Religious views of Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton at 46 in Godfrey Kneller's 1689 portrait

Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727)[1] was considered an insightful and erudite theologian by his Protestant contemporaries.[2][3][4] He wrote many works that would now be classified as occult studies, and he wrote religious tracts that dealt with the literal interpretation of the Bible.[5] He kept his heretical beliefs private.

Newton's conception of the physical world provided a model of the natural world that would reinforce stability and harmony in the civic world. Newton saw a monotheistic God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[6][7] Although born into an Anglican family, and a devout but heterodox Christian,[8] by his thirties Newton held a Christian faith that, had it been made public, would not have been considered orthodox by mainstream Christians.[8] Many scholars now consider him a Nontrinitarian Arian.

He may have been influenced by Socinian christology.

  1. ^ Christianson, Gale E. (19 September 1996). Isaac Newton and the scientific revolution. – 155 pages Oxford portraits in science Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 0-19-509224-4. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  2. ^ Austin, William H. (1970), "Isaac Newton on Science and Religion", Journal of the History of Ideas, 31 (4): 521–542, doi:10.2307/2708258, JSTOR 2708258
  3. ^ [ENGLISH & LATIN] "The Newton Project Newton's Views on the Corruptions of Scripture and the Church". Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  4. ^ Professor Rob Iliffe (AHRC Newton Papers Project) THE NEWTON PROJECT – Newton's Religious Writings [ENGLISH & LATIN] prism.php44. University of Sussex. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Newton's Views on Prophecy". The Newton Project. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  6. ^ Principia, Book III; cited in; Newton's Philosophy of Nature: Selections from his writings, p. 42, ed. H.S. Thayer, Hafner Library of Classics, NY, 1953.
  7. ^ A Short Scheme of the True Religion, manuscript quoted in Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton by Sir David Brewster, Edinburgh, 1850; cited in; ibid, p. 65.
  8. ^ a b Richard S. Westfall – Indiana University The Galileo Project. (Rice University). Retrieved 5 July 2008.