Robert W. Faid

Robert W. Faid (1929 — May 26, 2008) is an American author, numerologist and former nuclear engineer from Greenville, South Carolina. He holds a master's degree in theology from Coatesville Bible College. Faid was an agnostic in his early life and converted to Christianity after recovery from a cancer.

In 1993, Faid was awarded the Ig Nobel prize for Mathematics for calculating the exact odds that Mikhail Gorbachev is the Antichrist, based on his 1988 book "Gorbachev! Has the Real Antichrist Come?"

"I am absolutely serious about this," Faid was quoted as saying when awarded the Ig Nobel prize, "and I am surprised that people would make a joke of it. I have shown from the history of the 'kings' (general secretaries) in the Soviet Union and from the Book of Revelations [sic] that there is an 860,609,175,188, 282,100 to 1 chance that Gorbachev is the Antichrist who will return to power by overthrowing Yeltsin and who will then overwhelm the West by violence." [http://www.skepticfiles.org/skep2/ignobel.htm] His prediction was based on numerology involving the spelling of Gorbachev's name in several languages and combinations of the Number of the Beast, 666, with its opposite 888, the Number of Jesus.

Faid is listed as the inventor on two 1977 US patents relating to improvements in the construction of concrete structures such as containment buildings for nuclear power plants.

Bibliography

Gorbachev! Has the Real Antichrist Come? (ISBN 0-932081-19-3) (1988)
A Scientific Approach to Biblical Mysteries (ISBN 0-89221-231-4) (1993)
A Scientific Approach to More Biblical Mysteries (ISBN 0-89221-283-7) (1995)
A Scientific Approach to Christianity (ISBN 0-89221-186-5) (1990)
Lydia: Seller of Purple (ISBN 0-88270-569-5) (1984)