DAY 203
CHALLENGE
“The pope’s title Vicarius Filii Dei (‘Vicar of the Son of God’) adds up to 666, identifying him as the beast of Revelation.”
DEFENSE
Vicarius Filii Dei is not one of the pope’s titles (see Day 175), and a careful study of Revelation shows that the number likely refers to a Roman emperor.
Revelation 13:18 says 666 is the “number of a man” (literal translation). Revelation gives several clues about who this was.
He likely was alive in John’s day. Revelation 1:1 and 22:6 say the vision John sees “must soon take place.”
The beast has seven heads that represent seven hills (Rev. 17:9), suggesting the city of Rome. The heads also represent seven kings, “five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while” (Rev. 17:10). This suggests the line of first-century Roman emperors.
The beast is associated with the whore of Babylon, who John sees “drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6). This suggest the beast persecuted Christians, which the Roman Empire did.
We are told people worshipped the Beast, which had great military might (Rev. 13:4). The Roman Empire was the dominant military power of the day, and people worshipped the emperor by the Roman imperial cult.
It is thus natural to identify the beast with the line of Roman emperors, and, in a special way, with Nero. In Hebrew and Ara- maic, the name “Nero Caesar” (NRWN QSR) adds up to 666 (N+R+W+N+Q+S+R = 50+200+6+50+100+60+200 = 666). A variant spelling (NRW QSR) adds up to 616, and this number is found in some ancient manuscripts of Revelation.
Nero was famous for persecuting Christians, again strengthening his identification with the beast (see the Roman historians Tacitus, Annals 15:44, and Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, “Nero” 16).
In A.D. 68, Nero was declared an enemy of the state by the Roman senate and committed suicide. He was likely one of the five fallen kings of Revelation 17:10. Two of Nero’s successors in A.D. 69—Otho and Vitellius—emulated and honored Nero (see Suetonius, “Otho” 7, “Vitellius” 11), making them possible fulfillments of the prophecy of the beast’s return after being struck down (Rev. 13:3, 17:8–11).