The type of wisdom the Evangelist refers to is divine wisdom and not the product of man’s reason or intelligence. Saint John wants to stress that the information he is passing down to generations of Christians can only be understood through divine revelation and divine illumination. You may wonder whether this wisdom, and more specifically this puzzle of a name, was revealed to some past giants of the Spirit, some important Christians? The answer is no; this name was not revealed.

Perhaps the name of the Antichrist was revealed to Saint John the Evangelist. We base this on the mandate given to Saint John in Revelation, when the angel tells him, These things you will not write down. (Rev 10:4). This knowledge was only for Saint John, and he was not permitted to share this knowledge with the Church. This particular detail is also found in Daniel when the prophet was also prophesying about the Antichrist (Dan 12:4).

These instances show that there are some specific revelations which do not pertain to the Church as a whole, but are relevant only to the person of the prophet who writes these prophecies. This is especially true in that Saint John could have easily asked the Lord, “Lord, please tell me, who is this menace of the Church, this destroyer of the entire world? Tell me, who is he?” The Lord may have responded, “I will tell you his name. This is his name, but you will not write his name in the book. You will only write down the number of his name.”

This makes it almost impossible to ascertain the name, because a number of names correspond to that number. Perhaps the name of this menace, the son of perdition, the man of lawlessness, was also known to Saint Paul. Perhaps it was revealed to him. Alternatively, the name of the Antichrist may have been made known to the twelve apostles, and they withheld it from the Church, so Christians would generally lack knowledge about the name of the Antichrist.

Certainly one can wonder, why then is Saint John the Evangelist creating this provocation by stating, This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number .. . ? This provocation is not designed to frustrate the reader, but mainly to draw his attention in order to provoke a healthy curiosity. The reader needs to be observant and to develop the inner sense that the Antichrist is coming. Moreover, a great many features of the physiognomy of the Antichrist will be made available, as Scripture is not lacking in these. The only thing lacking is the name.

So, what Saint John is indicating is that the vigilant Christian will not have any difficulty ascertaining the name if he becomes knowledgeable about all his other features, so that when the Antichrist does come, he will be able to point him out immediately. Saint John purposefully provokes the reader’s watchfulness—not his curiosity. It is well-known that man easily succumbs to his curiosity, as attested to by the many attempts made throughout history to decode this enigmatic number 666. Needless to say, all those attempts were in vain because the number corresponds to many different names. In these previous decoding efforts, the Greek alphabet was used, as well as the Latin and the Hebrew alphabets. If you want my humble and lowly opinion, which is the opinion mainly accepted by the Church, the decoding of the number will require the use of the Greek alphabet. The reason is that Revelation was originally written in the Greek language. The letters of the Greek alphabet were used to create the numerical systems of those times in that each letter of the alphabet was used to correspond to a number.

Needless to say, previous hasty attempts to decode the name of the Antichrist did not stop short of misspelling names for the sake of making things fit. An example of one of the names used was Latinos, as those doing the decoding wanted to show that the Roman emperor was the Antichrist. In the process however, they misspelled the word Latinos. They added an extra letter [Lateinos the letter epsilon next to iota, so that they could change the number of this word from 661 to 666. The letter epsilon provided those much-needed five points, epsilon being the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet.

The same holds true with the name amoumai, which was suggested by Saint Hippolytus, of Rome. He conjectured that it does not have to be a name but the idea of the denial of Jesus Christ.” He misspelled the word by placing an epsilon at the end instead of the diphthong alpha iota. He did this to accommodate the needed number. Since the alpha iota diphthong provided ten numbers, which were too many (676), misspelling the word and using epsilon made things work out. These excessive interpretations do not deserve serious consideration.

So then, how are we to deal with this enigmatic number? Certainly not like the Pentecostals gathering here in our city of Larisa, who have been claiming that the name of the Antichrist would be William II. It is beyond me how they imagine such a name—William II! Since such conjecture has been going on for eons, and it is all in vain and to be avoided, let’s look at the golden rule of our Church. This is found in the fifth book of Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, (chapter thirty) and repeated by Saint Andrew of Caesarea in his interpretation of Revelation.

