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| | Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.<ref>Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.</ref> He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref> | | Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.<ref>Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.</ref> He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref> |
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| − | Some biographers have speculated, without justification, that Newton's views would today be considered those of a [[Unitarian]],<ref>Bell, E.T. Men of Mathematics.</ref> or an [[Arian]]. Those who reject [[Christ]]'s divinity claim without justification that Newton likewise rejected it. The quotations of Newton that they cite say no such thing.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 9. We need not pray to Christ to intercede for us. If we pray the father aright he will intercede."</ref>
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| − | However, the evidence for Newton holding to Arianism is scant. It is true that Newton held a lot to himself, but to say that because of his association with William Whiston, that he is therefore an Arianist is hardly conclusive. It is more probable that Newton held to an Eastern Orthodox view of the Trinity.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 12. To us there is but one God the father of whom are all things and we of him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him. That is, we are to worship the father alone as God Almighty and Jesus alone as the Lord the Messiah the great King the Lamb of God who was slain and hath redeemed us with his blood and made us kings and Priests."</ref>
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| − | John Conduitt, the husband of Newton's niece had this to say about Newton's theology.
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| − | "I had no hesitation when writing the Like of Sir Isaac Newton in 1830, in coming to the conclusions that he was a believer in the Trinity; and in giving this opinion on the creed of so great a man, and so indefatigable a student of scripture, I was well aware that there are various forms of Trinitarian truth, and various modes of expressing it, which have been received as orthodox in the purest societies of the Christian Church."<ref>Thomas C. Pfizenmaier - Was Isaac Newton an Arian?. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037(199701)58%3A1%3C57%3AWINAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O</ref>
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| | In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.<ref>http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm</ref> | | In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.<ref>http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm</ref> |