![]() In June 1642 England began to suffer its first civil war. He is remembered instead for his pioneering scientific achievements. Yet Newton seldom made public pronouncements regarding his theology. He condemned the “folly of interpreters who foretell times and things by prophecy,” since the purpose of prophecy was to demonstrate God’s providence in history when “after were fulfilled, they might be interpreted by events.”Ī member of the Anglican church, Newton attended services and participated in special projects, such as paying for the distribution of Bibles among the poor, and serving on a commission to build fifty new churches in the London area. In a manuscript on rules for interpreting prophecy, Newton noted the similar goals of the scientist and the prophecy expositor: simplicity and unity. He took special interest in miracles and prophecy, calculating dates of Old Testament books and analyzing their texts to discover their authorship. Newton’s understanding of God came primarily from the Bible, which he studied for days and weeks at a time. Yet this vast legacy lay hidden from public view for two centuries until the auction of his nonscientific writings in 1936. He spent more time on theology than on science indeed, he wrote about 1.3 million words on biblical subjects. Who was this man whose stature has dominated the scientific landscape for three centuries? Why did his achievements have such an impact on society? What role did Newton’s faith play in his life and work? Newton’s Faithįor Newton the world of science was by no means the whole of life. ![]() Voltaire observed, “He was buried like a king who had done well by his subjects.” No scientist before or since has been so revered and interred with such high honor. ![]() At the funeral, his pall was borne by three earls, two dukes, and the Lord Chancellor. Following his death in April 1727, Newton lay in state in Westminster Abbey for a week. Even in Newton’s lifetime, his contemporaries’ adulation verged on worship. God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light.Īlexander Pope’s well-known epitaph epitomized Isaac Newton’s fame. More Newsletters Nature, and Nature’s Laws, lay hid in Night. ![]()
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