The Beast (Revelation) The number 666 is calculated by using a form of gematria where only the letters which refer to Latin numerals are counted. In 1866, Uriah Smith was the first to propose the interpretation to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In "The United States in the Light of Prophecy" he wrote, Adventist scholar J. N. Andrews also adopted this view. Uriah Smith maintained his interpretation in the various editions of "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation", which was influential in the church. Jimmy Akin of "Catholic Answers" and additional Catholic sources disagree with the above argument, claiming "Vicarius Filii Dei, although it
Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation Historicism, a method of interpretation in Christian eschatology which associates biblical prophecies with actual historical events and identifies symbolic beings with historical persons or societies, has been applied to the Book of Revelation by many writers. The Historicist view follows a straight line of continuous fulfillment of prophecy which starts in Daniel's time and goes through John's writing of the Book of Revelation all the way to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. One of the most influential rhetorical aspects of the Protestant historicist paradigm was the speculation that the Pope could be