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大科學家牛頓也信教了哦!

(2015-10-13 10:45:10) 下一個
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“大科學家牛頓晚年也信教了哦!" ? ? ? ? ?[複製鏈接]

   

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樓主
 
發表於 2014-2-6 12:27|隻看該作者|倒序瀏覽|打印
據說牛頓後來研究神學了 [color=rgb(153, 153, 153) !important][size=0.83em][複製鏈接]

 

 

scientister

 

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發表於 2011-5-23 22:00 |隻看該作者 |倒序瀏覽 |打印


 
一兩個世紀之前,歐洲的學者很容易就能在幾何學、數學、天體物理學方麵取得成就,他們往往同時也是哲學家。

牛頓在發現萬有引力,研究物理學達到一定程度之後,發現了很多無法解決的問題,用唯物主義無法解決的問題,所以後來他就開始研究世界的起源,終點,最後歸結於神學。




 

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沙發
發表於 2011-6-23 12:15 |隻看該作者


 
我聽說的是,他想證明神的存在,如果神真的存在,那麽“他”便不會讓人類證明他的存在,如果他不存在,他所作的也是徒勞,所以晚年的牛頓在人看來是高傲,甚至目中無人,既違背了神學的,自謙自卑,也違背了唯物主義的原則。因為僅僅是聽說,所以,亂扯的,不做深刻評論




 
 

 

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發表於 2011-6-25 05:32 |隻看該作者


 
WrongRich 發表於 2011-6-24 04:15
我聽說的是,他想證明神的存在,如果神真的存在,那麽“他”便不會讓人類證明他的存在,如果他不存在,他所 ...


你是說,神學是一個悖論?




 
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地板
發表於 2011-7-17 17:53 |隻看該作者


 
牛頓是吃飽了,沒事幹,閑著也是閑著後才研究神學的。
我們現在很多人還餓著,很多日常事務要處理,沒有時間時間去研究神學。但是你不能因此而認為我們的研究成果質量差,水平低。




 
論文漫天飛舞,科學進展鮮有

 

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5#
發表於 2011-9-10 02:53 |隻看該作者


 
牛頓研究神學怎會是“吃飽了,沒事幹”?這樣的解釋也太不上檔次了,作為追求理論嚴密性的學者,“第一推動”這個問題還不夠重要嗎,不足以讓牛頓仔細追求進入神學領域嗎?




 
 

 

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發表於 2011-9-13 00:51 |隻看該作者


 
回複 techne 的帖子

是更高的理論追求




 
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發表於 2012-8-15 05:25 |隻看該作者


 
  牛頓信教嗎?

  作者:土摩托

  經常聽到宗教人士說:“大科學家牛頓晚年也信教了哦!”出現幾率更高的
一個句子是:“牛頓晚年沉溺於煉金術,晚節不保。”

  我無意於糾纏這兩件事到底是不是真的,我隻是想從當時的生活環境入手,
討論一下這兩件事到底意味著什麽。

  在牛頓生活的時代,化學還在繈褓之中,元素的概念尚未出現,人們不知道
物質隻能細分到元素這個層次,不同元素之間也無法用常規手段相互轉換。在這
種情況下,牛頓試圖通過某種手段把普通物質煉成黃金,恰恰是一個非常合理的
想法,甚至可以說是任何聰明人都應該有的想法,你不這麽想反而說明你迂腐了。

  同樣,宗教在牛頓的時代是最強大的思想體係,上帝的概念比現在的民主自
由更加深入人心。事實上,牛頓之所以潛心研究星體的運動軌跡,恰恰是為了解
讀上帝的思想,而不是為了了解宇宙的奧秘。換句話說,那個年代的無神論者們
很可能都是一些腦後有反骨的叛逆者,和智商什麽的沒太大關係。

  這件事說明,我們考察一個曆史事件的時候,必須從當時的環境入手,按照
那個年代的邏輯來做出是非判斷。類似的案例還有很多,隨手翻翻我們的中小學
曆史課本就能找出一大堆。想想中國曆史上那些耳熟能詳的曆史人物,幾乎都是
按照現代社會的是非標準做的定論,你有沒有想過,為什麽嶽飛文天祥屈原諸葛
亮都是好人,趙高秦檜魏忠賢李蓮英都是壞蛋呢?你有沒有考慮過當時的社會狀
況?

  如果你還想不通的話,看看近代史上那些人物,無論是孫中山張學良蔣介石
還是毛澤東周恩來鄧小平,將來的人會如何評價他們?如果500年後的曆史學家
把他們輕易地歸類,你會同意嗎?

