Sylvia Browne: "Historical Fact: 666 was Nero's address"

RSLancastr · 14th February 2007, 04:59 PM

Evidently, on today's Montel show, Browne said that it is a "historical fact" that 666 was the address of the emperor Nero.

Doing a quick search for this on the web, I find one post saying it is a "historical fact - look it up" and another page where someone mentions Browne making the same claim on a Coast to Coast show.

Anyone have a really old address book on them?

Thoughts?

Marquis de Carabas · 14th February 2007, 05:00 PM

She's wrong. 666 was his pager number.

Lisa Simpson · 14th February 2007, 05:02 PM

I saw that. Cracked me up. Did they even have addresses back then? And would the Emperor need one?

RSLancastr · 14th February 2007, 05:07 PM

What was the ZipCode of the Beast?

Luke T. · 14th February 2007, 05:17 PM

What a dumbass. 666 was not his address. The theory is that the numerical representation of the letters in the Aramaic form of the name "Caesar Nero" when added together equals 666.

RSLancastr · 14th February 2007, 05:20 PM

Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time.

He says that her statement about it was:

Originally Posted by Sylvia Browne

"Now the 666, and this is historically a fact, not something I've made up psychically, was Nero's address."

The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so."

Priceless!

I'll take a look at it tonight.

Lisa Simpson · 14th February 2007, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

What was the ZipCode of the Beast?

20500

Lisa Simpson · 14th February 2007, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time.

He says that her statement about it was:

The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so."

Priceless!

I'll take a look at it tonight.

She does say that exactly. "Not something I made up psychically."

Luke T. · 14th February 2007, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time.

He says that her statement about it was:

Quote:

not something I've made up psychically

Heh. Looks like Sylvia wears a freudian slip.

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

I'll take a look at it tonight.

Let us know.

Brown · 14th February 2007, 05:25 PM

Robert, have a look at Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible by ...

... by ...

... by all means.

The chapter about the book of Revelation (beginning on page 1213 of the two-volumes-in-one edition) discusses "the number of the Beast." Asimov begins with a discussion of the notion that words used by Jews, Greeks and Romans could have numerical value. This kind of numerological analysis was called "gematria." The author of Revelation uses a number to refer to a person, but that person is not identified by name.

Quote:

The "number of the beast" is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in Greek form--Neron--and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final "n" is left out, the total value is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast.

Asimov goes on to say that if Revelation was written in year 95 (C.E.), as is commonly believed, then Nero would have been dead for a quarter of a century. He would hardly be a good candidate for being the beast.

Domitian was on the throne at that time, and he was persecuting members of the young Christian church. He would be a better candidate for the beast, because he was a vigorous enemy. Also, his then-current hold on power would make it even more important for Revelation to refer to him in code rather than by name.

Asimov does not offer any way in which Domitian's name can be coded to 666, however.

politas · 14th February 2007, 05:37 PM

Well, since ancient Rome didn't have a modern postal system, they didn't have much use for numeric addresses. 666 what?

In any case, which of the various places Nero lived during his life is Sylvia talking about. It's not like he was born, lived and died in the same building.

It's a stupid statement. Was Winston Churchill's address 10? Was Herbert Hoover's address 1600?

The woman is an idiot.

Luke T. · 14th February 2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Brown

Robert, have a look at Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible by ...

... by ...

... by all means.

Quote:

The "number of the beast" is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in Greek form--Neron--and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final "n" is left out, the total value is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast.

Hebrew? Guess it depends on who it is you ask.

Quote:

The preterist takes a relatively uncommon form of Nero's name, Nero Cæsar or Cæsar Nero, and adds an "n", resulting in Neron Cæsar. Next the Latin is transliterated into Aramaic, resulting in nrwn qsr, which when using the numeric equivalent of the letters, then adds up to 666 as follows:
Nun = 50
Resh = 200
Waw = 6
Nun = 50
Qoph = 100
Samech = 60
Resh = 200

http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/666.htm

For Hebrew, they have:

Quote:

The numeric equivalents of Hebrew letters can be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica under "Languages of the World", Table 50.

ROMIITH
means the Roman Kingdom

R = 200 resh
O = 6 waw (vav)
M = 40 mem
I = 10 yod
I = 10 yod
TH = 400 taw
--------------
666

ROMITI
means the Roman Man

R = 200 resh
O = 6 waw (vav)
M = 40 mem
I = 10 yod
T = 400 taw
I = 10 yod
----------
666

Whatever, nobody's saying "Nero's address".

