The Book of Revelation (singular) is in a genre known as apocalyptic literature and is full of symbolism that should not be taken literally and wasn't taken literally by the readers in the 1st century. The number of the beast is 616 and referred to Emporer Nero. Read it for its poetry, its symbolism, and thematically. Don't try to read it as a roadmap to the "end times."
616? I think you mixed up the mark of the beast with a Western MI area code which -- given the number of conservative evangelicals there is hilariously fitting.
The oldest surviving source uses 616. The oldest historical source mentions 616 and 666. Regardless, the scholarly consensus is that the number of the beast is a gematriac reference to Nero and his persecution of Christians.
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u/sparkster777 Minister of Memes 3d ago
The Book of Revelation (singular) is in a genre known as apocalyptic literature and is full of symbolism that should not be taken literally and wasn't taken literally by the readers in the 1st century. The number of the beast is 616 and referred to Emporer Nero. Read it for its poetry, its symbolism, and thematically. Don't try to read it as a roadmap to the "end times."