His Number

Two of the most important aspects of the beast's power are brought to light in Revelation 13: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." Revelation 13:16-18....

According to Revelation 13:17, the number of his name will also be the number of a man. Undoubtedly this refers to the man who heads the beast power. The ancient method of deriving the number of a name is to take the numerical value of all letters and add them up to get the sum. If we want to apply this test to the papacy, we must find the official name of the pope, who is the head of his church. If this is the number of a man, it would naturally be the man who is the head of the organization.

It is interesting to note that there is an official Latin title for the pope, a title which has been granted by the Church itself. This title is found repeatedly in the publications of Rome. But in the weekly Catholic newspaper, Our Sunday Visitor, of April 1915, we have the interesting statement that the letters of the official title are inscribed in the pope's miter. Here is the actual quotation: "The letters inscribed in the pope's miter are these; Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for 'Vicar of the Son of God.' Catholics hold that the Church, which is a visible society, must have a visible head; Christ, before His ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. Hence, to the Bishop of Rome as head of the church, was given the title, 'Vicar of Christ.'" At present the pope's miter does not contain the Latin title, but the words are incorporated into the coronation ceremonies of each newly crowned pope.

So with this official name of the pope in hand we can proceed to apply the test of the Scripture. How do we derive the number of his name? By getting the numerical value of the Roman numerals of the title Vicarius Filii Dei, we actually come to a definite number 666. Notice how it is worked out below as each letter is given its numerical value:

Someone might object that this could be a coincidental occurrence. We grant that it is possible for such a thing to be a mere happenstance if we had only this one mark of identity to lean upon. But the fact is that this is the tenth of a long list of characteristic marks which the Bible uses to identify the beast power. It only adds weight and strength to that which has already been said in making the application to the papal power. It is the capstone proof in conjunction with all the other marks laid down so clearly in the Scripture.

To see the other nine marks of the beast.