Rasmus · 14th February 2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

Anyone have a really old address book on them?

Quote:

Thoughts?

Many.

What street did he live in?

Did the man ever move? I mean surerly you do not become emporer and stay in your cozy little flat and run the country from the backroom of our parents bakery or something, right? So at what time of his life did his address have this number? Do we know who else lived there? (Maybe nero was jsut sub-letting or something, ortook over somebody place after they moved away and the real devil is that other person ...)

Do we have the addresses of Cleoptra, Jesus (his family WAS subject to the census, after all) and Attila the Hun, too?

A quick google search didn't reveal when houses were first numbered, though. I found that Rome was apparently the first place to develop something like a postal service, though. The Wikipedia article speaks of mail distribution centres, though.

Brown · 14th February 2007, 05:42 PM

A quick follow-up to my previous post:

The notion of referring to persons in some secret code (e.g., symbolically or by false names) is well-known to biblical scholars (although it is at odds with fundamentalist dogma). The author of Revelation refers to "Babylon," for example. But "Babylon" is a code word for Rome. By using a code word, the author runs less risk of having words unfavorable to Rome being deemed seditious.

For those who are a little slow on the uptake, the author includes a hint as to Babylon's true identity. The whore of Babylon sits upon "seven mountains" (Rev. 17:9), and virtually everyone knows about the seven hills of Rome.

The first epistle attributed to Peter likewise refers to a church in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13). Since there were no Christian churches in what is now present-day Iraq at that time, this remark seems odd. But the author was probably referring to Rome. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Further, the author of Revelation was clearly familiar with the Book of Daniel, which is chock full of coded references, in which criticism of the Selucid Empire is disguised as criticism of the Babylonian Empire.

BillC · 14th February 2007, 05:48 PM

I thought much of the Book of Revelations was a coded rant against the decadence of Rome.

Brown · 14th February 2007, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by RSLancastr

Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time.

He says that her statement about it was:

Originally Posted by Sylvia Browne

"Now the 666, and this is historically a fact, not something I've made up psychically, was Nero's address."

The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so."

If this is all we've got from Browne, then maybe we ought to let it pass.

Is 666 Nero's "address" in the sense that 666 refers to Nero? Maybe. Quite a few commentators think so, anyway. Is it historically a fact? Well, that may be a little strong. There is still some question about who the author was referring to. Could be Nero, could be Domitian. Some really creative souls have said it could be Luther, could be Hitler, could be Kissinger, could be the Pope, and on and on and on.

Browne seems like she might be saying no more than "Historically speaking, 666 is Nero." This would not be an unreasonable statement.

There's no need to get all nit-picky, and you risk your own credibility when you quibble. I'd let this pass.

RSLancastr · 14th February 2007, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Brown

There's no need to get all nit-picky, and you risk your own credibility when you quibble. I'd let this pass.

I'm waiting until I see the clip, but I'm leaning toward letting it pass.

Mercutio · 14th February 2007, 06:04 PM

Keep this thread bookmarked. Someone may ask for evidence that you do not simply take every single claim about Slyvia in the worst possible light.

I would say that your threshold is much more kind to her than mine would be.

thaiboxerken · 14th February 2007, 06:08 PM

I'm being asked on another forum to prove that 666 wasn't Nero's address. Bleevers are such tards.

firecoins · 14th February 2007, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by Lisa Simpson

I saw that. Cracked me up. Did they even have addresses back then? And would the Emperor need one?

What have the Romans ever given us?

The Romans gave us roads, aqueducts, peace and post offices.

FaisonMars · 14th February 2007, 08:53 PM

Except the "Number of the Beast" might have been 616:

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1113...evalued-to-616

Sounds like Syvlia had a wee bit of knowledge about interpretation of Revelation, but not the whole story. It surprises me that someone so into the mystical aspects of Christianity would bring up anything that suggests that Revelation is NOT actually a devinely inspired vision of the End Times.

If Sylvia really did say "...not something I made up psychically..." that's really pretty damning, and the clip should be spread all over the web ASAP.

Gord_in_Toronto · 14th February 2007, 08:56 PM

I think 666 must have been Nero's Internet IP address because, if you extrapolate backwards from today, the Internet was obviously much smaller then and would not have needed a very large address space.

