He predicted the end of the world (it's 2060, just for a change). These recently published writings include work on the geometry of Solomon's Temple, and interpretations of the Bible. Newton was characteristically thorough: he learned Hebrew, and studied Kabbalism and the Talmud in order to divine future events. "He believed that careful study of holy texts was a type of science, that if analysed correctly could predict what was to come." "Today, we tend to make a distinction between science and faith, but to Newton it was all part of the same world," curator Milka Levy-Rubin told an AP reporter as the online archive was launched. Israel's national library has just digitised its archive of Newton's handwritten religious writings and placed it online: it amounts to some 7,500 pages. It's been suggested that he suffered from Asperger's syndrome as well: he was, to put it mildly, a challenging personality. Isaac Newton (though admittedly more sensitive to the question of evidence than most) is a prime example: physicist, mathematician, natural philosopher and theologian, but also – as most people are now aware – a man with a keen interest in alchemy. They just got on with it, sometimes with what we would now consider to be a reckless disregard for such niceties as actual evidence. ![]() Howard Lovy is executive editor at Foreword Reviews.B ack in the day, our ancestors didn't get nearly as hung up as we do on the thorny question of where, or whether, science dovetails with spiritual practice. You can also subscribe to all our IndieVoices podcast episodes on iTunes and Soundcloud. And he supports the fact, and this is a horrible thing to read, but he supports the fact that they torture nuns and monks to extract truth because he thinks that is being warranted by God. And all the baddies that protestants and Roman Catholics hate, that we despise to the current day-Vandals, Huns, Goths, and barbarians-these are heroes to Newton. So, heroes of protestant and to some extent Roman Catholic histories, they’re all enemies for Newton. And, in fact, for Newton all of religious history is inverted. It takes him into some very radical, extreme anti-trinitarian views. What’s incredibly surprising about Newton is where his reason takes him. On the most surprising thing he discovered about Newton. He’s been given a special intellect and understanding by God and he has a duty to use this understanding, whether it’s in mathematics or physics or theology, to find the truth and to divulge it to his contemporaries. He believes that he’s been given the power of reason. What he does believe in, I think, is the significance of reason. But, of course, he doesn’t believe in the core doctrine of the Anglican Church, so that leaves him in a very difficult situation. He remained a practicing member of the Anglican Church because he thought the Anglican Church should remain really broad in terms of its principles. And Newton thought that there were two different ways of understanding both books. The idea was prevalent in the early modern period that God had created two books: one was the book of nature and one was the book of scripture. I think he does see differences between them. Rob Iliffe: 'What's incredibly surprising about Newton is where his reason takes him.' auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false Interview Highlights On how Isaac Newton thought of religion and science. Listen to the entire interview here, or read some of the highlights below. Rob is professor of history at the University of Oxford and general editor of the online Newton Project. Looking closer at this aspect of Newton is Rob Iliffe, in his book Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton from Oxford University Press. They were all part of his attempts to discover the true nature of the universe. ![]() Was this just a necessary transition between the age of superstition and the age of reason? Had Newton lived a few centuries later, would he have had no problem throwing away Christianity in light of physics? The answer is a little more complicated because Newton’s religious beliefs and his scientific studies were not separate in his mind. But, in that he understood better than most people of his time, the nature of reality, he also tried his best to reconcile his scientific observations with his Christian beliefs. Isaac Newton, whose contributions to our understanding of the physical world are immeasurable, was also a very spiritual man. And this has been true since the very beginning of the modern scientific age. In reality, there are many scientists who see science as either proof of, or an extension of, their faith. There’s a perception that if you are a man or woman of science, that automatically means you are not a person of faith. ![]() Podcast: Author Rob Iliffe Discusses the Surprising Religious Life of Isaac Newton
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