XPost: alt.bible, alt.religion, alt.religion.christian.biblestudy   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic   
      
   Friend james rotely spreads jw vatican theeory:   
      
   >666 stands for a wild beast with 7 heads and 10 horns. (Rev 13:1)   
   >Since the book of Revelation contains mucho symbolism, that beast is   
   >symbolic also. Symbolic of what?   
   >   
   >Of all the world's beast-like political systems. And who is in charge   
   >of all of them today? Yes, Satan.   
   >   
   Nonsense; the 1st century jews used the aphabetic order of the hebrew   
   alphabet; a is 1 and so forth.  Thus they used that system to find the   
   hidden meaning of individual words; the jewish numbrers of the letters   
   would reveal the meaning.   
      
   One common name using that method of jewish numerology for 666 produces the   
   spelling of the roman "" title for emperor nero.  He was the emperor during   
   the last half of the 1st century who began severe christian persecution.   
   John could safely signal nero as the "beast" without openly saying so using   
   jewish numerology.   
      
   The "crack" jw vatican scholars of biblical languges and the cultures of   
   the 1st century don't have a clue because such scholars among them don't   
   exist..  However it has been common to use some bit of scripture and pour   
   modern jw vatican "theories of scripture" into it in such ignorance.   
      
   Beginning with rutherford I the 2nd pope of the jw vatican who had a   
   personal run in with federal laws; likely invented the above and poured it   
   backward into Rev. 666 out of spite for "government".   
      
   Their devotees would gobble it up without question in support of rutherford   
   I who claimed direct info from God on the meaning of scripture.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)