666

Clue 11 —

It is of no little interest that the Roman Catholic Douay Version of the Bible, in a footnote to this verse correctly states, "666. The numerical letters of this name shall make up this number."

In a church which has used Latin as its ecclesiastical language, a language which has seven numerical letters, I (1), V (5), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500) and M (1000), the search is not difficult.

The two biblical languages, Greek and Hebrew, each have a numeric value for every letter of their alphabets, and some have found expressions in those languages having the sum of 666; but for us the most convincing solution to the riddle is the title inscribed in the papal tiara: Vicarius Filii Dei. The United States Roman Catholic paper, Our Sunday Visitor, November 15, 1914, quite properly stated,

How did this Roman Catholic newspaper discern the number 666 from this Latin title? Let us ascribe Latin numerals to this term. Before we do so we must remember that there was no letter "u" in the Latin alphabet and "v" was used in its stead. Those citizens of the British Empire will recall that their coins in the days of Kings George V and George VI bore the monarch’s name in Latin. It was written upon the coins as Georgivs but pronounced Georgius.

So let us count the number of the Popes’ assumed title:

Grand Total: 666

Some have claimed that Popes in their writings use the title Dux Cleri, head of the clergy. We have not been able to confirm this. That this Latin title adds to 666 is indisputable.

Grand Total: 666

We prefer not to extend this search beyond the Pope’s title of Vicarius Filii Dei.

Many efforts have been made to find others whose name by some method of calculation adds to 666. But the lone significance to Bible prophecy is whether the Papacy meets this criterion, which, as we have seen, even Roman Catholics admit. Thus some, using their own form of numerology, are able to make Adolph Hitler’s name add to 666, but apart from its stretching of the logical use of numbers, is of no significance. Hitler and Nazism, by way of example, hardly ruled 1,260 years. Indeed it ruled a paltry one percent of that vast period. However the Papacy most certainly fulfills this criterion.

We have already spoken of the 1260 year rule of the Papacy. In the chapter, "The Deadly Wound Inflicted" we document that its rule was terminated in 1798, precisely as the prophecy had predicted.

Clue 13 —

The wound, apparently fatal, was inflicted in 1798. We shall await later chapters to confirm this fact.

The chapters of this book outlining the pontificates of the fourteen popes who have ruled since the infliction of the deadly wound, will certainly follow the sometimes interrupted, but finally successful, healing of the wound.

Clue 15 —

That today the Papacy has been restored to worldwide preeminence can be refuted by none. All the world is wondering after (admiring) the Pope of Rome—not every individual of course, that will never be, but worldwide his admirers are multitudinous. These admirers are not limited to Roman Catholics but include Protestants in large numbers, many who practice non-Christian religions, some who practice no religion, and many political leaders of the world. The wound is now so well healed that even the scar is no longer visible. The first beast of Revelation 13 is the Papacy. None other power fits the numerous criteria.