The manuscript for the New Testament named the number 666 as the number of a certain man, who has link with the beast – an aggressive creature that was briefly mentioned in the vision of the apocalypse. The Greek version of this manuscript represented the number with symbols, while others spell the number numerically.
In some popular modern culture, the number 666, has been widely accepted as the symbol of the long awaited Antichrist, another name for the Devil. Some sects purportedly use this number 666 to bring up the dark powers of the Devil. This number is often referenced among Christians and non-Christians alike. In the modern Western art and literature, the number is referenced as the mark of the beast. There are several of such references in today's cultures and religions.
Revelation 13:17-18New International Version (NIV)
17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
According to the Christian Bible in the Book of Revelation, 666 is the mark of the beast; the Antichrist. However, a fragment of papyrus 115 was found, and it contained the original version of that part of the Bible that talked about the mark of the beast in Revelation. The number as recorded in the papyrus was 616, which could have been the accurate one. The number, which is believed to be a kind of code represents the spelling of Emperor Nero's name, and the two conflicting numbers could have represented two different spellings of Emperor Nero/Neron's name.