  以上的想法來自我最近看的一本曆史書,書名叫做《哥倫布大交換》,該書
第一版出版於1972年,作者艾爾弗雷德·克羅斯比原是一位生物學愛好者,正是
這個愛好讓他意識到應該好好研究一下1492年之後地球生態係統發生的變化,從
中尋找曆史發展的邏輯。在他看來,人,首先是一個生物性的實體,然後才是一
位羅馬天主教徒、資本家,或者其他任何身份。隻有把一個人放在恰當的時空脈
絡之下,才能有把握地審視他的社會行為。所以他把注意力放到了哥倫布之後地
球各大洲之間的物種交換上,正是這種交換帶來了生活方式的根本變化,並拓寬
了人類的視野,直接導致了很多根本性的變革。

  此種思維方式的一個最佳案例就是關於宗教信仰的探討。在克羅斯比看來,
歐洲人帶著兩套知識體係走出了中世紀,一套是基督教,一套是亞裏士多德,但
是新世界一出現,兩大體係立即左支右絀。航海家的發現輕易地把希波克拉底、
蓋倫、托勒密等古典學者們關於世界的理論擊垮了,而作為當時大多數知識的來
源,《聖經》完全是來自舊世界的產物,解釋亞洲和非洲時已然非常吃力,完全
無力應付新世界。所以說,哥倫布最偉大的貢獻就在於“迫使基督教的許多有學
之士不得不去把整件事情好好想個清楚。”這種思考的結果就是讓那些真正的聰
明人終於看出了《聖經》的荒謬,達爾文就是其中的佼佼者。

  我不是學曆史的,不知道上述這種思考方式的真正來源。我簡單地做了點考
證,發現類似的思想早在14世紀時就被提出來了。一位名叫Ibn Khaldun的阿拉
伯曆史學家提出應該從生活環境和生產方式的角度討論曆史事件,這個思想早於
歐洲學者很多年。這是有原因的。Ibn Khaldun的先祖來自阿拉伯半島,後來又
移居西班牙,最後又到了突尼斯,並在這個北非國家生下了他。從這條遷徙路線
就可以看出,阿拉伯人重經商,常旅行,見多識廣。阿拉伯學者之所以強大,不
是因為他們比別人聰明,而是因為他們善於借鑒別人的研究成果。

  之後,才是“現代環境主義之父”Aldo Leopold出版於1949年的《沙鄉年
鑒》,號召曆史學家們以生態學的觀點重寫曆史。克羅斯比獨立地提出了同樣的
想法,《哥倫布大交換》成為那個時代的一本經典著作。再後麵就是我推薦過很
多次的Jared Diamond,他那本《槍炮病菌與鋼鐵》毫無疑問是這類曆史書的扛
鼎之作,把前人的研究一網打盡。

  最後回到牛頓的話題。牛頓到底信不信教?這事根本不重要。重要的是,你
現在還信嗎?




 
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發表於 2012-8-27 18:32 |隻看該作者


 
rbhuang5907 發表於 2012-8-15 21:25
  牛頓信教嗎?

  作者:土摩托


我覺得,唯物主義者應該容忍科學對神學的研究,嗬嗬




 
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發表於 2012-8-27 19:57 |隻看該作者


 
"唯物主義者應該容忍科學對神學的研究"

此話不通。科學沒有辦法研究神學的,無法實證啊。研究神學不叫科學研究,就叫神學研究吧。

神學、科學、哲學、文學等,是並列關係。

人家有興趣進行神學研究,唯物主義著無權不容忍。




 
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發表於 2012-8-28 18:21 |隻看該作者


 
回複 rbhuang5907 的帖子

當下,唯物主義者必須是無神論者,對麽?




 
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發表於 2012-8-28 18:59 |隻看該作者


 
唯物主義者必須是無神論者,但唯物主義者無權禁止別人是有神論者。




 
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發表於 2012-8-29 22:04 |隻看該作者


 
rbhuang5907 發表於 2012-8-29 10:59
唯物主義者必須是無神論者,但唯物主義者無權禁止別人是有神論者。


唯物主義者,堅持實踐是檢驗真理的唯一標準,所以可以參與研究神學,研究不明飛行物,研究外星人文明,研究神是否存在,等等


 
 
