Quote Originally Posted by bassin_bug View Post
Revelation 13:18 says, "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding count the number of the beast" (the idea is that it is the number of a man, not of God, which means he will give account to Jehovah, Whom he has repeatedly blasphemed): "for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six." (It is the number of a man, not a kingdom, not a religion, not a dispensation, but a man. The number will be 666). Words in parenthesis are scripture explanation.

The numbers can't possibly be the number of Nero's name for two reasons. The first is that Nero died in AD64 when he was 37 years old and won't be ruling the world at any time. The second is according to the above verse of scripture, it is the number of a MAN whose name has yet to be revealed.
While we're talking about TV documentaries, I just watched an interesting one on NGC called "Secrets of Revelation." It attempts to explain some of the content of Revelations by putting it into historical perspective, looking at circumstances of the author's life at the time he wrote it. It states that the numerological interpretation of 666 being a reference to Nero is based on the Hebrew characters that spell his name. I'm not familiar with the Hebrew alphabet or the numerology they practiced, but they say that if you look at it that way, Nero is a perfect fit. They also make an interesting case for the "***** of Babylon" actually being a veiled reference to Rome.