~~  Does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have anything in common with the Mark of the Beast?  ~~

The first step we will take is a look into the authenticity of the Holy Bible and the divine nature of the number seven.

God is A Mathematician

By Keith Newman.

    The authenticity of the Holy Bible has been attacked at regular intervals by atheists and theologians (especially those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) alike but none have explained away the mathematical seal beneath its surface.

    It would seem the divine hand has moved to prevent counterfeiting in the pages of the Bible in a similar manner to the line that runs through paper money. Bible numerics appears to be God's watermark of authenticity.

    Vital research on this numeric seal was completed by a native of the world's most renowned atheistic nation, Russia. Ivan Panin was born in Russia on December 12, 1855. As a young man he was an active nihilist and participated in plots against the Czar and his government. He was a mathematical genius who died a Harvard scholar and a citizen of the United States in 1942.

Panin was exiled from Russia. And after spending a number of years studying in Germany, he went to the United States where he became an outstanding lecturer on literary criticism.    Panin was known as a firm agnostic - so well known that when he discarded his agnosticism and accepted the Christian faith, the newspapers carried headlines telling of his conversion.

    It was in 1890 that Panin made the discovery of the mathematical structure underlining the vocabulary of the Greek New Testament. He was casually reading the first verse of the gospel of John in the Greek: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with the God and the Word was God...".

    Panin was curious as to why the Greek word for "the"' preceded the word "God"' in one case and not the other. In examining the text he became aware of a number relationship. This was the first of the discoveries that led to his conversion and uncovered the extensive numeric code.

    Panin found his proof in the oldest and most accurate manuscripts - the Received Hebrew Text and the Westcott and Hort Text.

    In the original languages of the Bible, mostly Hebrew and Greek, there are no separate symbols for numbers, letters of the alphabet are also used to indicate numbers.

    The numeric value of a word is the sum total of all its letters. It was curiosity that first caused Panin to begin toying with the numbers behind the texts. Sequences and patterns began to emerge. These created such a stirring in the heart of the Russian that he dedicated 50 years of his life to painstakingly comb the pages of the Bible.

    This complex system of numbering visibly and invisibly saturates every book of the scriptures emphasizing certain passages and illustrating deeper or further meaning in types and shadows. The 66 books of the Bible 39 in the Old and 27 in the New were written by 33 different people.

    Those authors were scattered throughout various countries of the world and from widely different backgrounds. Many of them had little or no schooling. The whole Bible was written over a period of 1500 years with a 400 year silence apart from the Apocrypha between the two testaments. Despite the handicaps the biblical books are found to be a harmonious record, each in accord with the other.

    Panin says the laws of probability are exceeded into the billions when we try and rationalize the authorship of the Bible as the work of man. He once said: "If human logic is worth anything at all we are simply driven to the conclusion that if my facts I have presented are true, man could never have done this.

    "We must assume that a Power higher than man guided the writers in such a way, whether they knew it or not, they did it and the Great God inspired them to do it''.

    The Bible itself states clearly that it is the literal God-breathed'' living word of the Creator. The words "Thus saith the Lord"' and "God said"' occur more than 2500 times throughout scripture.

    In 2 Timothy 3:16 it states "All scripture is given by inspiration of God". Then in 2 Peter 9:20-21 it plainly states: "No prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost".

    Let's take the number seven as an illustration of the way the patterns work. Seven is the most prolific of the mathematical series which binds scripture together. The very first verse of the Bible "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1), contains over 30 different combinations of seven.

    This verse has seven Hebrew words having a total of 28 letters 4 x 7. The numeric value of the three nouns "God", "heaven" and "earth" totals 777. Any number in triplicate expresses complete, ultimate or total meaning.

    Also tightly sealed up with sevens are the genealogy of Jesus, the account of the virgin birth and the resurrection. Seven occurs as a number 187 times in the Bible (41 x 7), the phrase "seven-fold" occurs seven times and "seventy" occurs 56 times (7 x 8).