 
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沙發
 
發表於 2014-2-7 09:39|隻看該作者
His own opinion only, which has not been the main stream, however, quite side-tracked.
姓名:艾爾弗雷德·克羅斯比
  學曆:
工作單位:德州大學奧斯汀分校
  職務:教授
  其它:
艾爾弗雷德·克羅斯比(Affred W.Crosby),全球通史研究領域創始人,美國著名環境史大師,現為美國德州大學奧斯汀分校曆史係、地理係和美國研究係榮譽教授,曾任教於耶魯大學、華盛頓州立大學。其重要著作包括《哥倫布帶來的交流:1492年的生物學與文化成就》、《生態帝國主義》等,其著作曾榮獲愛默生獎、醫學作家協會獎、洛杉磯時報年度最佳選書。


主要作品:
[著作選載] 生態擴張主義:歐洲900-1900年的生態擴張
[著作選載] 人類能源史——危機與希望
Alfred W. Crosby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alfred W. Crosby (born January 15, 1931, Boston, Massachusetts) is a historian, professor and author of such books as The Columbian Exchange (1972) and Ecological Imperialism (1986). In these works, he provides biological and geographical explanations for why Europeans were able to succeed with relative ease in what he refers to as the Neo-Europes of Australasia, North America, and southern South America. Reference to his works is made by Indian scholar Ramachandra Guha in his publication(s).

Recognizing the majority of modern day wealth is located in Europe and the Neo-Europes, Crosby set out to investigate what historical causes are behind the disparity. According to Hal Rothman, a Professor of History at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Crosby “added biology to the process of human exploration, coming up with explanations for events as diverse as Cortez’s conquest of Mexico and the fall of the Inca empire that made vital use of the physical essence of humanity.”.[1]

Crosby is Professor Emeritus of History, Geography, and American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He has taught at Washington State University, Yale University, the Alexander Turnbull Library in New Zealand, and the University of Helsinki. He was appointed an academician by Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.

Contents [hide]
1 Publications
2 Notes
3 References
4 External links
Publications[edit]

His books include:

America, Russia, Hemp, and Napoleon: American Trade with Russia and the Baltic, 1793-1812. Ohio State University Press 1965.
Epidemic and Peace, 1918. Greenwood Press 1976. Republished as America's Forgotten Pandemic.
The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Greenwood Press 1972, Praeger Publishers 2003. Available in Spanish, Italian, and Korean translations.
Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge University Press 1986, 1993, 2004. Available in German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean translations.
America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge University Press 1989, 2003. Originally published as Epidemic and Peace, 1918. Available in Japanese translation.
Germs, Seeds, and Animals: Studies in Ecological History. M. E. Sharpe 1994.
The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600. Cambridge University Press 1997. Available in Spanish, Portuguese,French, Italian, Swedish, Japanese, Slovennian and Korean translations.
Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History. Cambridge University Press 2002. Available in Turkish and Japanese translations.
Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy. W.W. Norton 2006.
 
 
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發表於 2014-2-7 10:45|隻看該作者
Isaac Newton on Religion

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a deeply religious person who wrote far more words on religion than he did on science. Early on, as an undergraduate at Trinity College Cambridge, he wrote a list of sins, itself a mark of his religious convictions. Many of these since relate to his non-attendance at church on Sunday. At some point he moved away from the orthodox (conventional) thinking of the Church of England and became a radical heretic, denying that Jesus Christ shared any essential characteristics of God. Because he denied the existence of the Holy Trinity that was believed by all orthodox Catholics and Protestants, Newton's position is characterized as antitrinitarian. Because there were severe legal and social penalties for holding such beliefs, he was forced to keep his views quiet and they became known only after he had died.

By far the most systematic theological research undertaken by Newton concerned the field of prophecy, in which he wrote over 2 million words (which still survive). He wrote in one place that he had been chosen by God to offer an explanation of these texts to his contemporaries, though any plans in this direction were presumably thwarted by their radical nature. In other areas he analysed the character of the fourth century Roman Catholics whom he believed had worked on behalf of the devil and had perverted the Christian religion. He carried out a great deal of research on the nature of Christ's relationship to his father, and also wrote a lengthy Analysis of dimensions of Solomon's Temple, an attempt to ascertain the true dimensions of the temple based on the description given in Ezekiel chs 40-8. In the last three decades of his life he spent vast amounts of time attempting to give a true chronology of events preceding Christ, much of which depended on his redating of the voyage of the Argonauts to 936BCE. On at least one occasion, he gave a sermon on his favourite subject, idolatry.

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地板
 
發表於 2014-2-7 10:49|隻看該作者
I's taken by surprise to read about the following and cleared for the myth about Newton's belief.