Reno · 14th February 2007, 09:04 PM

"not something I've made up psychically"

As opposed to...?

Earthborn · 15th February 2007, 12:23 AM

As usual, Wikipedia is your friend...

Quote:

For example, scholars who believe that the Book of Revelation refers to historical people and events argue that the number represents Nero.[11] This hypothesis was first presented by Friedrich Engels. In Hebrew gematria, every letter has a corresponding number. Summing these numbers gives a numeric value to a word or name.

(snip)

The hypothesis that 666 is a code for a Roman emperor seems to have historical support.

It is not a historic 'fact' (since it is rather difficult to prove), but a hypothesis by historians. And it certainly is not literally an "adress" in the sense of it being a street adress. But it may have been a way for Jews and Christians to "adress" the issue of the emperor.

Hauteden · 15th February 2007, 02:29 AM

Wouldn't his address actually be DCLXVI or something of the sort?

Hauteden

Cuddles · 15th February 2007, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by Hauteden

Wouldn't his address actually be DCLXVI or something of the sort?

Hauteden

Dammit, I was about to say that.

McCragge · 15th February 2007, 03:20 AM

Actually, if I remember correctly, Nero's address was 668, the neighbor of the beast!

(Rumor has it he lived on a cul-de-sac)

McCragge

Big Les · 15th February 2007, 03:29 AM

Originally Posted by Politas

Well, since ancient Rome didn't have a modern postal system, they didn't have much use for numeric addresses. 666 what?

666 "Fiddler's" Avenue of course.

Seriously though; were there really <666 Golden Palaces in Rome?

Zep · 15th February 2007, 03:55 AM

666 octal? Or was it [drum roll...] 666 hex?

H3LL · 15th February 2007, 04:30 AM

I get it.

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus who had his name changed to Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar or Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. When you remove most of his adoptive name and play around with it in a language that wasn't his native tongue you get a number that probably wasn't 'the number of the beast'.

How do they manage such accuracy?

.

Tricky · 15th February 2007, 04:50 AM

Originally Posted by Big Les

666 "Fiddler's" Avenue of course.

LOL. Yeah, toss another bit of "historical" BS on top. The violin wasn't invented in Nero's time. He might have played a lute. Even today whenever there is a disaster, like a fire, one of the big problems is luting.

Garrette · 15th February 2007, 04:57 AM

Originally Posted by Tricky

LOL. Yeah, toss another bit of "historical" BS on top. The violin wasn't invented in Nero's time. He might have played a lute. Even today whenever there is a disaster, like a fire, one of the big problems is luting.

It's a good thing you're the TLAD because otherwise I might consider nominating...

No. No. Scratch that. I still wouldn't nominate it.

Spektator · 15th February 2007, 05:56 AM

I don't know Nero's address. I do know that Hitler's serial number in the German army was "Vun."

Luke T. · 15th February 2007, 06:31 AM

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I'm being asked on another forum to prove that 666 wasn't Nero's address. Bleevers are such tards.

Ask them to prove there aren't any blue fairies on the moon.

Garrette · 15th February 2007, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by Luke T.

Ask them to prove there aren't any blue fairies on the moon.

And what their address isn't?

Orangutan · 15th February 2007, 08:43 AM

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I'm being asked on another forum to prove that 666 wasn't Nero's address. Bleevers are such tards.

Tell them he lived at number 9.
You can see where the numbers used to be on the front door to his palace.
Yes I made this up.

Lisa Simpson · 15th February 2007, 08:53 AM

Hey...his address is right there on the side! Sylvia was right!

Orangutan · 15th February 2007, 08:59 AM

Lisa,

Was my photoshopping too subtle? I have already added 'IX' above the door.

Edit, That really is Nero's palace by the way.
Double Edit I should do one with 666, non roman numerals and post it somewhere to see if it gets picked up! lol

Amapola · 15th February 2007, 09:24 AM

Oh my ed. I'm not going to get over that "luting" post for a long long time.

CptColumbo · 15th February 2007, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by Orangutan

Lisa,

Was my photoshopping too subtle? I have already added 'IX' above the door.

Edit, That really is Nero's palace by the way.
Double Edit I should do one with 666, non roman numerals and post it somewhere to see if it gets picked up! lol

I fell for it. Go for it.

Did Nero's palace really need an address? It's not like that place in Vegas was around yet to cause confusion.