    In the Book of Revelation seven positively shines out: there are seven golden candlesticks, seven letters to seven churches, a book sealed with seven seals, seven angels standing before the Lord with seven trumpets, seven thunders and seven last plagues. In fact there are over 50 occurrences of the number seven in Revelation alone.

    There are 21 Old Testament writers whose names appear in the Bible (3 x 7). The numeric value of their names is divisible by seven. Of these 21, seven are named in the New Testament: Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea and Joel. The numeric values of these names is 1554 (222 x 7). David's name is found 1134 times (162 x 7).

    God's seal also pervades creation as though it were woven into the very fabric of nature.

    The Bible has declared man's years to be three score and ten (70). The development of the human embryo is in exact periods of sevens or 28 days (4 x 7). Medical science tells us the human body is renewed cell for cell every seven years.

    We're told the pulse beats slower every seven days as if it were in accord with the seventh day of rest proclaimed in the Genesis creation week. And God formed man of the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7); science confirms the human body is made of the same 14 elements (2 x 7) found in your average handful of dust.

    The light of the sun is made up of seven distinct colours as shown in the rainbow. In music there are seven distinct notes which climax in a chord or octave at the beginning of a new seven.

    In almost all animals the incubation or pregnancy period is divisible by seven. Seven is often referred to as "God's seal" or the number of spiritual perfection.

    Eight is the number of new life or "resurrection". It is the personal number of Jesus. When we add together the letter values of the name Jesus in the Greek we get 888. Jesus was called The Christ, the numeric value of this title is 1480 (185 x 8). He was Savior which has the value 1408 (2 x 8 x 88).

    Jesus is also Lord which again is a multiple of eight being 800 (100 x 8). Messiah has the numeric value 656 (82 x8). Jesus also called himself the Son of man. The term occurs 88 times and is valued at 2960 (370 x 8).

    Jesus said "I am the truth": the numeric value of "the truth" is 64 (8 x 8). The last book in the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ which has exactly 888 Greek words. Eight persons were saved in the Ark at the great Noahic flood. God made a covenant with Abraham that every male Jewish child was to be circumcised on the eighth day of his life.

    There are eight individual cases of resurrection spoken of in the Bible apart from Jesus. Three occur in the Old Testament, three in the gospels and two in Acts. It was on the eighth day or the first day of the new week that Jesus rose from the dead. The Holy Spirit also came down from heaven on the eighth day.

    Nine is finality or completion. The first example of its use is that infinitely sealed first verse of the Bible: "In the beginning God'' which in Hebrew is: Brayshith Elohim which has the numeric value of 999. The very next statement "created the heaven" is also sealed with 999.

    The number nine is endowed with a peculiar quality, it is finality in itself. Not only is it the final single number, but if you multiply it by any other number, the addition of the resulting figures will always revert back to nine (2 x 9 = 18 / 1 + 8 = 9 etc).

    There are nine basic gifts available to the Christian believer through the power of God's Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-10). There are nine basic fruits which should be evident in the life of the believer (Gal 5:22-23). The words "my wrath" have the numeric value 999. The word Amen or verily is valued at 99 and occurs 99 times.

    The work on the cross was completed at the ninth hour when Jesus said "It is finished". The shedding of his blood was final. It saw an end to the old system of animal sacrifice to atone for sin. The word "blood" in this sense occurs 99 times.

    Great superstition has always surrounded the number 13 as being unlucky or dark. Perhaps there is good reason. One of the most convincing proofs of the origins of this number can be found by unravelling all the names by which Satan is known. Drakon or dragon has a value of 975 (13 x 75) and it occurs 13 times. Peirazon or tempter has a value of 1053 (13 x 81). Belial which is personification of evil has a value of 78 (13 x 6).