A Brief Survey of Sir Isaac Newton's Views on Religion

Front Matter
Faith and the Scientific Method
In Your Mind and in Your Heart
Concerning Astronomical References Found in the Scriptures
A Brief Survey of Sir Isaac Newton's Views on Religion
The Quest for Truth: Science and Religion in the Best of All Worlds
Time in Scripture and Science: A Conciliatory Key?
The Scriptural Accounts of the Creation: A Scientific Perspective
Evolution and the Gospel: Seeking Grandeur in This View of Life
Steven E. Jones, “A Brief Survey of Sir Isaac Newton's Views on Religion,” in Converging Paths to Truth, ed. Michael D. Rhodes and J. Ward Moody (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2011), 61–78.

A Brief Survey of Sir Isaac Newton’s Views on Religion

Steven E. Jones

Steven E. Jones is a professor emeritus of physics, Brigham Young University.


Newton was certainly one of the greatest scientists who ever lived. He laid out the three laws of motion in his extraordinary Principia Mathematica. He discovered the law of universal gravitation, the famous inverse-distance-squared law. He wrote much about light and optics after performing his own original experiments on light. He invented calculus. He rejected the authority of the Greek philosopher Aristotle and promoted experiment-based science.

But it is not commonly known that Newton was also a devout Christian who wrote extensively about Christianity. We learn from his writings that he deeply studied the Bible along with writings of early Christian leaders. Notably, Newton concluded that the dogma of a Triune god was false doctrine and therefore refused ordination in the Anglican Church, a most unpopular decision that almost cost him his position at Cambridge University. Newton also believed that a general apostasy from Christ’s doctrines occurred early on in the history of the Christian church, and he wrote that a restoration of the Lord’s church would come at some future time.

Although none of Newton’s religious writings were published during his lifetime, after his death in 1727, John Conduitt, executor of Newton’s will,[1] published some of his theological manuscripts. Eventually the remainder came forth when the manuscripts were auctioned off in 1936.[2] In this paper we will examine some of Newton’s copious writings on religion.

Introductory Thought Experiment

Let us consider a quick thought experiment to get us thinking along Newtonian lines. Imagine a puck held by a string on a central peg so that it travels in a circular path on a “frictionless” air table like those used in air hockey games.



Suddenly, at point P at the bottom the string breaks. Approximately which way will the puck go—path number 1, 2, 3, or 4? When I have put this question to groups of people, the answers have included 1, 2, 3, and 4, with many not being at all sure what will happen.

But we do not do science by voting. We perform an experiment. And when we actually perform the experiment, we find that the moving puck follows path 2. It does not travel outward or continue in a circle.

Newton generalized the results of many such experiments in his famous three Laws of Motion. Newton’s first law of motion can be expressed this way: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Initially the hockey puck was constrained by the unbalanced force of the string to move in a circle. However, at the moment the string broke, it was moving in the direction of 2, and Newton’s first law says that it will continue moving in that direction; this result has been confirmed by numerous actual experiments.

Experiments, careful observations, and measurements form the basis of the scientific method, and anyone can use it, Mormon or Muslim, Baptist or Buddhist. The scientific method works in repeatable fashion, independent of one’s beliefs. Repeatability is the core strength of the scientific method.

During the Middle Ages, people would often answer questions by an appeal to authority. They would use the Latin term ipse dixit, “he himself said it,” meaning that some recognized authority—Aristotle, Ptolemy, or one of the church fathers such as Augustine or Thomas Aquinas—had said it. This appeal to authority was the end of the discussion for many. Newton, however, rejected this appeal to authority and instead advocated the use of experiments and careful observations to find out what is true, which is the basis of the modern scientific method.[3] Aristotle maintained that the motion of the sun, moon, stars, and planets was circular.[4] However, Johannes Kepler, using the careful observations by Tycho Brahe, showed that they were in fact elliptical and derived equations that described their motion. A hundred years later, Newton showed that these elliptical orbits were the result of the gravitational force of the sun that could accurately be calculated using his famous law of gravity: Every point mass attracts every other point mass by a force pointing along the line intersecting both points. The force is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the point masses—in equation form: F = G((m1m2)/(r2)).

We have important issues today that are of general concern for society. For example, is global warming real? Is it man-caused or the result of natural fluctuations in temperature? We can get the answer by repeated, careful experiments, observations, and measurements rather than by dogmatic or political statements.

