I hesitate to reply because this may be a spoof - it's hard to
tell with 666ers. But if it's supposed to be serious, a few serious
facts may be helpful:
1) The process by which numbers were sometimes used as a code
for names, called _gematria_ (related to the word "geometry") is well
known. The numerical values of the letters are _added_. Thus WWW in
Hebrew (W = wau) would be 18, not 666.
2) Revelation was written in Greek.
3) There is some textual evidence for the reading 616, or 646,
instead of 666.
4) The number is "the number of a human being [tou anthropou]".
It must therefore be the name or title of a person, not something like
the internet. Neron Caesar in Hebrew is 666 and omitting the final n
gives 616. There are other indications that Nero is part of the
background of the figures of evil in Revelation.
5) Those who "have understanding" among the readers of
Revelation are supposed to understand the meaning of 666 (or whatever).
Thus the code was meaningful to Christians at the end of the 1st
century. The internet or persons of the 20th century don't qualify.
6) People who want to "interpret the Bible literally" are
under special obligation to read carefully what the Bible says.
George Murphy
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@imperium.net
http://www.imperium.net/~gmurphy