   666
  As this is my six hundred and sixty sixth post, I''m going to talk about Satan, or more specifically, evil.After reading Tommorrow when the War began, I wondered: where did the idea of good vs. evil come from and how did it evolve?On the note of Satan most people will say that the Bible is the first recorded idea of good meets evil. But is there anything else? Greek plays perhaps?   Cheers, comrade Kyle Evans,Artificial entertainment [Movie/Game Reviews]Editor In Chief - IGWorld.comContact: kyle@igworld.com
quote:I''m going to talk about Satan, or more specifically, evil.Funny...  I thought Satan was more specific than evil...  Evil is more general like the person who doesn''t pay taxes evil or the evil witch that eats children. ;  The number 666 comes from the Hebrew alphabet representation of "Nero Caesar".Incidentally, I never did get how that worked - I thought it was supposed to be the sum of the values of the letters in a word, but I also thought they numbered their letters sequentially, so if A=1, B=2, and C=3, AB and C would mean the exact same thing. It would make a lot more sense if the value of each letter was twice the value of the previous letter, although that still doesn''t make much sense when you get into duplicate letters.Also incidentally, I used this to solve one of my early programming projects. I had the best Tic-Tac-Toe solution algorithm of anyone in my intermediate-programming class, dammit. And my instructor didn''t have the slightest clue how it worked, despite a careful and coherent explanation....Anyway, anyone know how the Hebrew alphabet stuff actually works?   "Last time, I asked: ''What does mathematics mean to you?'' And some people answered: ''The manipulation of numbers, the manipulation of structures.'' And if I had asked what music means to you, would you have answered: ''The manipulation of notes?''" - S. Lang;quote:Original post by Zorodius  ...Anyway, anyone know how the Hebrew alphabet stuff actually works?   Have you seen the movie pi?  It talks about it a little in that.;quote:Original post by Zorodius  The number 666 comes from the Hebrew alphabet representation of "Nero Caesar".Incidentally, I never did get how that worked - I thought it was supposed to be the sum of the values of the letters in a word, but I also thought they numbered their letters sequentially, so if A=1, B=2, and C=3, AB and C would mean the exact same thing. It would make a lot more sense if the value of each letter was twice the value of the previous letter, although that still doesn''t make much sense when you get into duplicate letters.Also incidentally, I used this to solve one of my early programming projects. I had the best Tic-Tac-Toe solution algorithm of anyone in my intermediate-programming class, dammit. And my instructor didn''t have the slightest clue how it worked, despite a careful and coherent explanation....Anyway, anyone know how the Hebrew alphabet stuff actually works?   I never heard that Nero Caesar thing before...Anyways, after the 10th hebrew letter "yud," whose value is of course 10, the letters start incrementing in value by 10 until you get to 100 at which point they start doubling so the last 4 letters are 100, 200, 400, and 800.;quote:Original post by DukeAtreides076  Have you seen the movie pi?  It talks about it a little in that.Yes, it was fantastic, one of my favorite movies - but not for its accuracy. Didn''t they say the Golden Ratio was referred to with theta?quote:This is probably the best know Bible Code 666, the mark of the beast in Revelation 13:18. This is called gematria meaning "manipulation with numbers". In both Hebrew and Greek as well as other languages, letters of the alphabet were used as numbers. So names had a certain numerical value. "Nero Caesar" transliterated into the Hebrew from the Greek (Neron Kaiser) adds up to exactly 666 in Hebrew. N=50, R=200, W=6, N=50 plus Q=100, S=60, R=200 totals 666. This spelling of Nero Caesar was found in the discovery of an Aramaic document in Wadi Murabba`at (BASOR 170, 65). The Latin form of "Nero Caesar" when transliterated into Hebrew adds up to 616. This most likely explains the textual variant in Revelation 13:18 with the number 616. It should also be noted that the Greek word for "Beast" when transliterated back into Hebrew adds up to 666. Ancient writers referred to Nero as a "beast" (See Philostratus Vit. Apoll. 