A true scientist requires analysis based on experiments and observational evidence—it is not a matter of popular opinion or what some authority figure states. Questions important to society can be addressed by the scientific method, using experiments, then published in refereed journals. This system of review by knowledgeable peers was worked out during Newton’s lifetime by the British Royal Academy of Sciences. It is generally considered a major step in a nascent field of science when results are finally published in established peer-reviewed venues and journals. The scientific method has served us well for about 350 years.

Newton in Historical Context

The following time line places Newton in historical context with other notables.

Aristotle and Plato lived about four hundred years before Christ and their impact on Western culture has been considerable. Newton was certainly heavily influenced by Jesus Christ and the early Christian writers, for he quoted them abundantly in his writings. He took exception with some of the later Christian writers, after about AD 200. Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo appeared on the scene just before Newton and paved the way for his research. Newton was born on the same day in 1642 that Galileo passed away, and he used many of Galileo’s findings in developing his famous laws of motion. Isaac Newton died in 1727.

A Meshing of Science and Faith in God

Newton was both a scientist and a believer in God. He wrote Optics, a study of light. In this scientific treatise, he paused to ask: “Whence is it that Nature doth nothing in vain? And whence arises all that order and beauty which we see in the world? . . . Was the eye contrived without skill in optics? And the ear without knowledge of sounds?”[5] Then, in case the reader is not getting his point, he states plainly: “Does it not appear from phenomena that there is a Being incorporeal, living, intelligent, omnipresent, who in infinite space . . . sees the things themselves intimately, and thoroughly perceives them, and comprehends them wholly.”[6]

In his famous Principia, Newton wrote: “This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all. . . . The Supreme God is a Being eternal, infinite, absolutely perfect . . . and from his true dominion it follows that the true God is a living, intelligent, and powerful Being. . . . He is not eternity and infinity, but eternal and infinite; he is not duration or space, but he endures and is present.”[7]

Newton also wrote, “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.”[8] In other words, Newton hoped his scientific writings would lead people to think about and believe in God.

“In human affairs the father of a family or house is frequently taken for the common father of a kindred: here the whole creation is considered as one kindred or family so named from God, the common father of all.”[9] Thus, for Newton, there was a natural meshing of science and belief in God.

In the Book of Mormon, Alma speaks of performing an individual “experiment” (he uses the same term later used by Newton) in order to learn about religious principles:

Awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith. . . .
Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. . . .
And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. (Alma 32: 28, 33)
Now compare this advice of Alma regarding an experiment on the word of God with this advice from Newton regarding the scriptures:

Let me therefore beg of thee not to trust to the opinion of any man concerning these things, for so it is great odds but thou shalt be deceived. Much less oughtest thou to rely upon the judgment of the multitude, for so thou shalt certainly be deceived. But search the scriptures thyself and that by frequent reading and constant meditation upon what thou readest, and earnest prayer to God to enlighten thine understanding if thou desirest to find the truth. Which if thou shalt at length attain thou wilt value above all other treasures in the world by reason of the assurance and vigour it will add to thy faith, and steady satisfaction to thy mind which he only can know how to estimate who shall experience it.[10]
It seems evident that Newton is sharing his own experience of studying the scriptures and the assurance and satisfaction the word of God brought to him, just as Alma shared his experience based on planting the word of God in his heart.

Newton’s Key to Correctly Understanding Scripture

With the foundation that Newton had obtained by reading the Bible and earnest meditation and prayer, how did he proceed to resolve other questions about religion? There were so many differing interpretations of scripture—how could one make progress in finding out the meaning intended in the Bible? Newton answers: “The first Principles of the Christian religion are founded, not on disputable conclusions, opinions, or conjectures, or on human sanctions, but on the express words of Christ and his Apostles; and we are to hold fast the form of sound words. 2 Tim. 1:13. And further, it is not enough that a proposition be true or in the express words of scripture: it must also appear to have been taught in the days of the Apostles.”[11] And again: “The first Principles of the Christian religion depend not on disputable conclusions. . . . Every truth, every sentence in scripture is not a fundamental article. It must be delivered in the express words of the first teachers, and appear to have been an article taught from the beginning.”[12] So here is Newton’s approach for understanding the Bible—read the “express words of scripture” and what was “taught in the days of the Apostles.”

