An Interesting Commentary on the Mark of the Beast and Current Biometric Technologies

[Stone]

An Interesting Commentary on the Mark of the Beast and our Current Biometric Technologies

The following is a question and answer posted on the Tradition in Action website [emphasis mine]. 

The answer is a very plausible possibility in the context of our current tech levels of advancement.

Dear TIA,

I write to you as a concerned Catholic.

I would like to ask your opinion on the so-called Biblical "mark of the beast."

Supposedly it’s a “chip embedded in the skin.” I have read some older articles that people will have all their documents and crypto-currencies embedded in a chip under their skin. But is that really true? Is this "the mark of the beast"?

In today's world, the introduction of “digital biometric identity” is rampant globally (face scan, finger scan, palm scan...) as a new way of identification possibly linked to vaccination status... and probably to digital currency...

Or do you think that the “mark of the beast” will be some kind of sensors implanted or wearable?

It seems ”the mark of the beast“ will be “digital biometric ID SYSTEM linked with crypto-currency and sensors where people have TO OBEY tyrannical governments…?”

What to do now? Is it acceptable to refuse mandatory biometric ID card (face photo and two fingerprints) which is already mandatory in many countries?

I would ask your opinion - or the opinion of a priest/theologian who works with you - about it all from Catholic perspective….

I wrote this question to THREE Catholic websites and to one priest – SILENCE.

C.F.E.



TIA responds:

Dear C.F.E.,

The mark of the beast to be stamped on the right hand of every man and on his forehead is referred to in the Apocalypse. It also states that whoever will not have that sign or name will not be able to buy or sell. Finally, it says that the sign is the number 666 (cf. chap 13: 16-18).

Fr. Cornelius à Lapide, summarizing the comments of the Church on this text, asks: “What will be the sign of the Antichrist?” We shorten his answers in the following opinions:

• Viegas opines that it will be the three things: the sign, the name and the number 666;
  
• St. Hippolitus and Pereira believe that it will be the word Denial, to express that the anti-Christians apostatized and denied Christ and His entire doctrine;
  
• Ribera supposes that the mark will be the figure of a dragon;
  
• Primasius, Ansbert and Prudencius opine that it will be a letter that will represent the Antichrist, opposed to the letter P with an X over it, which represents Christ.
  

Cornelius à Lapide further reports a great deal of speculation of various other Saints and Catholic thinkers on what would be the Antichrist’s name and number, which is not the case to transcribe here. (Cf. Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram, T. 21, Paris: Louis Vives, 1876, pp. 261-267)

With these presuppositions coming from previous opinions of Catholic commentators, we see that none of them imagined that today we would have the possibility to implant an electronic chip containing a code in one’s hand or forehead that could bear the sign, name and number of the Antichrist.

So, it seems to us legitimate to speculate, as you do, whether or not such a mark of the beast can be a chip with a code.

You elaborate on the mandatory biometrical ID suggesting that it is the mark of the beast.

We distinguish: It is true that indirectly the sign of the beast mentioned in the Apocalypse will identify the person. However, the text stresses that this identification is a consequence; the cause is the person’s adhesion to the Antichrist, this is why he agrees to receive his sign, name and number. It also places as a condition that it should be stamped on or under the skin in easily seen places (hand and forehead).

So, we would say that as long as the biometrical ID is not inserted in the person’s body, it cannot be directly related to that text of the Apocalypse. Should it be inserted, then it can.

Still a distinction should be made here: The biometrical ID per se, even when in a microchip, does not fulfill the conditions of the text. It should contain also the sign, name and number of the Antichrist.

Concluding, we would say that to have one’s biometrical ID does not necessarily imply that we are agreeing to receive the mark of the beast as long as it is a card that one carries in his pocket. If he allows the ID that is embedded in a microchip to be inserted into his body, he is opening his mind and body to be controlled by unknown persons. In this case, he is abdicating his free will and enslaving himself to a One World System that will decide what to do with him. In this case, he may be receiving the mark of the beast.

We hope these considerations answer your questions.

Cordially,

TIA correspondence desk

Posted July 27, 2023