Mathematics and Religion
| GOD —— |
'The Lord numbers the stars one by one, |
| and the Numbers Game | |
| by Paul Stenhouse, M.S.C., Ph.D | |
St Paul reminds us that the whole of creation reflects the glory, the
nature of God. We should not be surprised to learn that God can count (he
counts the stars, and our Lord tells us that he also counts all the hairs of
our heads) for mathematics, like all else that is real, has sprung from the
creator of all that is. 
As many of our readers are undoubtedly gifted in things mathematical, they and others less gifted may find the following whimsical musing on the way mathematics has been seen to touch on the nature of God, of interest. Certainly St John shared their interest in numbers.
Numbers play a big part in our faith, for we Christians worship a triune God: three Persons, one Nature. This is the glory and the mystery of Christianity. Three is, in Christian terms, the perfect number, because it is the number of God.
The significance of this number three would not have been lost on early
Christians — nor would those of Jewish origin have missed the connection with
nine — three times three.
For the numerical value of the three characters that make up the Hebrew word for Truth, Emeth, add up to nine.
ders will recall that in ancient times, before the introduction of numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc) the way people used to count was by means of the alphabet. Most of us remember Roman Numerals which were juxtapositions of various letters of the Latin alphabet: I=1, II=2, III=3, IV=4, V=5, VI=6, VII=7, VIII=8, IX=9, X=10, L=50, C=100, D=500, M=1000 etc.
The Hebrews along with most ancient peoples used similar systems for
counting. The Hebrew word for Truth, Emeth, is written with three consonantal
characters, Aleph, Mem and Taw. The first, middle and the last character of
the Hebrew alphabet.
As an old man, St John refers to the word Emeth when he recalls an expression from Isaiah 44,6 which he applies to Jesus and includes in his Apocalypse: 'I am the alpha and the omega . .' (1,8) '. . the first and the last,' (1,18).
For Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) read Aleph and Taw the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet as we noted above). St John was writing in Greek for readers who spoke and read Greek — hence the change.
St John's phrase needs to be seen in the light of an earlier phrase used by Jesus when speaking with Thomas before his passion, and quoted in John's gospel (14,6): 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life'.
Jewish writers refer the expression 'first and last', to the word Emeth/'Truth' for the reasons given above. They therefore regard Emeth as the special Name of God, the Creator of all life, from whom all come as source, and to whom all return in death. However far-fetched the above may seem to modern ears, it should never be forgotten that Jesus was speaking (and St John was writing) to people who were much more familiar with Judaism and closer to its heart, than we.
Thus, among the Jews of the time of Jesus, as we explained above, each
character of the alphabet represented a numerical value thus: Aleph=1,
Beth=2, . . .. Taw=400. Add these together and you arrive at 441 which = 4+4+1
which = 9.
The number 9 puzzled ancient peoples mightily. They noted that 9 may be
multiplied by any number at all, even by itself, and the sum of the digits
will always be 9. Thus,
| 9x9 | =81 | 8+1 | =9 | ||
| 9x876 | =7884 | 7+8+8+4 | =27 | 2+7 | =9 |
| 9x453 | =4077 | 4+0+7+7 | =18 | 1+8 | =9 |
If you add 9 to any number, then the answer when you add up the digits will
always be the same as the number to which 9 was added in the first place. In
other words, the 9 remains unaffected by the addition. Thus,
| 9+86 | =95 | 8+6 | =14 | 9+5 | =14 |
| 9+1578 | =1587 | 1+5+8+7 | =21 | 1+5+8+7 | =21 |
| 9+12 | =21 | 2+1 | =3 | 1+2 | =3 |
The number 9 can be divided evenly only into numbers whose digits actually
add up to 9., For instance,
| 54÷9 | =6 | 5+4 | =9 | ||
| 1233÷9 | =137 | 1+2+3+3 | =9 | ||
| 3321÷9 | =369 | 3+6+9 | =18 | 1+8 | =9 |
Similarly if you subtract 9 from any number (as with the addition) the
answer will add up to the same total as the number from which it was
subtracted. Thus,
| 1787-9 | =1778 | 1+7+8+7 | =23 | 1+7+7+8 | =23 |
| 20-9 | =11 | 2+0 | =2 | 1+1 | =2 |
life and death, beginning and end
Clearly it would be unwise to draw theological conclusions from mathematical or alphabetical phenomena. But we have no reason for thinking that Jesus did not know that the word for Truth had the connotations to which we have referred. Nor do we have any reason for thinking that St John didn't know that 'first and last' (actually referred to as the Alpha and Omega/Aleph and Taw) was an oblique way of referring to Isaiah 44,6 and would have been understood as such by his contemporaries.