At Cambridge University, where Newton studied, he had the writings of Ignatius, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and others of the earliest Christian writings, and he read their words in the original Latin and Greek. He quoted frequently from them and made a distinction between doctrines taught by those who lived during or soon after the Apostles and doctrines that appeared later in history.[13]

In 1661, Newton was admitted to Trinity College in Cambridge, England.[14] At that time, the college’s teachings were based largely on the teachings of Aristotle and other philosophers, but Newton preferred to study the experimentalists Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler, and he came to challenge Aristotle’s teachings.[15] Shortly after he obtained his degree in April 1665, Newton left the university and for the next two years, during the pandemic known as the Great Plague, applied himself to the study of optics, gravitation, and mathematics at his mother’s home in Woolsthorpe, England.[16]

Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667 to continue his studies and obtain a Master of Arts degree, which he obtained the following year.[17] In 1669, he was named to the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics, an elevated position at Trinity College in the Cambridge University system.[18] Already, at age twenty-six, his talents and contributions were recognized. In Newton’s day, any fellow of Cambridge or Oxford had to be an ordained priest in the Anglican Church.[19] When he accepted the position, Newton promised to take holy orders in the near future but kept postponing it for several years because his personal beliefs were in disagreement with Anglican doctrine.[20] However, the pressure to take holy orders increased, and Newton considered giving up his position rather than be ordained.[21] In March 1675 he applied to King Charles for a special dispensation, and to everyone’s surprise, within a month the king granted that the Lucasian Professor and all subsequent holders of the chair be exempt from holy orders.[22] Newton had expected a fight and had spent the preceding four years in preparation for it by immersing himself in the scriptures and other ancient texts including the earliest Christian writers.[23] He filled his notebooks with scriptural quotes, from both the Old and New Testament as well as from the earliest Christian writers.[24]

Newton on the Nature of the Godhead

Just how did Newton apply his scientific approach in his religious studies? A prime example comes from his studies of the nature of God, which he based on the scriptures combined with the teachings of the early writers of the Christian church. Newton saw two major flaws in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity: it was unsupported from the scriptures and it was illogical.[25] Newton used scriptural passages to demonstrate that the Trinitarian doctrine was incorrect, and that the scriptures instead taught that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are separate and distinct beings, three members of the Godhead. For example, the Son confessed that the Father was greater than him[26] and called him his God.[27] The Son also acknowledged the original prescience of all future things to be in the Father only.[28] Newton especially took exception to the Athanasian Creed, which was the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity was explicitly stated. It is now generally accepted by scholars that Athanasius was not its author and that it most likely dates from the late fifth or even early sixth century AD—at least one hundred years after Athanasius.[29] The text of the Athanasian Creed follows:

Whosover will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. . . . The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. . . . So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.[30]
For Newton this was simply not logical. He wrote, “Let them make good sense of it who are able; for my part, I can make none.”[31]

Newton Rejects 1 John 5:7

Newton wrote a long article about the passage found in 1 John 5:7 in the King James Version, which indeed sounds a bit like the Athanasian Creed: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). Not satisfied with this passage, Newton went back and read the text of the Vulgate as well as the original Greek. He showed that the words “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one” did not appear in the original Greek manuscripts. He wrote that the phrase “was neither in the ancient Versions nor in the Greek but was wholly unknown to the first churches, is most certain by an argument hinted above; namely that in all that vehement, universal, and lasting controversy about the Trinity in Jerome’s time, and both before and long enough after it, this text of the Three in Heaven was never thought of. It is now in everybody’s mouth and accounted the main text for the business [of supporting the Trinitarian dogma].”[32] Newton concluded, based on early texts of the Bible, that 1 John 5:7 was a later addition. He also wrote, “That apostasy was to begin by corrupting the truth about the relation of the Son to the Father in putting them equal.”[33]

Scholars today agree that 1 John 5:7 is indeed spurious based on the same arguments that Newton used. The passage is not found in any early Greek manuscript, and it is not quoted by Greek Fathers, who, if they had known it, would certainly have used it in the Trinitarian controversies of the fourth century AD.[34]

Newton’s Views of a General Apostasy

Newton concluded a lengthy treatise on the Book of Revelation by saying: “If you now compare all with the Apocalyptic Visions, and particularly with the flight of the woman into the wilderness and the reign of the whore of Babylon, they will very much illustrate one another: for these visions are as plain as if it had been expressly said, that the true Church shall disappear, and in her stead an idolatrous church reign in the world.”[35] It is interesting to compare this with Doctrine and Covenants 86, where the Lord explains the meaning of the parable of the wheat and the tares:

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and the tares:
Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed; And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness. (D&C 86:1–3)
Newton insisted that this was a “general Apostacy,”[36] and used such scriptures as 1 Timothy 1 and 2[37] and in particular 2 Thessalonians 2:3, which Newton translates as: “The day of the Lord shal not come except the Apostacy come first & that man of sin be revealed the Son of perdition.”[38] These, of course, are scriptures the Latter-day Saints also use to support the idea of a general apostasy.

