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The Mark of Commerce/Beast

Mark of commerce

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

– Rev. 13:16–17 (RSV)

Futurist Christian eschatology typically holds that the rise of a supranational currency could be a hallmark of the End Times.[47] Under this view, the prophetic statements in Revelation 13:16–17 are taken to imply that the one way in which the Antichrist will acquire and exercise power over the Earth during the period of the Tribulation is via hegemonic control of said supranational currency. This power would be acquired by “The Beast” (θηριον) performing miracles[48] and subsequently requiring all people to receive the Mark of the Beast (χάραγμα branded mark, character, coin or money[49]) in their right hands or foreheads (i.e. a place on the body where its absence would be conspicuous) in order to buy or sell, making survival for those on the run (i.e. opposers of the religio-economic hegemony) much more difficult.[50]

Religious difficulties with a supranational currency currently exist (see World currency – Political difficulties). According to the Futurist view, to overcome the extant difficulties the Antichrist will use forced religious syncretism[51] (i.e. in the name of counterterrorism and world economic stability) to enable the creation of the supranational currency.

[edit] The Number of the Beast – 666

A meaning of the number 666, according to Futurist Christian eschatology may be that the number 666 would be a significant number that all currency would be based upon. Exact interpretations of this vary widely, and many refer to nascent technologies. For example:

  • Some Christians interpret the mark as a requirement for all commerce to mean that the mark might actually be an object with the function of a credit card (e.g. implanted RFID tags).[52]
  • Terry Watkins supposes the mark to be a microchip and/or a tattooed barcode on the human body.[53]
  • David Webber and Noah Hutchings suggested similar theories in their book Computers and the Beast of Revelation (1986) and Hutchings and co-author Larry Spargamino arroused more fears about such technology with their 1998 book Y2K=666?.

Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast

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