Saint Irenaeus writes, It is safer and less dangerous to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to attempt to conjecture and decode the possible names, especially since many names correspond to the afore-said number. Thus, it is much safer to await the fulfillment of these events than to have anyone obsessively search to pinpoint the name of the Antichrist. Saint Andrew of Caesarea writes (this is axiomatic): Regarding the exact number and the other details written about him, (meaning the Antichrist) time and experience will reveal to those who remain vigilant (neptic).

It is true indeed that time reveals the prophecies. However, it is through spiritual experience and nepsis of the heart that one ascertains that the fulfillment of prophecy is at hand. What is nepsis of the heart? A neptic, in the literal sense, is one who exercises sobriety in all things; his mind is clear. It is well-known that the different passions cause a type of drunkenness; they darken the nous and the heart. Thus, if we are free from this drunkenness of the passions and we maintain a state of nepsis—a clarity in our heart, then we can see every single thing clearly in order to interpret the events of history. On this, Saint Ignatius exhorts Saint Polycarp in his epistle; Study the times profusely in full expectation of the One to come. The Second Coming of Christ, as we will see further in the lessons to come, is chronologically connected with the appearance of the Antichrist, since Christ will come immediately after the appearance of the Antichrist. So, when Saint Ignatius exhorts that we study the times profusely, it means to keep a close watch on the unfolding of events so that you can see clearly. All of this presupposes a neptic heart, a heart cleansed from passions, evils and weaknesses—to be a believer, a person of faith. Thus, Saint Andrew epigrammatically states: The time and experience will reveal to those who are neptic.

This will be especially critical when the two prophets, Elijah and Enoch identify the Antichrist. The non-believers will be highly disappointed and indignant because the Antichrist will be their idol, their ideal world leader who will ultimately put the two prophets to death, whereas the faithful will have no question about his identity. The witness of the two prophets will further confirm the experience of the faithful who will be adequately informed from the multiple references in Scripture and the Church Fathers regarding the identity of the Antichrist.

Saint Andrew continues, If the name of the Antichrist needed to be known (in advance), the one who saw it would have revealed it to us. This is why I told you that Saint John probably knew the name: However, the Grace of God did not want to have the name of this destroyer included in holy Scripture. As many names are found with this number, it would be the practice of logic to discover it. (PG 105, 339C). In other words, it would be an exercise in curiosity to attempt to find how many names fit this number. This being the case, we should not be curious; rather, we should wait until the fullness of time comes.

Now, many of us may wonder: Since the name is not revealed and the number should not be decoded, then what is the purpose of having it in the Scripture? Is Saint John the Evangelist simply toying with us? Of course not. As a prophet, Saint John writes with all seriousness and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this inscription will be made manifest during the fullness of time when the prophecy will be fulfilled.

When Christ told the disciples about things that would materialize in a few days, He would say, I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you truly believe. (Jn 14:29). For example, on Great Thursday evening, Christ said to the disciples, Tonight the sheep will be scattered because the shepherd will be struck. Peter, tonight you will deny me three times. And the rest of you will also deny me. (Mt 26:31-35). I will resurrect in three days. (Mk 9-.31). Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. (Jn 16:20-22). Truly, the Lord had good reason to say, I have told you these things so that when they come to pass, you will believe. (Jn 14:29).

Prophecy is the greater proof of truth and authenticity—prophecy, not miracles. Many false miracles will be worked by the Antichrist. The devil can work miracles, unfortunately, as many people experience in spiritism and the magic arts. Prophecy, however, is the unshakable criterion of truth. The devil has no knowledge of the future. Thus, he cannot prophesy; he can make an intelligent guess at times.

God sends a spirit of delusion upon the people who believe in the devil as punishment, such that they believe the guesswork of the devil which can be seen in the interpretation of people’s dreams, in promises of fortune-tellers, in mediums, in coffee cup readers, and in spiritists. God often allows these to come true so that those who trust in the works of the devil believe the lie. This punishment of God is at times disciplinary or condemnatory, and more often condemnatory, I am afraid. The spirit of delusion is a final punishment given by God. God abandons these workers of wickedness once and for all, as Saint Paul states, Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:11-12). The Old Testament is also very clear about the spirit of delusion.

Consequently, prophecy is a privilege that can only belong to God. It was used here (in Revelation) so that the people of any given generation, whether it be our generation or some future generation, can say; indeed, the prophecy is true! We need to prepare ourselves accordingly.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[Mt 11:15]