The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

"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."--Ver. 18.
A very important matter connected with the solution of this enigma is to determine which
of the two wild beasts is referred to--the ten-horned wild beast, which under its Papal
head represented Papacy, or the two-horned beast which represented, as we understand,
the church government of England. It is generally understood to refer to the former. The
following interpretation is submitted as being very reasonable:
"There are three Latin words inscribed on the Pope's crown, Vicarius Filii Dei, the Vicarious
Son of God. This title attached to the Pope would seem to be an illegitimate one. He is not
the vicarious Son of God; he is not the vicar of Christ; he is not reigning instead of Christ;
and therefore every intimation to the effect that he is the substitute or representative of
Christ in reigning power would seem to be that much of a blasphemy. Not that the Pope
and the Catholics understand that they are blaspheming. I presume they feel fully
confident that this is all very true of him. But to our understanding it is untrue, and he is in
a false position, and is really Antichrist, or the counterfeit Christ, as the Bible would
express the matter."
The numerical signification and the sum of these letters, "Vicarius Filii Dei," is shown here:
VICARIUS FILII DEI
V(5)+I(1)+C(100)+A(0)+R(0)+I(1)+U(5)+S(0) + F(0)+I(1)+L(50)+I(1)+I(1) +
D(500)+E(0)+I(1) = 666
We give in this connection a very interesting dissertation on this matter from an exposition
written in 1828:
"Mention having been made of the 'number of the beast' or 'the number of his name' (for
they are both the same), the Prophet proceeds to inform us what the number is, leaving us
from the number to collect the name, ver. 18--'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast.' It is not therefore a vain and ridiculous
attempt to search into this mystery, but on the contrary is recommended to us upon the
authority of an Apostle.
"'For it is the number of a man'; it is a method of numbering practiced among men; as 'the
measure of a man' (Rev. 21:17) is such a measure as men commonly make use of in
measuring. It was a method practiced among the ancients to denote names by numbers; as
the name Thouth or the Egyptian Mercury was signified by the number 1218. . . . St.
Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul, in his epistle discovers in like manner the name of
Jesus crucified in the number 318. It hath been the usual method in all God's dispensations
for the Holy Spirit to accommodate his [its] expressions to the customs, fashions, and
manners of the several ages.
"Since then this art and mystery of numbers was so much used among the ancients, it is
less wonderful that the 'beast' also should have his number, 'and his number is six