Number of the Beast Maometis in Greek numerals totals 666: In the 1923 book "The Number And Names Of The Apocalyptic Beasts", David Thom rejects "Maometis" as a valid translation, observing that "of the seven different ways in which Muhammad’s name is written in Euthymius and the Byzantine historians, not one is the orthography in question". None of the given spellings add up to 666 under Greek gematria. The Classical Greek word "charagma" (), translated as "mark" (of the beast) in Revelation 13:16 can also mean "any mark engraved", "imprinted", or "branded"; "stamped money", "document", or "coin". A common preterist view of the Mark
Book of Revelation the heavenly banquet is also explored by British Methodist Geoffrey Wainwright in his book "Eucharist and Eschatology" (Oxford University Press, 1980). According to Pope Benedict XVI some of the images of Revelation should be understood in the context of the dramatic suffering and persecution of the churches of Asia in the 1st century. Accordingly, the Book of Revelation should not be read as an enigmatic warning, but as an encouraging vision of Christ's definitive victory over evil. The radical discipleship interpretation asserts that the Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i. e., how to