    Anthropoktonos or "murderer" has a value of 1820 (13 x 40). Ophis or "serpent" is 780 (13 x 60). The phrase used by the Holy Spirit Ho kaloumenos diablos kai ho Satanas or "called the Devil and Satan" is valued 2197 (13 x 13 x 13).

    This article is in truth an oversimplification of the work of Panin and others who followed in his footsteps. Panin's work initially involved some 40,000 pages of material on which he had written millions of small neat calculations. It involved volumes.

    Although it would appear that his work has been largely lost from popular reading today Panin did accomplish several outstanding works. He published Structure in the Bible the Numeric Greek New Testament and the Numeric English New Testament.

    The works of Ivan Panin have been put before the experts many times. Panin once challenged nine noted rationalists and Bible critics through the medium of the New York Sun newspaper November 9, 1899. He dared them to publicly refute or give explanation for a few of his presented facts. Four made lame excuses. The rest were silent.

    Panin issued a challenge throughout leading newspapers of the world asking for a natural explanation or rebuttal of the facts. Not a single person accepted. He died at Aldershot, Ontario Canada on October 30th, 1942, aged 87.

1. The number of words in it must be divisible by 7 evenly, (in each of these constraints, it is assumed that the divisions are without remainders.)
2. The number of letters must also be divisible by 7.
3. The number of vowels and the number of consonants must also each be divisible by 7.
4. The number of words that begin with a vowel must be divisible by 7.
5. The number of words that begin with a consonant must be divisible by 7.
6. The number of words that occur more than once must be divisible by 7.
7. The number of words that occur in more than one form shall be divisible by 7.
8. The number of words that occur in only one form shall be divisible by 7.
9. The number of nouns shall be divisible by 7.
10. Only 7 words shall NOT be nouns.
11. The number of names in the genealogy shall be divisible by 7.
12. Only 7 other kinds of nouns are permitted.
13. The number of male names shall be divisible by 7.
14. The number of generations shall be 21, also divisible by 7.

1. Unity, sovereignty, light.
2. Witness, division, difference.
3. Divine perfection, Godhead, unity.
4. The world, creativity, material completeness.
5. Grace, heavenly favour, love.
6. Man under the curse of sin, time.
7. Spiritual perfection, God's seal, rest.
8. Resurrection, new beginings, Jesus.
9. Finality, judgment.
10. Perfection of order.
11. Subversion, disorder.
12 Perfect government.
13 Rebellion, corruption, Satan.
37. The Word of God.
40. Probation, trial, testing.
153. Sons of God.
666. Man's godless systems, - anti-Christ, humanity's animal nature/ mark of the beast.

The second step we need to take is a look into the number six and how it represents imperfection, or man under the curse of sin.

THE NUMBER 666, PAGAN SUN WORSHIP AND ANCIENT BABYLON

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
Revelation 13:18

    "The ancients claimed that God works by mathematics. Their religion was a conglomeration of religion, astrology, alchemy, physical and mental science, and mathematics. Sound familiar? Ancient astrology divided the starry heavens into 36 constellations. These were represented by different amulets called "Sigilla Solis," or the sun seal. These amulets were worn by the pagan priests, and they contained all the numbers from 1 to 36. By these figures they claimed to be able to foretell future events. These amulets were usually made of gold, yellow being the sun color. While being carried, these amulets were wrapped in yellow silk, as it was thought that the bearer would thus receive the beneficial powers believed to emanate from the jewel."

It is important to know that Joseph Smith carried an amulet very similar to this and it was found on his person when he was killed. You can look into this further by clicking here.

    "These drawings from photographs taken in 1910, show actual amulets then in the Berlin Museum. They reveal the veneration the ancients had for the sun-god. On the front side of No.1 we see the god of the sun standing on the lion. This indicated the sun's position in the constellation of Leo during the hot days of August. On the back is inscribed "Nachyel," meaning "intelligence of the sun," and in 36 squares are arranged the numerals 1 to 36 (see table 1) in such a way that adding the numbers of any column either horizontally or vertically, and also the two diagonals crossing the square, the total is the same- 111. The sum of the six columns, computed either horizontally or vertically, is 6 x 111, or 666."

