The Beast (Revelation) of the sea, specifically fishing, and of fertility: Dagon. According to this interpretation, the beast and false prophet were most commonly identified with the papacy in its political and religious aspects. The identification with the papacy is a viewpoint echoed by Seventh-day Adventist writers. According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the "image to the beast" represents Protestant churches which will form an alliance with the Papacy, and the "mark of the beast" refers to a future universal Sunday law. Adventists have interpreted the number of the beast, 666, as corresponding to a Latin title Vicarius Filii Dei of the Pope.
The Number of the Beast (novel) plays into the ideology of "Thou Art God" from Heinlein's earlier work "Stranger in a Strange Land". Jack Kirwan wrote in the "National Review" that the novel is "about two men and two women in a time machine safari through this and other universes. But describing "The Number of the Beast" thus is like saying "Moby Dick" is about a one-legged guy trying to catch a fish". He goes on to say that Heinlein celebrates the "competent person". Sue K. Hurwitz said in her review for the "School Library Journal" that it is "a catalog of Heinlein's sins as an