Number of the Beast Rescriptus" have led some scholars to regard 616 as the original Number of the Beast. According to Paul Louis, "The number 666 has been substituted for 616 either by analogy with 888, the [Greek] number of Jesus (Gustav Adolf Deissmann), or because it is a triangular number, the sum of the first 36 numbers (1+2+3+4+5+6+...+36 = 666)" Interpreting the identity and the number of the beast usually falls into three categories: In Greek isopsephy and Hebrew gematria, every letter has a corresponding numeric value. Summing these numbers gives a numeric value to a word or name. The use of isopsephy
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