 

This illustration shows symbols very familiar with the Mormon Church. The symbols of the sun, moon and stars have been used throughout the history of the LDS church. You can look into this further by clicking here.

 

Also, the lion was used by Brigham Young when he built an annex to his main house to keep all of his wives, he named it the Lion House and it displays large stone lions on the outside. See photo to the right and the replacement of the old weathered lion with a new one.

 

---

    "The second illustration is also a solar seal, but it honors the star Basilisco, which was the diminutive form of the Greek basileus (king), thus meaning the same as the Latin regulus. Now, Regulus is the only first-magnitude star in the constellation of Leo. The sun and the moon are again clearly seen on this amulet, and on the reverse side is the same arrangement of numerals, with the actual figure given of the total 666."

     [The lower coin shows the conjunction of the Sun, Moon and the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo the Lion that occurred on 19 August 1705.]

    Source: Unfolding the Revelation (Revised) by Roy Allan Anderson, pages 125-127, Published and copyrighted 1953, 1961,1974 by Pacific Press Publishing Association, Boise Idaho, Oshawa Ontario, Canada. Library of Congress Catalogue Card No. 61-10884.

Note: Table #1 as illustrated above is also referred to in numerology as the magic Square of the Sun. There are similar magic squares for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, all of which have been known for centuries. 

Joseph Smith carried an amulet known as the Jupiter Talisman and it was found on his person when he was killed. You can look into this further by clicking here.

    Many commentaries on the meaning of 666, also known as six hundred sixty-six, have stated that any time a triple redundant number (in this case, the three sixes) is given, it is to emphasize the nature, or the essence implied, by the particular number that is redundant
(in this case, the number "six").

    Six has been regarded as the number of man (who was created on the sixth day)---sinful and imperfect [as opposed to the number seven, which signifies perfection—ie, God, WHO, after completing His creation, rested on the seventh day (you might say that He entered into His own rest after completing a perfect work---something man is incapable of doing)]. Six is also the number signifying those things false.

    Rev.13:18, the last verse of the chapter, says that the number of the Antichrist is that of a man, and his number is 666... and the verse challenge us to have wisdom to calculate the number of he Beast!.

    Through the ages people have tried to identify a person to whom this number may refer, while trying to establish what his main function is said to be.

    Slaves usually received a mark on their hand as proof of who their owner was. Kings of those times had their own personal stamp or seal for use on official documents.

    This mark of the Antichrist is to be stamped in the right hand and in the forehead of his followers, as stated in the two previous verses, and he who does not have it won't be able to sell nor buy anything, "And He (the Beast) causes all, both the small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no one may buy or sell except he who has the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name." (Rev.13:16-17)

    This mark to which John refers, and the number of the name, namely 666, can be understood in two ways:
    1- Literal Interpretation: The number 666 would the numerical value of the letters of the name, so you can know who is the Antichrist.
    2- Symbolic or Spiritual Interpretation: Number 6 in the Bible is the number of imperfection, so, the Antichrist would have the triple total imperfection, in his religious, political and social dimensions, symbolizing the climax of man's failure and wickedness

     Number "7" is the number of perfection in the Bible, seven days of creation, seven days of a week, the twenty sevens of the Book of Revelation... "6" does not reach perfection, and "8" is the number of super-perfection. Number "6" is often used as the symbolic number of imperfection of humankind (two arms, two legs, one head, one body).

1- Literal Interpretation:

For centuries, this number 666 has given rise to a lot of thought and speculation.

   There are several methods which have been used to try to identify a certain person to which 666 refers. The meanings of numbers are further illustrated and established by the study of Gematria or the numeric values of words.

