Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: CONS.ELF@AIDA.CSD.UU.SE (Ake Eldberg) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The Mark of the Beast and the "new world order". Message-ID: Date: 3 Oct 90 07:15:14 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 28 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Hello! Speculations on the meaning of the number 666 and "the mark of the beast" are endless. I consider it useless to try and identify any single historic person as the beast. The Bible says there are many antichrists, and when the final one comes, we will probably not need any mystic numbers to know him. The closest thing to the number (or mark) of the beast today is social security numbers. I don't know about the USA, but here in Sweden these numbers are gradually becoming the only identities we have. It is impossible to open a bank account, take an insurance or get any service from the public health care, without this number. Nobody asks for your name any more - it's the number they want. Some public transport systems have a rule that you must write this number on your monthly ticket, otherwise it's invalid. These are only some examples among many of the all-encompassing power of the social security numbers. This is in contrast to the Bible, where a person's name has a special relevance as identity. In the Psalms, it is said that the Lord knew our names before we were born. All knees shall be bent in the name of Jesus, and so on. But the Antichrist is identified by a number, not a name. I think the parallels are worth thinking about. Ake Eldberg