Newton also remarked:

Now though the unity of the Church depended upon the unity of the faith and therefore the rule of faith was unalterable, yet before the end of the second century some of the Latin churches in opposition to heretics began to add new articles to it. And after they had, by adding some articles in the language of the scriptures, made precedents for creating to themselves a creed-making authority: they began to add articles in other language than that of the scripture till they lost the primitive Apostolic rule of faith, and by the loss of it brought all into confusion.[39]
On his deathbed, Newton openly disclosed his rejection of apostate Christianity by refusing to accept the last rites of the Anglican Church.[40]

Newton Predicts a Restoration of the True Gospel

Newton’s study of the scriptures brought him to the conclusion that just as there had been a falling away, there would also be a restoration of the true church of Jesus Christ. He quoted Malachi 3 and other scriptures in his commentary that are standard scriptural passages used by Latter-day Saints in discussing the restoration:

Behold I will send my messenger & he shall prepare the way before me & the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple—But who may abide the day of his coming? & who shall stand when he appeareth. Malachi 3.1, 2.[41]
And there appeared unto them Moses & Elias & they were talking with Jesus—And (the disciples) asked him saying why say the Scribes that Elias must first come And he answered & told them Elias verily cometh first & restoreth all things. . . . Mark 9.4, 11[–]13. . . . Jesus said unto them (his disciples) Elias shall first come & restore all things. . . . Matth 17.11.[42]
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3.21.[43]
I will lay the Land most desolate & the pomp of her strength shall cease, & the Mountains (i.e. Cities) of Israel shall be desolate. Ezek 33.28.[44]
Jerusalem shall become heaps, & the Mountain of the house as the high-places of the Forest: But in the last days it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the Mountains & it shall be exalted above the hills &c i.e. above all other temples. Mica 3.12.[45]
So in Dan 2 The new Jerusalem extending its dominion over the earth is represented by a great mountain which filled the whole Earth.[46]

Newton found multiple examples throughout history of reformations by God:

The worship which is due to this God we are to give to no other nor to ascribe anything absurd or contradictious to his nature or actions lest we be found to blaspheme him or to deny him or to make a step towards atheism or irreligion. . . . For as often as mankind has swerved from them, God has made a reformation. When the sons of Adam erred and the thoughts of their heart became evil continually, God selected Noah to people a new world. And when the posterity of Noah transgressed and began to invoke dead men, God selected Abraham and his posterity. And when they transgressed in Egypt God reformed them by Moses. And when they relapsed to idolatry and immorality, God sent Prophets to reform them and punished them by the Babylonian captivity. And when they that returned from captivity, mixed human inventions with the law of Moses under the name of traditions, and laid the stress of religion not upon the acts of the mind, but upon outward acts and ceremonies, God sent Christ to reform them. And when the nation received him not, God called the Gentiles. And now the Gentiles have corrupted themselves, we may expect that God in due time will make a new reformation. And in all the reformations of religion hitherto made, the religion in respect of God and our neighbor is one and the same religion . . . so that this is the oldest religion in the world.[47]
Newton argued that it was the same religion that was restored from time to time by God because men deviated from this true religion. He concluded: “So then the mystery of this restitution of all things is to be found in all the Prophets: which makes me wonder with great admiration that so few Christians of our age can find it there.”[48]

Conclusion

Newton died on March 20, 1727, and was buried in Westminster Abby on April 4. His coffin was carried by “the Lord High Chancellor, the Dukes of Montrose and Roxborough, and the Earls of Pembroke, Sussex and Macclesfield.”[49] Other great scientists buried near him include James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday.

Isaac Newton was one of the world’s greatest scientists. He utilized his great genius and powers of reasoning to produce his famous scientific discoveries including his laws of motion, the law of universal gravitation, studies in optics, and the invention of calculus. But he was also a devout Christian, and he brought this same intellectual genius to bear in his analysis of Christianity, and he based his beliefs on his own studies of the Bible along with the earliest Christian writers. Based on his studies he rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and proved that it was unbiblical. He also concluded from that there had been an apostasy from the true Church of Christ, and that at some future time there would be a restoration.

Notes


The author acknowledges Professor Michael D. Rhodes for a careful reading of this paper and numerous useful suggestions.

[1] Michael White, Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997), 360.

