Expert: Australian International Evangelist Matthew Starrs - 10/2/2004

Question
I'm writing a paper on the social implications of computing.  Where does the Assembly of God Church stand on the Mark of the Beast?

Is this a literal mark placed in/on the hand/head for the purpose of buying/selling?

Does the Assembly of God Church prohibit receiving such a mark?

Answer
Hi Mike,
I am not aware of a unified position on the mark of the beast, or on any other end time theories. There would however be a general consensus that one should do everything within ones power to prevent themselves and others from recieving this mark, despite a lack of consensus on what that mark might be. Some have suggested that the mark is a scar from an implanted bio-chip. This is a possibility, but at this point in time there are a few indicators missing before we could have any real confidence in the matter. For example, one would be unable to buy or sell without it.
I actually wrote a paper on the mark of the beast and computing about ten years ago. At that time I cited an instance from technology journals whereby a company was prohibited from buying and selling in the EU for refusing to network with an economic electronic database. The idea that the mark will constitute something like an implanted chip is very plausable to me. Developments over the past ten years have strengthened this conviction.
We cannot however rule out the possibility that there are factors yet unknown to us, and that the time in which the mark will be employed may infact be in the distant future.
Ciao!
Matthew.