Jewish commentators have noted that if one takes the first two characters of Emeth, (Aleph, Mem) the word for mother (derived from a root meaning womb) is formed.
Likewise, if you take the last two characters of Emeth (Mem, Taw) the word for husband, and death) is formed. The connection between Truth and the beginning and end of reality — coming to be and ceasing to be, Life/Death, did not escape the notice of Jewish commentators.
We have thus an even stronger reason for thinking that St John was alluding
to the rabbinical association of the number 9 and the 'first and last', i.e.
Truth: 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living
one; for I was dead and now I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of
death and death's domain. ' (1, 17-18) In 2,8 we read: These are the
words of the first and the last, who was dead and has come to
life again'.
St John's method becomes even clearer when we turn to the vexed question of the meaning of the number of the Beast: 666. In 13,18 St John tells us: the number represents a man's name, and the numerical value of its letters is 666. Antiquity took the name to refer (probably correctly) to the Emperor Nero whose name is Hebrew (Nrwn Ksr) adds up to 666.
Up to the present all the publicity has been given to the identity of the Beast, and this has often depended on the prejudices and fears and hates of those reading the text.
I should like to suggest that the identity is less important than the number. Readers of Genesis 4,15 will remember that God put a mark on Cain (we are not told where) and that this mark indicated that he was touched by God and not to be touched by men. The number 666 is a variant of the number 9. It adds up to 18. 1+8=9.
We suggest that the mark of the beast is God's mark, and the number is God's number, 9. The Beast is thus shown to be under the power of God, whose ultimate victory over evil is assured. Truth (Emeth=first and last=9=God) will overcome deceit.
999999=54. 5+4=9
For many of us who are not mathematical numbers are useful mainly for filling in Lotto coupons; or are figures in our bank statement. For the ancients however, they touched on the essence of reality, and were not to be taken lightly.
Thus, in addition to the points raised above by the Rabbis, we offer the
following thoughts to our readers who may think that all the above is too
fanciful for words: 
| 076923 (which adds up to 9) | |
|---|---|
| x 2 | = 153846 (a) |
| x 3 | = 230769 (b) |
| x 4 | = 307692 (b) |
| x 5 | = 384615 (a) |
| x 6 | = 461538 (a) |
| x 7 | = 538461 (a) |
| x 8 | = 615384 (a) |
| x 9 | = 692307 (b) |
| x 10 | = 769230 (b) |
| x 11 | = 846153 (a) |
| x 12 | = 923076 (b) |
| x 13 | = 999999 |
Notice the fact that the digits 076923 recur in five of the products [=6]; and 153846 recur in six of the products [a]. Note also the consecutive number from 1-9 in the first digit of all the products, with the repetition of 3, 6, 9. All the products of the 13 multiplications add up to nine.
Our God is everywhere: unchangeable, unchanging, touching all that is real with his creative Spirit; and respecting the integrity of His creation. Our God is three fold: and yet one. His name is Truth. He is the first and the last.
St John tell us the same thing in the first few lines of his gospel: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning, and through Him all things came to be . . . the Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst us and we saw His glory, such as befits the Father's only son, full of Grace and Truth.' (1,1-3,14).
Paul Stenhouse, MSC
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