14th February 2007, 04:59 PM	#1
RSLancastr www.StopSylvia.com Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Salem, Oregon Posts: 15,531	Sylvia Browne: "Historical Fact: 666 was Nero's address" Evidently, on today's Montel show, Browne said that it is a "historical fact" that 666 was the address of the emperor Nero. Doing a quick search for this on the web, I find one post saying it is a "historical fact - look it up" and another page where someone mentions Browne making the same claim on a Coast to Coast show. Anyone have a really old address book on them? Thoughts?
	__________________ Who is "Kaz?" Read about her at www.StopKaz.com. Curious about Sylvia Browne? Read about her at www.StopSylvia.com. Ever wonder "What's the Harm?" with psychics, alternative medicine, etc?

14th February 2007, 05:00 PM	#2
Marquis de Carabas Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: vuori Posts: 27,106	She's wrong. 666 was his pager number.
	__________________ Jesus ... wasn't he the bloke who turned fish into wine and made the lepers multiply? -KateHL Violence is more acceptable than incest. I have been told to keep this in mind.

14th February 2007, 05:02 PM	#3
Lisa Simpson THE Lisa Simpson Administrator Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 123 Fake Street Posts: 20,053	I saw that. Cracked me up. Did they even have addresses back then? And would the Emperor need one?
	__________________ That's what the Internet does -- you get a free bonus prize of Stupid Lies with every box of Delicious Facts. - cracked.com Facts are satanic litter on the heavenly highway to blind faith! - Betty Bowers

14th February 2007, 05:07 PM	#4
RSLancastr www.StopSylvia.com Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Salem, Oregon Posts: 15,531	What was the ZipCode of the Beast?
	__________________ Who is "Kaz?" Read about her at www.StopKaz.com. Curious about Sylvia Browne? Read about her at www.StopSylvia.com. Ever wonder "What's the Harm?" with psychics, alternative medicine, etc?

14th February 2007, 05:17 PM	#5
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759	What a dumbass. 666 was not his address. The theory is that the numerical representation of the letters in the Aramaic form of the name "Caesar Nero" when added together equals 666.
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759

14th February 2007, 05:20 PM	#6
RSLancastr www.StopSylvia.com Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Salem, Oregon Posts: 15,531	Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time. He says that her statement about it was: Originally Posted by Sylvia Browne "Now the 666, and this is historically a fact, not something I've made up psychically, was Nero's address." The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so." Priceless! I'll take a look at it tonight.
	__________________ Who is "Kaz?" Read about her at www.StopKaz.com. Curious about Sylvia Browne? Read about her at www.StopSylvia.com. Ever wonder "What's the Harm?" with psychics, alternative medicine, etc?

14th February 2007, 05:21 PM	#7
Lisa Simpson THE Lisa Simpson Administrator Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 123 Fake Street Posts: 20,053	Originally Posted by RSLancastr What was the ZipCode of the Beast? 20500
	__________________ That's what the Internet does -- you get a free bonus prize of Stupid Lies with every box of Delicious Facts. - cracked.com Facts are satanic litter on the heavenly highway to blind faith! - Betty Bowers

14th February 2007, 05:22 PM	#8
Lisa Simpson THE Lisa Simpson Administrator Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 123 Fake Street Posts: 20,053	Originally Posted by RSLancastr Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time. He says that her statement about it was: The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so." Priceless! I'll take a look at it tonight. She does say that exactly. "Not something I made up psychically."
	__________________ That's what the Internet does -- you get a free bonus prize of Stupid Lies with every box of Delicious Facts. - cracked.com Facts are satanic litter on the heavenly highway to blind faith! - Betty Bowers

14th February 2007, 05:24 PM	#9
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759	Originally Posted by RSLancastr Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time. He says that her statement about it was: Quote: not something I've made up psychically Heh. Looks like Sylvia wears a freudian slip. Originally Posted by RSLancastr I'll take a look at it tonight. Let us know.
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759

