From my early twenties, studying the books of Daniel and Revelation became one of my favorite pastimes and continues to be a big part of my focus. As a matter of fact, without these two prophetic books, the Clear and Present Truth would not exist.

Because of the strong emphasis I place on Bible prophecy, I often find myself reading and listening to numerous books and lectures that focus on explaining the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. One such topic that often comes up is 666.

John the Revelator created quite a buzz when he made the following proclamation about the Beast he saw in vision:

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

As God unsealed the Revelation, students of Bible prophecy have discussed and debated this number without end. While the Seventh-day Adventist Church hasn’t officially declared an interpretation for the mysterious number, most theologians and teachers within the Church teach that 666 refers to a specific Latin title used by Popes during the dark ages. The title was Vicarius Filii Dei. The translation for this title is “Representative of the Son of God.”

I remember the first time I heard this explanation given in a sermon and thought it was an amazing revelation! For years I taught and defended this view. I scoured the internet looking for clues that the Popes used this title. I debated on message boards and kept pictures to prove that the Pope did indeed use the Vacarius Filii Dei title. I was sold on this view and never gave a thought that there might be another interpretation. However, as I got older, I was faced with a situation where I was requested to present the meaning of 666 to a large audience that potentially would include several non-Adventist people. The thought of several non-Adventist people in the audience made me realize that I had to ensure my information was well-documented.

You see, prior to the internet age, you could preach a sermon, and if it were convincing enough, people would believe you without any question. However, in this internet age, if people are skeptical, they have the ability to research anything you say at the drop of a dime using a small device in their back pocket or purse. And if your facts cannot be substantiated, you’d be better off preaching to the walls.

Understanding the situation, I really wanted to blow everyone away with indisputable proof that 666 referred to Vicarius Filii Dei. However, the more I studied our interpretation of 666, the more unconvinced I became. It wasn’t until God revealed the true meaning of 666 to me that I began to wonder how I ever believed 666 referred to Vicarius Filii Dei. Don’t get me wrong, I am truly grateful for our Daniel and Revelation seminars that presented this interpretation, but now I realize that we MUST move on from Vicarius Filii Dei.

If you are like me, you may feel like this is a personal attack on God’s remnant and that you must defend the teachings of the SDA Church. Some of you may even be wondering if I am anti-SDA.

So let me reassure you. I am a born-again, Seventh-day Adventist Christian who loves the Lord. I have no plan to uproot the Church, nor am I some type of reformist whose sole mission is to change the church’s teachings.

I am simply a guy who studies prophecy and, through no intelligence of my own, discovered that our teaching of 666 is no longer sustainable by our church.

And I’m going to give you six reasons we should stop using Vicarius Filii Dei in our seminars.

Are you ready? Here we go!