Tag Archives: sof-Newton

Apocalyptic Themes in Isaac Newton’s Astronomical Physics

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Article (book chapter) 9 pages Level: university This essay by Stephen D. Snobelen was published in the 2021 book Intersections of Religion and Astronomy.  One of the editors of the book is Chris Corbally, an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory.  Snobelen writes on how Newton recognized that the universe was subject to change and instability, and not eternal.  Newton believed we ought to be thankful to God for our existence and sustenance.  Snobelen writes: For Newton, the history and future of the cosmos are contained within the biblical time-frame of Genesis to Revelation: God created the earth, sustains it, renews it, and ultimately makes all things new…. [Newton] ultimately believed in the unity of all reality: all reality is God’s, created by his boundless power and sustained by his sovereign will. From the publisher (Routledge), regarding Intersections as a whole: This volume examines the way in which cultural ideas about “the heavens” shape religious ideas and are shaped by them … Continue reading →

Priest of Nature – The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Book 522 pages Level: university level It is often said that Isaac Newton, arguably the most prominent scientist in human history, wrote more about the Bible and religion than about science and math.  However, his religious writings were generally unpublished, and have always been relatively inaccessible and little studied.  Robert Iliffe, the author of the 2017 book Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton, tells us that this is due to a number of reasons: in part due to Newton’s own views on publishing; in part due to the anti-Trinitarian nature of Newton’s own Christian faith; in part due to how Enlightenment-era thinkers who were perplexed by these writings explained them away as something Newton produced only later in life, when he had gone senile or even mad; in part due to modern scholars rejecting them as bizarre, irrelevant to his more significant work, and unbecoming of his genius.  However, in the 21st century these writings have all … Continue reading →

Isaac Newton – Two books relating to religion

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Books (two) 376 pages; Level: university Isaac Newton, one of the most prominent scientific figures in history, is often said to have written more about theology than about mathematics and physics. However, his views on the nature of God were unorthodox, and much of what he wrote regarding matters relating to religion was never published. However, his Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms was published in 1728.  It contains material such as Newton’s diagram of the Temple of Solomon, shown here.  Newton’s Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, was published posthumously in 1733 and is another example of Newton’s writing on matters relating to religion. Click here for Chronology, courtesy of Erara. Click here for Observations, courtesy of Archive.org  

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Isaac Newton – God and the Universe in the ‘General Scholium’ of the Principia

Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Book chapter 5 pages Level: university Isaac Newton is arguably the most important scientist of all. His Principia Mathematica (written in Latin, and first published in 1687), in which he develops a physics of the solar system to compete with the “vortex theory” of René Descartes, is arguably his most important work, for it developed the physics still taught in classrooms and used in science and engineering today. Newton sees in this physics and in the solar system the action of God. Newton is often said to have written more about theology than about mathematics and physics, although his views on the nature of God were unorthodox and much of what he wrote regarding matters relating to religion was never published. From the ‘General Scholium’: This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being. And if the fixed Stars are the centers of other like systems, … Continue reading →