14th February 2007, 05:25 PM	#10
Brown Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Twin Cities, Canada Posts: 12,145	Robert, have a look at Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible by ... ... by ... ... by all means. The chapter about the book of Revelation (beginning on page 1213 of the two-volumes-in-one edition) discusses "the number of the Beast." Asimov begins with a discussion of the notion that words used by Jews, Greeks and Romans could have numerical value. This kind of numerological analysis was called "gematria." The author of Revelation uses a number to refer to a person, but that person is not identified by name. Quote: The "number of the beast" is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in Greek form--Neron--and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final "n" is left out, the total value is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast. Asimov goes on to say that if Revelation was written in year 95 (C.E.), as is commonly believed, then Nero would have been dead for a quarter of a century. He would hardly be a good candidate for being the beast. Domitian was on the throne at that time, and he was persecuting members of the young Christian church. He would be a better candidate for the beast, because he was a vigorous enemy. Also, his then-current hold on power would make it even more important for Revelation to refer to him in code rather than by name. Asimov does not offer any way in which Domitian's name can be coded to 666, however.
	__________________ Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I am very sorry. I wish it were otherwise. -- The Day The Earth Stood Still, screenplay by Edmund H. North "Don't you get me wrong. I only want to know." -- Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, lyrics by Tim Rice

14th February 2007, 05:37 PM	#11
politas Pirate King Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 1,081	Well, since ancient Rome didn't have a modern postal system, they didn't have much use for numeric addresses. 666 what? In any case, which of the various places Nero lived during his life is Sylvia talking about. It's not like he was born, lived and died in the same building. It's a stupid statement. Was Winston Churchill's address 10? Was Herbert Hoover's address 1600? The woman is an idiot.
	__________________ Myk Rational Capital Podcast

14th February 2007, 05:39 PM	#12
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759	Originally Posted by Brown Robert, have a look at Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible by ... ... by ... ... by all means. Quote: The "number of the beast" is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in Greek form--Neron--and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final "n" is left out, the total value is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast. Hebrew? Guess it depends on who it is you ask. Quote: The preterist takes a relatively uncommon form of Nero's name, Nero Cæsar or Cæsar Nero, and adds an "n", resulting in Neron Cæsar. Next the Latin is transliterated into Aramaic, resulting in nrwn qsr, which when using the numeric equivalent of the letters, then adds up to 666 as follows: Nun = 50 Resh = 200 Waw = 6 Nun = 50 Qoph = 100 Samech = 60 Resh = 200 http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/666.htm For Hebrew, they have: Quote: The numeric equivalents of Hebrew letters can be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica under "Languages of the World", Table 50. ROMIITH means the Roman Kingdom R = 200 resh O = 6 waw (vav) M = 40 mem I = 10 yod I = 10 yod TH = 400 taw -------------- 666 ROMITI means the Roman Man R = 200 resh O = 6 waw (vav) M = 40 mem I = 10 yod T = 400 taw I = 10 yod ---------- 666 Whatever, nobody's saying "Nero's address".
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759

14th February 2007, 05:39 PM	#13
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,138	Originally Posted by RSLancastr Anyone have a really old address book on them? Quote: Thoughts? Many. What street did he live in? Did the man ever move? I mean surerly you do not become emporer and stay in your cozy little flat and run the country from the backroom of our parents bakery or something, right? So at what time of his life did his address have this number? Do we know who else lived there? (Maybe nero was jsut sub-letting or something, ortook over somebody place after they moved away and the real devil is that other person ...) Do we have the addresses of Cleoptra, Jesus (his family WAS subject to the census, after all) and Attila the Hun, too? A quick google search didn't reveal when houses were first numbered, though. I found that Rome was apparently the first place to develop something like a postal service, though. The Wikipedia article speaks of mail distribution centres, though.
Rasmus Philosopher Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 6,138

14th February 2007, 05:42 PM	#14
Brown Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Twin Cities, Canada Posts: 12,145	A quick follow-up to my previous post: The notion of referring to persons in some secret code (e.g., symbolically or by false names) is well-known to biblical scholars (although it is at odds with fundamentalist dogma). The author of Revelation refers to "Babylon," for example. But "Babylon" is a code word for Rome. By using a code word, the author runs less risk of having words unfavorable to Rome being deemed seditious. For those who are a little slow on the uptake, the author includes a hint as to Babylon's true identity. The whore of Babylon sits upon "seven mountains" (Rev. 17:9), and virtually everyone knows about the seven hills of Rome. The first epistle attributed to Peter likewise refers to a church in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13). Since there were no Christian churches in what is now present-day Iraq at that time, this remark seems odd. But the author was probably referring to Rome. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Further, the author of Revelation was clearly familiar with the Book of Daniel, which is chock full of coded references, in which criticism of the Selucid Empire is disguised as criticism of the Babylonian Empire.
	__________________ Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I am very sorry. I wish it were otherwise. -- The Day The Earth Stood Still, screenplay by Edmund H. North "Don't you get me wrong. I only want to know." -- Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, lyrics by Tim Rice

14th February 2007, 05:48 PM	#15
BillC Bazooka Joe Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,035	I thought much of the Book of Revelations was a coded rant against the decadence of Rome.
BillC Bazooka Joe Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,035	__________________ "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" - Douglas Adams "If homeopathy works, then obviously the less you use it, the stronger it gets. So the best way to apply homeopathy is to not use it at all." - Phil Plait Do you want to know about Sylvia Browne?

