a timeless good vs evil thing.

Although her expression Lamb Power deserves to be just as banned as the expression "it is what it is," I do find Rossing's take on Revelation fascinating. She thinks of it like the Scrooge story, a picture of what will happen to the world if we dont get our act together, not necessarily a preview of coming attractions. What concerns me is her discounting of the judgment texts in Revelation and elsewhere in Holy Writ. She is too mainline for me.

Marc

Dustin Smith said...

What about the textual variant of P115? How would that change things?

Dustin Smith

Ben Witherington said...

It doesn't since both 616 and 666 add up to Nero depending on the coin in question.

BW3

Dustin Smith said...

Awwww, I wanted the list redone with 616 =)

I do find it funny how those who aren't Christians at all get really supersticious when they see 666, not knowing what it means.


Dustin Smith

Rick Shott said...

since someone else nitpicked too...

666^(-1) is not an imaginary number that is actually 1/666

666*(-1)^(1/2) is an imaginary number it could also be written 666i but that gets confused with the BMW.

Just for your information.

Ruud Vermeij said...

Last year, a popular evangelical songbook in Holland left out the number 666 because of sensitivities of their public (this in not a joke, this realy happened.)
A satirical Dutch website did a contest to fill this gap. This song was published this week on the internet. You can imagine that there is a lot of fun about this number the last few days in Holland. Thanks for the contribution!

Alternatively, you can alway chop off your hand:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hI4uzKna5CnDROQw8LGZbqq0RpZgD8U2EGA00

Highland Host said...

"A motion calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England has been listed in the House of Commons as 666 - the Number of the Beast."

- The Times, January 10th 2008. Full article at:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3167021.ece

preacherman said...

Ben,
Excellent post brother
I think we are living in a country that needs God more than we begin to understand. I think we are living in the end times and think our country is close to being under the judgement of God. So, are we willing to be bold to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to those who need it.
In Him,
Kinney Mabry

Jeremiah A V Dumai said...

Ben, how do you read that 666 in the Revelation? I have read Rev 4 times but could not understand much. Sad thing is we don't have much literature here to help us understand different issues better.

Jer, Delhi

ElShaddai Edwards said...

I can't believe that you forgot the Song of the Beast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxR1xSj4VJI

Ben Witherington said...

My views on Mr. 666 are readily available in my Revelation commentary with Cambridge. It refers to Nero in the first place, and any Nero-like wicked world emperor of his sort. It is not attempting to pinpoint one late 20th early 21rst century figure.

BW3

Gary said...

You left out 667--The Neighbor of the Beast

ElShaddai Edwards said...

Paul said...

You left out 667--The Neighbor of the Beast

667 would be the Neighbor Across the Street from the Beast. I believe Next-door Neighbor 668 was on the original list...

Anonymous said...

Excellent post brother
I think we are living in a country that needs God more than we begin to understand. I think we are living in the end times and think our country is close to being under the judgement of God. So, are we willing to be bold to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to those who need it.
In Him,
Kinney Mabry


Hi Kinney,
I think we have been living in the "end times" for around 2000 years — but agree that sharing the gospel has been, is now, and always should be our first priority: because whether or not we actually live in the world's "end times", it could be your best friend's or neighbours "end time" any day now. People fall of ladders and walk in front of the bus quite unexpectedly.

LoieJ said...

Well, guess what, my phone exchange is REALLY 666. And I live in a mini-bible-belt in the north, near Canada.

Highland Host said...

01603 666666. Norwich, England, taxi company 'phone number of the Beast (it is a little known fact that most taxi company 'phone numbers in Norwich, England contain at least three sixes).

Irenicum said...

Yesterday I had a nervous customer wince when I told her the total for her purchase. Even before I saw the total on the screen of $6.66, I knew it would get a reaction. I eased her mind by reminding her that her change was $3.34. Two years ago I had a customer get another item just to make her purchase total different! As to that little know variant(616), it showed up in our west Michigan newspapers last year and thus I'm metaphysically sure that the antichrist will by an Amway distributer with a last name ending with "sma" or "stra".

Shawn White said...

666 as the number of the Beast was during the first century. What is the number after being adjusted for inflation? :)

Chip Burkitt said...

According to the NANPA, which is the authority that controls the assignment of area codes, the code 666 is unassigned. Likewise, the United States Postal Service has not assigned 00666, 06660, or 66600. Whether any of this has anything to do with the ill-repute of these digits, I do not know.

I think you should include the prime factorization of the Beast: 2 x 3 x 3 x 37. You might also note that 666 is 18 times one more than twice 18, which serves to make 18 a fairly nefarious number as well. And of course 6 + 6 + 6 = 18. Gives you chills, doesn't it? And yet we let our children vote when they are 18. No wonder the government is so beastly.

I love numerology! It's so rich with arrant nonsense!