The Greeks and Hebrews did not have separate symbols, such as 1, 2 and 3, for numbers like we do. Instead, like the Romans, they used the letters of their alphabets.... and lately, gematria studies have been done in the modern languages: English, Spanish French...

In Greek (Greek Numerals):

   The Revelation was written inn Greek, so this is a most important language to find out about the 666:

    In Greek alpha represents 1 and beta 2 and so on up to iota, which is 10. After that kappa is 20, lambda 30 and so on up to ro, which is 100. Sigma is 200, tau 300 and so on up to omega, which is 800. These values are shown in the table below. (The number 6 was originally the letter digamma which later dropped out of use.) This means that you can take the letters of any word or name, and add them up to get a total value for the word. That value is called the gematria.

   The name Jesus (IhsouV in Greek) adds up to 888. The name of Caesar Nero in Greek is 666.

Now finally let's take a look at how many times the number six (and other imperfect numbers) have appeared in the history of the Mormon church.

• The Mormon church is founded and organized on Tuesday, April 6, 1830 at the home of Peter Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, New York as  the "Church of Christ".

• The were SIX charter or founding members, they were Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, David Whitmer, Samuel H. Smith, and Peter Whitmer, Jr.

• The LDS church teaches that Christ was born on earth April 6th (not December 25th).

• The LDS church teaches that Jesus died on April 6th.

• The LDS church has taught that the Second Coming will occur on April 6th.

• The Nauvoo Temple basement was divided off into THIRTEEN rooms—SIX along either side, and one large room running through the center. The Council Chamber was a long hall running the remaining length of the attic to the east. This hall was partitioned off for temple ordinance work. Along each side of the Council Chamber were SIX small rooms assigned to individuals or priesthood quorums. This temple also boasts all of the symbols mentioned above, the sun, moon, and inverted stars or pentagrams. These pentagrams recognized clearly as a Satanic symbol are not only found on the stone that ornate the temple but also several windows are shaped in this manner.

• SIX columns surmounted by SIX sunstones and SIX inverted pentagrams (666?) adorned the front of the Nauvoo Temple until it's destruction. It is currently being rebuilt.

• The building of the Salt Lake Temple started on April 6, 1863 and was completed on April 6, 1893.

• The Salt Lake and Washington D.C. Temple have SIX spires, as does many other LDS temples throughout the world.

• The eastern three towers of the Salt Lake Temple are 6 feet higher than the western towers.

• The walls of the Salt Lake Temple at their thinnest point are 6 feet thick.

• The SIX major towers of the Salt Lake Temple each has 12 finial spires surrounding a central spire - for a total of 13.
  In numerology, numbers are reduced in an interesting mathematical way called Cabalistic Gematria. The major temple spires are counted - 6 X 13 = 78. The 7 and 8 of 78 are added = 15. The 1 and 5 of 15 are added = 6.

• The Assembly Hall found on Temple Square in Salt Lake City has a SIX pointed star on it over the doorways. This is often referred to as the Star of David and is common place among those of the Jewish faith. But were did it really originate? Why would Mormons use a Jewish icon and not a Christian one? Click here to learn more.

• SIX pairs of columns adorn the walls of the Mesa Arizona, Alberta Canada, and the New Zealand Temples. Columns are, of course, another form of the obelisk.

• The Provo and Ogden Temples have a single spire which is actually a thick bottom spire with five ever-smaller spires emerging from it - again, 6.
  The same spire-within-a-spire motif to the 6th level is found in the New Zealand, Idaho Falls, and the Los Angeles Temples.

• The LDS Missionaries give SIX lessons to potential converts also know as investigators.

• The Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony only speaks on SIX days of creation, when it is very clear that the entire creation period took seven days. The creation of, and sanctification of, the Seventh day was a very important part!

If you are aware of any other occurrences of the number six in the Mormon church please email me. I would be excited to learn about it and would consider adding to this list.
Thank you.