# The Mark of the Beast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 19, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375 "2018-06-19T11:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![waddlingeagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@waddlingeagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddlingeagle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/1 "2018-06-19T11:47:53Z")
Link to original column: [https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2245/whats-up-with-666-the-mark-of-the-beast/](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2245/whats-up-with-666-the-mark-of-the-beast/) One of the better explanations I have read is that apocalyptic revelations are deliberately vague so as to represent repeating patterns of history on different levels. The revelation does not refer to a single event, but rather is a type and shadow comparing current events with larger cycles, including the history of the world as a whole. Thus, Revelation is about Nero, but it is also about the Roman Empire in general, and also is about the creation, life, and ultimate destruction of the world. It is, in essence, a poetic form beloved of Semitic peoples, related to pre-Islamic Arabic forms. It is not intended to fit any event or sequence of events exactly, but rather the narrative is created to fit the poetic form. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/2 "2018-06-19T12:37:13Z")
‘Eschatology’. Cool word. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/3 "2018-06-19T13:26:18Z")
I’m not going to dispute the research of this article, but I don’t understand why ancient theologians insisted that God created the world in seven days. He created it in six days, and on the seventh day _he rested_. Ergo, God took a day off. So why did they say it took seven days to create the world? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/4 "2018-06-19T13:29:58Z")
Why would God need to rest? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/5 "2018-06-19T14:08:20Z")
The idea is that resting is, itself, part of Creation. The seventh day is when He created rest. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/6 "2018-06-19T14:13:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The idea is that resting is, itself, part of Creation. The seventh day is when He created rest. I’m pretty sure we humans would have invented slacking off all on our own…say, within about the first fifteen minutes of our existence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/7 "2018-06-19T15:32:38Z")
I heard from a reliable source that the true “mark of the beast” is a constantly “flushed orange” complexion that is due, they say, from being constantly exposed to the severe heat of hell. I don’t have a specific cite for that, but that’s what “they say”. It’s probably a ridiculous assertion because who could possibly have a constantly orange complexion?! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/8 "2018-06-19T17:09:33Z")
Why think that is their purpose when the real world interpretation is always “It applies to _this_ event!” Ancient revelations and prophecies still around today aren’t deliberately vague so they can last through the ages, they have lasted through the ages because they were vague. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/9 "2018-06-19T17:57:12Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I heard from a reliable source that the true “mark of the beast” is a constantly “flushed orange” complexion that is due, they say, from being constantly exposed to the severe heat of hell. I don’t have a specific cite for that, but that’s what “they say”. > > It’s probably a ridiculous assertion because who could possibly have a constantly orange complexion?! Too much carotene? I read that the best way to find out if someone’s a demon in disguise is to check their feet. For some reason demons can’t hide their hooves. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/10 "2018-06-19T18:24:02Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Why would God need to rest? The porn isn’t going to watch itself, Samael ! ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/11 "2018-06-20T12:24:39Z")
John was so whacked on the local fungi when he had this vision that the numbers probably looked like squiggles to him: no frame of reference. I figure bar codes. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/12 "2018-06-20T12:40:09Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I read that the best way to find out if someone’s a demon in disguise is to check their feet. For some reason demons can’t hide their hooves. I’d be careful about trifling with a demon’s feet. You could get a real quick, severe case of “Hoof in the Mouth Disease”\> 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/13 "2018-06-20T14:46:47Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Why think that is their purpose when the real world interpretation is always “It applies to _this_ event!” > > Ancient revelations and prophecies still around today aren’t deliberately vague so they can last through the ages, they have lasted through the ages because they were vague. The way I read the hypothesis in the OP is that they were deliberately made vague because the crafters somehow knew that they were going to NEED to last through the ages. And they were RIGHT! Man, these dudes must have been some kind of PROPHETS! Wait… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/14 "2018-06-20T14:48:06Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Too much carotene? > > I read that the best way to find out if someone’s a demon in disguise is to check their feet. For some reason demons can’t hide their hooves. What, they haven’t heard of SHOES? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/15 "2018-06-20T14:49:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The way I read the hypothesis in the OP is that they were deliberately made vague because the crafters somehow knew that they were going to NEED to last through the ages. Yes. And I’m saying “That’s nonsense”, but I was trying to do so with a touch of subtlety. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/16 "2018-06-20T15:02:27Z")
Tell me more of this “subtlety” magik of which you speak… First, let me put away this bottle of seltzer, and this here rubber chicken. I’m keeping the joy buzzer. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/17 "2018-06-20T17:01:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The idea is that resting is, itself, part of Creation. The seventh day is when He created rest. Jokes aside, (even if a funny one appears in this thread), that is exactly the case. Many societies/cultures have never actually incorporated a day of rest into their calendars, yet Judaism has made it part of the cornerstone of its theology, (passing it on the Christianity), and thus codifying it in law and culture. Judaism is not completely alone in this, Buddhism has _Uposatha_ that may be celebrated from two to six times each month, depending on the local tradition. Similarly, while Roman, Greek, and Egyptian calendars did not specify a “day of rest,” they were often filled with holidays of one sort or another. What Judaism and Buddhism did differently was to specify that there would be a periodic and regular day of rest for its own sake rather than knocking off work to celebrate a specific god or emperor or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![szabrocki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@szabrocki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/szabrocki)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/18 "2018-06-20T18:17:40Z")
Why do people pray to them on that day? I would think that it is a day off and whatever God shouldn’t be bothered. How many people want a call for help or praise on their day off regardless of religion? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/19 "2018-06-21T14:19:28Z")
Really? Its his, her, it’s JOB to be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375/20 "2018-06-21T23:38:40Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Similarly, while Roman, Greek, and Egyptian calendars did not specify a “day of rest,” they were often filled with holidays of one sort or another. What Judaism and Buddhism did differently was to specify that there would be a periodic and regular day of rest for its own sake rather than knocking off work to celebrate a specific god or emperor or whatever. We all know that Sundays and Christmas are not business days. As someone (Gibbon?) pointed out to me, n ancient Rome you had to pay a priest to determine which days are “auspicious” for dong business. By “late” Rome it was codified. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mark-of-the-beast/816375.md?page=2)