I have errands to run so I won't give any lengthy argument here, but just posit an idea that occurred to me while washing the breakfast dishes.
Suppose for a moment that the number 6 represented the creation as complete, without any consideration of God's Sabbath day. Then the number 666 could represent a completed body, a completed soul, and a completed spirit, without any consideration of God (and the rest in which we are meant to enter). In other words, fully functional man created in God's image but with no recognition of his creator. Eg. I'm complete and perfect, master of my own destiny (like Popeye the sailor.)
I'm troubled by men like Joe Biden, placed in government authority, who openly assert that we must govern our lives based upon "the science" even though such men don't even comprehend what the discipline of science is.
In the past, great scientific discovery was made by men who desired to understand creation, but since the beginning of the age of enlightenment, the goal of science has been to dispel superstition and replace it with experimental observation and reason. As science progressed into the 20th century, the goal of science became increasingly to dispel belief in a God and Creator of all things. At present, the scientific "community " defines pure science as excluding any and all consideration of the supernatural. This is exactly why concepts like "intelligent design" are labeled pseudo science by that community.
Science elevates man and human reason above all things, all considerations, even postulating that man creates his own reality by virtue of belief and will. In other words, some scientists postulate that men are the only gods and creators of what is real.
I'm not making this up, though I wish that I had.
We haven't seen a physical "mark of the beast", but those who accept science as the ultimate authority have already rejected God and Christ in their minds (upon their foreheads in the same sense as the teaching of the law of Moses.)
I've been convinced that Christ's return is imminent even before having been born again, but it's taken time to recognize that Science has become a humanistic religion. In this sense, it would appear to meet biblical prophecy as the religion of the beast (man as animal rather than as the image of God.)
Thoughts?
Suppose for a moment that the number 6 represented the creation as complete, without any consideration of God's Sabbath day. Then the number 666 could represent a completed body, a completed soul, and a completed spirit, without any consideration of God (and the rest in which we are meant to enter). In other words, fully functional man created in God's image but with no recognition of his creator. Eg. I'm complete and perfect, master of my own destiny (like Popeye the sailor.)
I'm troubled by men like Joe Biden, placed in government authority, who openly assert that we must govern our lives based upon "the science" even though such men don't even comprehend what the discipline of science is.
In the past, great scientific discovery was made by men who desired to understand creation, but since the beginning of the age of enlightenment, the goal of science has been to dispel superstition and replace it with experimental observation and reason. As science progressed into the 20th century, the goal of science became increasingly to dispel belief in a God and Creator of all things. At present, the scientific "community " defines pure science as excluding any and all consideration of the supernatural. This is exactly why concepts like "intelligent design" are labeled pseudo science by that community.
Science elevates man and human reason above all things, all considerations, even postulating that man creates his own reality by virtue of belief and will. In other words, some scientists postulate that men are the only gods and creators of what is real.
I'm not making this up, though I wish that I had.
We haven't seen a physical "mark of the beast", but those who accept science as the ultimate authority have already rejected God and Christ in their minds (upon their foreheads in the same sense as the teaching of the law of Moses.)
I've been convinced that Christ's return is imminent even before having been born again, but it's taken time to recognize that Science has become a humanistic religion. In this sense, it would appear to meet biblical prophecy as the religion of the beast (man as animal rather than as the image of God.)
Thoughts?