14th February 2007, 06:00 PM	#16
Brown Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Twin Cities, Canada Posts: 12,145	Originally Posted by RSLancastr Okay, the gent who emailed me on this clarified. I was too tired to get his point the first time. He says that her statement about it was: Originally Posted by Sylvia Browne "Now the 666, and this is historically a fact, not something I've made up psychically, was Nero's address." The emailer goes on to say "I'm sorry but did she just say she makes this s*** up? I think so." If this is all we've got from Browne, then maybe we ought to let it pass. Is 666 Nero's "address" in the sense that 666 refers to Nero? Maybe. Quite a few commentators think so, anyway. Is it historically a fact? Well, that may be a little strong. There is still some question about who the author was referring to. Could be Nero, could be Domitian. Some really creative souls have said it could be Luther, could be Hitler, could be Kissinger, could be the Pope, and on and on and on. Browne seems like she might be saying no more than "Historically speaking, 666 is Nero." This would not be an unreasonable statement. There's no need to get all nit-picky, and you risk your own credibility when you quibble. I'd let this pass.
	__________________ Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley: I'm afraid my people haven't. I am very sorry. I wish it were otherwise. -- The Day The Earth Stood Still, screenplay by Edmund H. North "Don't you get me wrong. I only want to know." -- Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, lyrics by Tim Rice

14th February 2007, 06:03 PM	#17
RSLancastr www.StopSylvia.com Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Salem, Oregon Posts: 15,531	Originally Posted by Brown There's no need to get all nit-picky, and you risk your own credibility when you quibble. I'd let this pass. I'm waiting until I see the clip, but I'm leaning toward letting it pass.
	__________________ Who is "Kaz?" Read about her at www.StopKaz.com. Curious about Sylvia Browne? Read about her at www.StopSylvia.com. Ever wonder "What's the Harm?" with psychics, alternative medicine, etc?

14th February 2007, 06:04 PM	#18
Mercutio Shakespeare's Sock Puppet Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Live Free Or Die Posts: 16,325	Keep this thread bookmarked. Someone may ask for evidence that you do not simply take every single claim about Slyvia in the worst possible light. I would say that your threshold is much more kind to her than mine would be.
	__________________ "But to see her was to love her Love but her, and love forever."

14th February 2007, 06:08 PM	#19
thaiboxerken Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 20,952	I'm being asked on another forum to prove that 666 wasn't Nero's address. Bleevers are such tards.
	__________________ All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power & profit - Thomas Paine

14th February 2007, 06:19 PM	#20
firecoins Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Nyack, NY Posts: 3,191	Originally Posted by Lisa Simpson I saw that. Cracked me up. Did they even have addresses back then? And would the Emperor need one? What have the Romans ever given us? The Romans gave us roads, aqueducts, peace and post offices.
	__________________ NY Paramedic, skeptic, 9/11/01 Reality-ist. I am both right wing nut and left wing lunatic. Deal with it.

14th February 2007, 08:53 PM	#21
FaisonMars Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New Haven, CT Posts: 661	Except the "Number of the Beast" might have been 616: http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1113...evalued-to-616 Sounds like Syvlia had a wee bit of knowledge about interpretation of Revelation, but not the whole story. It surprises me that someone so into the mystical aspects of Christianity would bring up anything that suggests that Revelation is NOT actually a devinely inspired vision of the End Times. If Sylvia really did say "...not something I made up psychically..." that's really pretty damning, and the clip should be spread all over the web ASAP.

