Isaac Newton predicts end of world...

[Mr. Dictator]

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Three-century-old manuscripts by Isaac Newton calculating the exact date of the apocalypse, detailing the precise dimensions of the ancient temple in Jerusalem and interpreting passages of the Bible -- exhibited this week for the first time -- lay bare the little-known religious intensity of a man many consider history's greatest scientist.

Newton, who died 280 years ago, is known for laying much of the groundwork for modern physics, astronomy, math and optics. But in a new Jerusalem exhibit, he appears as a scholar of deep faith who also found time to write on Jewish law -- even penning a few phrases in careful Hebrew letters -- and combing the Old Testament's Book of Daniel for clues about the world's end.

The documents, purchased by a Jewish scholar at a Sotheby's auction in London in 1936, have been kept in safes at Israel's national library in Jerusalem since 1969. Available for decades only to a small number of scholars, they have never before been shown to the public.

In one manuscript from the early 1700s, Newton used the cryptic Book of Daniel to calculate the date for the apocalypse, reaching the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than 2060.

"It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," Newton wrote. However, he added, "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."

In another document, Newton interpreted biblical prophecies to mean that the Jews would return to the Holy Land before the world ends. The end of days will see "the ruin of the wicked nations, the end of weeping and of all troubles, the return of the Jews captivity and their setting up a flourishing and everlasting Kingdom," he posited.

The exhibit also includes treatises on daily practice in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In one document, Newton discussed the exact dimensions of the temple -- its plans mirrored the arrangement of the cosmos, he believed -- and sketched it. Another paper contains words in Hebrew, including a sentence taken from the Jewish prayerbook.

Yemima Ben-Menahem, one of the exhibit's curators, said the papers show Newton's conviction that important knowledge was hiding in ancient texts.

"He believed there was wisdom in the world that got lost. He thought it was coded, and that by studying things like the dimensions of the temple, he could decode it," she said.

The Newton papers, Ben-Menahem said, also complicate the idea that science is diametrically opposed to religion. "These documents show a scientist guided by religious fervor, by a desire to see God's actions in the world," she said.

More prosaic documents on display show Newton keeping track of his income and expenses while a scholar at Cambridge and later, as master of the Royal Mint, negotiating with a group of miners from Devon and Cornwall about the price of the tin they supplied to Queen Anne.

The archives of Hebrew University in Jerusalem include a 1940 letter from Albert Einstein to Abraham Shalom Yahuda, the collector who purchased the papers a year earlier.

Newton's religious writings, Einstein wrote, provide "a variety of sketches and ongoing changes that give us a most interesting look into the mental laboratory of this unique thinker."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

El Linko

Pretty interesting to see Newton's religious side.

 

[mrt144]

thank god his religious side wasnt his strong side.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

thank god his religious side wasnt his strong side.

whew, for a second there i thought someone replied to the topic. guess not.

 

[nivi]

You can see he is smart, instead of predicting the date when the world will end, he predict when the world will not end.

 

[mrt144]

bad topics get bad replies.

 

[GenMarshall]

I still have yet to see the hype about December 21th, 2012 .

 

[Mr. Dictator]

when i don't like a topic i spam.

true, lol.

 

[mrt144]

Mr. Dictator executes a 10 year old reply. Well played. It's easy to see why this was a bad topic based on the creator.

 

[jeps]

If SIN couldnt predict an apple, how can he predict the world?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Mr. Dictator executes a 10 year old reply. Well played. It's easy to see why this was a bad topic based on the creator.

yup, got me. care to explain why this is a "bad topic" first while you're here? since, you know, you're not busy saying anything that matters?

 

[dutchfire]

Wasn't it already pretty well known that Newton was very religious?

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

*Cough*

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Interesting article Mr. Dictator. In Newtons time there still wasnt such a great divide between science and religion, like today, so he didnt have to pick one.

 

[CurtSibling]

Isaac Newton predicts end of world...

There is no end of the world.

When most mystics speak of the 'end' - They are referring to the end of an aeon.

The end of the age of astrological potency, although many rank and file take things too literally.

Prophecies are all esoteric double talk, not meant for the peons.

...

 

[GenMarshall]

There is no end of the world.

Unless an Asteroid or some Cosmic event (a wandering Black Hole or a Gamma Ray Burst) hits Earth .

 

[CurtSibling]

The world will not end even then, just balance to a new way of existence.

Our continued life is of no consequence in that case anyway.

...

 

[batteryacid]

THe funny thing is, in a biography of him I read that he himself thought that his religious work is more important than his scientific work, and that he would be famous for it

Similar (only somehow the other way round) with Goethe and his theories on light and colors

Nice to see that even genious people have a blind spot

 

[CurtSibling]

Newton knew far more than most people credit him for.

He had one of the greatest esoteric and occult collection of works ever.
The religions he studied were not restricted to the monotheism of that era.

...

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Newton knew far more than most people credit him for.

He had one of the greatest esoteric and occult collection of works ever.
The religions he studied were not restricted to the monotheism of that era.

...

between him and thomas jefferson, i can't decide who has been the most misunderstood person, religiously, in history.

 

[classical_hero]

Just reading the article you can see his reasoning for doing this prediction. He just said an arbitrary date so that people would stop the nonsense of trying to predict the date. Obviously people have not learn from that experience.

 

[bhsup]

By the way, just an aside, but neither Isaac nor anyone else here on earth will ever be able to determine the time.

35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

As another aside, the first bolded passage is one of the main reasons why I reject the "God the son" aspects of the trinity.