Post by Josh on Jan 7, 2010 20:45:34 GMT -8
Rev. 13:18
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
I'm currently reading through Kenneth Gentry's "The Beast of Revelation" and I thought I'd start a thread on an aspect of the preterist perspective that I haven't gotten into much on these forums- the identity of the Beast of Revelation.
I agree with Gentry's identification of the Beast as Nero specifically and the Roman Empire in general.
So, I'll walk through his chain of logic and you can respond with questions or rejoinders.
He starts his case with the above passage about the number 666, pointing out specifically that the number must relate to an individual human- and to a human living in John's own day in that he suggests that his readers will be able to figure out the riddle. In other words, this is not some riddle for the far distant future, but something relevent to the Imperial persecution that was just breaking out at the time of the writing of Revelation (which I hold to be in the 60s AD)
Most of you are probably aware that in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin every letter of the alphabet had a particular number associated with it. Because of this, people had numerical equivalents to their names. These numerical equivalents were often used to create riddles, such as this from ancient graffiti, which reads: "I love her whose number is 545". This was a way to keep the name secret from everyone except the beloved. A neat party trick.
It just so happens that Neron Kaiser (in Hebrew) adds up to 666.
This was a perfect way for John to covertly tell his Hebrew-influenced audience who he was talking about without.
All this I'd heard before, but here's something new from Gentry. You'll notice in your Bible that some old manuscripts have the number 616 instead of 666, which has puzzled translators because those two numbers in Greek don't look at all alike and it's hard to conceive that kind of scribal error creeping in.
However, it also so happens that 616 is the numerical equivalent of "Nero Caesar" when spelled in Hebrew by transliterating it from it's more common Latin spelling. Gentry puts forward the idea that when the book of Revelation began circulating among those less familiar with Hebrew, a "well-meaning copyist who knew the meaning...might have intended to make its dechiphering easier by altering it to 616".
I'm going to stop here before going on to any more arguments to give anyone a chance to respond.
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
I'm currently reading through Kenneth Gentry's "The Beast of Revelation" and I thought I'd start a thread on an aspect of the preterist perspective that I haven't gotten into much on these forums- the identity of the Beast of Revelation.
I agree with Gentry's identification of the Beast as Nero specifically and the Roman Empire in general.
So, I'll walk through his chain of logic and you can respond with questions or rejoinders.
He starts his case with the above passage about the number 666, pointing out specifically that the number must relate to an individual human- and to a human living in John's own day in that he suggests that his readers will be able to figure out the riddle. In other words, this is not some riddle for the far distant future, but something relevent to the Imperial persecution that was just breaking out at the time of the writing of Revelation (which I hold to be in the 60s AD)
Most of you are probably aware that in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin every letter of the alphabet had a particular number associated with it. Because of this, people had numerical equivalents to their names. These numerical equivalents were often used to create riddles, such as this from ancient graffiti, which reads: "I love her whose number is 545". This was a way to keep the name secret from everyone except the beloved. A neat party trick.
It just so happens that Neron Kaiser (in Hebrew) adds up to 666.
This was a perfect way for John to covertly tell his Hebrew-influenced audience who he was talking about without.
All this I'd heard before, but here's something new from Gentry. You'll notice in your Bible that some old manuscripts have the number 616 instead of 666, which has puzzled translators because those two numbers in Greek don't look at all alike and it's hard to conceive that kind of scribal error creeping in.
However, it also so happens that 616 is the numerical equivalent of "Nero Caesar" when spelled in Hebrew by transliterating it from it's more common Latin spelling. Gentry puts forward the idea that when the book of Revelation began circulating among those less familiar with Hebrew, a "well-meaning copyist who knew the meaning...might have intended to make its dechiphering easier by altering it to 616".
I'm going to stop here before going on to any more arguments to give anyone a chance to respond.