4.38; Sib. Or. 5.343; 8.157). For more detailed commentary see Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 by David E. Aune. Abraham is said to have 318 servants in Genesis 14:14. In Rabbinic tradition the 318 is taken as gematria for Eliezer, Abraham’s servant. In Hebrew Eliezer adds up to 318. In an early Christian writing (Barn. 9:8) the 318 refers to the number Abraham circumcised and the first to letters refer to Jesus. The Greek name of Jesus adds up 888. In the Sibylline Oracles (book 1.137-146) there is a gematria riddle for the name of God that we are still not sure what the solution is. Information ahoy!   "Last time, I asked: ''What does mathematics mean to you?'' And some people answered: ''The manipulation of numbers, the manipulation of structures.'' And if I had asked what music means to you, would you have answered: ''The manipulation of notes?''" - S. Lang;  I think people take the 666 thing way too far. For example: Devil''s Highway - US 666 - gets roadside exorcism.  I''ll bet some people are so afraid of that number that they use base 5 numbering system to eliminate the possibility that the number will ever come up - they could use base 6 to achieve the same end but 6 by itself scares them too... they also probably figure that base 5 accords better with the divine plan given that the five fingers that God gave us... (these folk aren''t keen on zeroes either...) ;  heh, anyone see that stupid Arnold movie?  "End of Days"?In it, someone starts saying something about how the number "666" was dreamed, but the guy who dreamed it dreamt it upside down, so it was really 999, which represented 1999, the year of armageddon.Ugh, I can''t believe I watched after that part, because HELLO YOU IDIOTS, THE ROMANS DIDN''T USE ARABIC DIGITS BACK THEN, THEY USED ROMAN NUMERALS!!!!and speaking of 666, the 666th proof that god exists is:quote:ARGUMENT FROM ASSUMPTION(1) Therefore, God exists.rofl ;quote:Original post by Sheep   I never heard that Nero Caesar thing before...Anyways, after the 10th hebrew letter "yud," whose value is of course 10, the letters start incrementing in value by 10 until you get to 100 at which point they start doubling so the last 4 letters are 100, 200, 400, and 800  .They must have invented computers back then. :DI don't know why 666 means evil, but any number can be evil if you put a great amount of effort to summon satans and make the number sacred. Unfortunately, human beings, especially Christian community, have been doing this to number 666 (and 13) ever since they believe 666 was evil. So now, it really is an evil number because we say so!If you actually had any experience with satans or devils (or just by observation of stories), you will realize that they don't or won't interfere with us, humans or animals, unless you ask them. For example, in a true exorcist story (that I watched on Discovery Channel, they made the movie Exorcist based on this story) the boy was possessed because he was playing with that board thingy. If the boy had not done it, it wouldn't have to happen. There are other examples as well that I have experienced it myself.Basically, if you want to be safe, don't even try to make any contacts or associations with any superstitious beings. Go ahead and try to associate number 7 with satans, you will find that 7 will be your most unlucky number.edit: this is serious. If you really want to try it, do it at your own risk! I came from a country where blackmagic had a strong influence on "atheist" people lives (before I moved to US). Even my family did it once, now my old house is a haunted house.   [edited by - alnite on August 1, 2003 5:00:39 AM];  You can''t have a thread about evil without Necro-File posting... so uh... here''s my big pink signature!   +------------------------------------------------------+|******************************************************||******************************************************||****_***_***************************_____*_*_*********||***| \*| |*___**___*_*__ ___*******|  ___(_) |*___****||***|  \| |/ _ \/ __| ''__/ _ \*_____| |_**| | |/ _ \***||***| |\  |  __/ (__| |*| (_) |_____|  _|*| | |  __/***||***|_|*\_|\___|\___|_|**\___/******|_|***|_|_|\___|***||******************************************************||******************************************************||******************************************************|+------------------------------------------------------+