What did Isaac Newton say about the Bible and God ?

[Lou Newton]

Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientist that ever lived, and many say the greatest. He was the father of Physics and his three laws of motion are the basis of Physics. His discoveries about light are the foundation of the study of light. He discovered calculus and the binomial theorem. His greatest work is his mathematical formulas that explain how all bodies move throughout our universe. He even invented the reflecting telescope. The Hubble is a reflecting telescope.

But Isaac Newton wrote more about The Bible than he did science, 1.3 million words. We have so called scientists today that mock the Bible and God. But what are their discoveries ? Most of them have no discoveries. Newton's discoveries dwarf them all. What did Newton say about the Bible and God ? If you are going to consider the words of scientist, then consider the words of the great ones.

Newton's Views on Science and Faith

CHARLES E. HUMMEL

“This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being … This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all; and on account of his dominion he is wont to be called Lord God.”

“When I wrote my treatise about our system, I had an eye upon such principles as might work with considering men for the belief of a Deity, and nothing can rejoice me more than to find it useful for that purpose.”

On interpreting Scripture: “It is the perfection of all God’s works that they are done with the greatest simplicity … And therefore, as they that would understand the frame of the world must endeavor to reduce their knowledge [science] to all possible simplicity, so it must be in seeking to understand these [prophetic] visions.”

“The true God is a living, intelligent and powerful Being … He governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be done.”

“I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but, as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

Significant Events in the Life of Isaac Newton


1642: Born December 25 in Woolsthorpe, north of London

1655: Attends Grantham Grammar School

1661: Enters Trinity College, Cambridge

1665: January—graduates Bachelor of Arts; August moves back home because of the plague

1666: Develops binomial theorem; invents the calculus; postulates a gravitational force holding the moon in its orbit; and proves that white light is a mixture of light of all colors

1667: Returns to Cambridge; elected fellow of Trinity College

1669: Elected Lucasian Professor of Mathematics

1672: Elected fellow of the Royal Society

1684: Edmund Halley’s visit leads to writing of the Principia

1687: Publication of Principia Mathematica

1689: Elected Member of Parliament

1693: Experiences mental breakdown

1696: Moves to London as Warden of the Mint

1700: Appointed Master of the Mint

1703: Elected president of the Royal Society

1704: Publication of Opticks

1705: Knighted by the Queen

1727: Dies March 20; buried in Westminster Abbey

What other thought about Isaac Newton

Nature, and Nature’s Laws, lay hid in Night.
God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light.
–Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope’s well-known epitaph epitomized Isaac Newton’s fame. Even in Newton’s lifetime, his contemporaries’ adulation verged on worship. Following his death in April 1727, Newton lay in state in Westminster Abbey for a week. At the funeral, his pall was borne by three earls, two dukes, and the Lord Chancellor. 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.

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 Faith


For Newton the world of science was by no means the whole of life. He spent more time on theology than on science; indeed, he wrote about 1.3 million words on biblical subjects. Yet this vast legacy lay hidden from public view for two centuries until the auction of his nonscientific writings in 1936.

Newton’s understanding of God came primarily from the Bible, which he studied for days and weeks at a time. He took special interest in miracles and prophecy, calculating dates of Old Testament books and analyzing their texts to discover their authorship. In a manuscript on rules for interpreting prophecy, Newton noted the similar goals of the scientist and the prophecy expositor: simplicity and unity. 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 ...

[Lou Newton]

A person wrote about Newton after Newton's death: “he was hardly ever alone without a pen in his hand & a book before him”. As for his character, Newton was mild and meek, and a sad story would often draw tears from him. He was “generous & charitable without bounds”, hated cruelty to humans or animals (and was loath to eat the flesh of strangled animals), and he often pontificated on the subject of mercy. A modest and simple man, “He was very temperate & sober in his diet but never observed any regimen”. His humility was such that he did not despise anyone for lack of ability, but was shocked at bad morals, and lack of respect for religion was the only thing that would make him rebuke a friend — even if they were otherwise men of exceptional eminence.

Note from Lou: Very rare attributes indeed