14th February 2007, 08:56 PM	#22
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 13,411	I think 666 must have been Nero's Internet IP address because, if you extrapolate backwards from today, the Internet was obviously much smaller then and would not have needed a very large address space.
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

14th February 2007, 09:04 PM	#23
Reno Inquisitor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Scotland, West Coast Posts: 1,233	"not something I've made up psychically" As opposed to...?
	__________________ "Well, if it matters not to you how things are phrased, nor whether they make any logical sense, then here is my answer to your question: Twenty-seven rumbly-tumblies in a tinhorn fandango." - Robert S Lancaster Stop Sylvia Browne

15th February 2007, 12:23 AM	#24
Earthborn Terrestrial Intelligence Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Terra Firma Posts: 5,647	As usual, Wikipedia is your friend... Quote: For example, scholars who believe that the Book of Revelation refers to historical people and events argue that the number represents Nero.[11] This hypothesis was first presented by Friedrich Engels. In Hebrew gematria, every letter has a corresponding number. Summing these numbers gives a numeric value to a word or name. (snip) The hypothesis that 666 is a code for a Roman emperor seems to have historical support. It is not a historic 'fact' (since it is rather difficult to prove), but a hypothesis by historians. And it certainly is not literally an "adress" in the sense of it being a street adress. But it may have been a way for Jews and Christians to "adress" the issue of the emperor.
	__________________ Perhaps nothing is entirely true; and not even that! Multatuli

15th February 2007, 02:29 AM	#25
Hauteden Thinker Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 159	Wouldn't his address actually be DCLXVI or something of the sort? Hauteden

15th February 2007, 02:40 AM	#26
Cuddles Decoy Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land full of pink fluffy sheeps and bunnies Posts: 16,570	Originally Posted by Hauteden Wouldn't his address actually be DCLXVI or something of the sort? Hauteden Dammit, I was about to say that.
	__________________ I am not a little teapot.

15th February 2007, 03:20 AM	#27
McCragge Scholar Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 58	Actually, if I remember correctly, Nero's address was 668, the neighbor of the beast! (Rumor has it he lived on a cul-de-sac) McCragge
	__________________ Fundies say the darndest things: "And, you attacked christianity. You can't attck chrisitanity based on things from the old testament. Thats no argument at all."

15th February 2007, 03:29 AM	#28
Big Les Not so much a medium as a large Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,004	Originally Posted by Politas Well, since ancient Rome didn't have a modern postal system, they didn't have much use for numeric addresses. 666 what? 666 "Fiddler's" Avenue of course. Seriously though; were there really <666 Golden Palaces in Rome?
	__________________ "Feeling you’ve done something is not quite the same as the empirical scientific proof." -Stephen Fry The BS Historian

15th February 2007, 03:55 AM	#29
Zep Banned Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 26,985	666 octal? Or was it [drum roll...] 666 hex?
Zep Banned Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 26,985

15th February 2007, 04:30 AM	#30
H3LL Illuminator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: (ləʊˈkeɪʃən) - n. 1. a site or position; situation. Posts: 4,976	I get it. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus who had his name changed to Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar or Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. When you remove most of his adoptive name and play around with it in a language that wasn't his native tongue you get a number that probably wasn't 'the number of the beast'. How do they manage such accuracy? .
	__________________ "I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it". - PTerry Top 10 Reasons Why I Procrastinate: 1. Last edited by H3LL; 15th February 2007 at 04:37 AM.

15th February 2007, 04:50 AM	#31
Tricky Briefly immortal Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The Group W bench Posts: 42,358	Originally Posted by Big Les 666 "Fiddler's" Avenue of course. LOL. Yeah, toss another bit of "historical" BS on top. The violin wasn't invented in Nero's time. He might have played a lute. Even today whenever there is a disaster, like a fire, one of the big problems is luting.

15th February 2007, 04:57 AM	#32
Garrette Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,545	Originally Posted by Tricky LOL. Yeah, toss another bit of "historical" BS on top. The violin wasn't invented in Nero's time. He might have played a lute. Even today whenever there is a disaster, like a fire, one of the big problems is luting. It's a good thing you're the TLAD because otherwise I might consider nominating... No. No. Scratch that. I still wouldn't nominate it.
	__________________ My kids still love me.

15th February 2007, 05:56 AM	#33
Spektator Dog Who Laughs Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,319	I don't know Nero's address. I do know that Hitler's serial number in the German army was "Vun."

15th February 2007, 06:31 AM	#34
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759	Originally Posted by thaiboxerken I'm being asked on another forum to prove that 666 wasn't Nero's address. Bleevers are such tards. Ask them to prove there aren't any blue fairies on the moon.
Luke T. Guest Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 14,759

15th February 2007, 06:40 AM	#35
Garrette Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,545	Originally Posted by Luke T. Ask them to prove there aren't any blue fairies on the moon. And what their address isn't?
	__________________ My kids still love me.