Paul,
Before I attempt an answer to your question I think it appropriate that
we remind ourselves, and others, of the verse in question, viz
"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."(Rev.13:18, AV)
I somehow doubt that the information provided here is intended,
primarily, or even necessarily, to identify a particular individual. In
saying that, I am mindful,
(a) of something we read in a later verse, viz "...them (the elect) that
had gotten the victory over...the number of his name..." (Rev.15:2);
(b) of the fact that because NT Greek has no indefinite article,
"...number of a man..." could equally well be rendered "...number of
man..." (Rev.13:18) - as in the NIV, for example;
(c) of problems that must arise in formulating a generally-acceptable
decoding method (unless the name were Hebrew or Greek);
(d) of problems associated with the logic of the whole exercise; what
would be its real purpose?
(e) of the fact that we are informed that those who would solve the
riddle are required to exercise 'understanding'.
You will find these matters discussed at length in the page "666 - and
All That!" at http://www.otherbiblecode.com.
Now, the question you asked was this:
Suppose God inspired a writer to write "666", but later a scribe changed
the text to "616"; and, in addition all copies of the text with "666"
were lost, so that all that was available were the copies with "616."
If a clever person by various mathematical processes found a name which
matched "616" and that name was a stunningly impressive suggestion,
would the name show that this Bible verse was of divine origin----even
though the clever name was not based on a word inspired by God?
Since "The Revelation of St.John the Divine" (the title of the Book as
we find it in the AV) is really "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants..." (Rev.1:1) - and we
would be wise never to forget that! It therefore follows that - God
being Omniscient - such a problem could not arise. However, that said -
and since you wish me to pursue the hypothesis - why would you suppose
that our 'clever person' would command the general consent of his peers
in respect of his method of converting a name into a number?
Regards,
Vernon
PHSEELY@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 06/30/2001 2:05:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> vernon.jenkins@virgin.net writes:
>
> << On the other matter: I consider your question extremely
> hypothetical, for it would appear that our views concerning God's
> sovereignty differ considerably. However, I am interested in the
> motive which prompted you to pose the question. Can you please
> clarify? >>
>
> In spite of being hypothetical, I think it gets to the issue. I need
> your answer to the question before I can reply.
>
> Regards,
>
> Paul
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