[2] White, Isaac Newton, 346.

[3] Isaac Newton, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, trans. Andrew Motte (Berkley University of California Press, 1946), Rule 4 in Book III, 400.

[4] Aristotle, On the Heavens, 1.9.

[5] Isaac Newton, Opticks, 4th ed. (London: William Innys, 1730), 344; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[6] Isaac Newton, Opticks, 345; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[7] Isaac Newton, Principia, ed. Stephen Hawking (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2002), 426–27.

[8] Isaac Newton, Original letter from Isaac Newton to Richard Bentley, 189.R.4.47, ff. 4A-5, Trinity College Library, Cambridge, UK; found on the Newton Project website: http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00254; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[9] Isaac Newton, Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture (part 4: ff. 70–83), ms. 361(4), f. 94, New College Library, Oxford, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00263; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[10] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.1), Yahuda Ms. 1.1, 1r–2r. Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00135; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[11] Isaac Newton, Irenicum, Keynes Ms. 3, King’s College, Cambridge, 13, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00003; spelling and punctuation modernized, emphasis added.

[12] Newton, Irenicum, 25; spelling and punctuation modernized, emphasis added.

[13] For example, see Isaac Newton, Drafts on the History of the Church (Section 6), Yahuda Ms. 15.6, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00223; Isaac Newton, Paradoxical Questions concerning the morals & actions of Athanasius & his followers, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00117.

[14] White, Isaac Newton, 46, 55.

[15] White, Isaac Newton, 53.

[16] White, Isaac Newton, 58.

[17] White, Isaac Newton, 94–95.

[18] White, Isaac Newton, 103.

[19] White, Isaac Newton, 150.

[20] White, Isaac Newton, 150.

[21] White, Isaac Newton, 150.

[22] White, Isaac Newton, 151.

[23] White, Isaac Newton, 151–52.

[24] See footnotes 8–10.

[25] White, Isaac Newton, 152.

[26] Drafts on the history of the Church (Section 3), Yahuda Ms. 15.3, 47v., National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00220.

[27] Isaac Newton, Drafts on the history of the Church (Section 7), Yahuda Ms. 15.7, 154r, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00237.

[28] Isaac Newton, Drafts on the history of the Church (Section 3), Yahuda Ms. 15.3, 66r.

[29] Frederick W. Norris, “Athanasian Creed,” in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 2nd ed., ed. Everett Fergusen (New York: Garland, 1997); Michael O’Carroll, “Athanasian Creed,” in Trinitas (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1987); Concordia Triglotta (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), 13.

[30] Charles G. Herbermann and others, eds., The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: The Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1907), s.v. Athanasian Creed.

[31] Isaac Newton, Two Notable Corruptions of the Scriptures (part 1: ff. 1–41), ms. 361(4).

[32] Isaac Newton, Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture (part 1: ff. 1–41), ms 361(4), f. 7.

[33] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.4), Yahuda Ms. 1.4, 158r, Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00182; spelling modernized.

[34] Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1994), 647–49.

[35] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.2), Yahuda Ms. 1.2, 27v, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00137; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[36] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.2), Yahuda Ms. 1.2, 24r.

[37] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.2), Yahuda Ms. 1.2, 24r.

[38] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.2), Yahuda Ms. 1.2, 24v.

[39] Isaac Newton, Drafts on the history of the Church (Section 5), Yahuda Ms. 15.5, 92v, Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00222; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[40] White, Isaac Newton, 360.

[41] Isaac Newton, Prophesies concerning Christs 2d coming, ASC Ms. N47 HER, James White Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA, 8, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00088; spelling modernized.

[42] Isaac Newton, Prophesies concerning Christs 2d coming, ASC Ms. N47 HER; spelling modernized.

[43] Isaac Newton, Prophesies concerning Christs 2d coming, ASC Ms. N47 HER; spelling modernized.

[44] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.1a), Yahuda Ms. 1.1a, 3v, Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00136.

[45] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.1a), Yahuda Ms. 1.1a, 4r; spelling modernized.

[46] Isaac Newton, Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.1a), Yahuda Ms. 1.1a, 3r; spelling modernized.

[47] Isaac Newton, Irenicum, 35; spelling and punctuation modernized.

[48] Yahuda MS 6, folio 12, cited in Frank E. Manuel, The Religion of Isaac Newton (Oxford: Clarendon, 1974), 126.

[49] White, Isaac Newton, 360.

https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/converging-paths-truth/brief-survey-sir-isaac-newtons-views-religion
 
 
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5#
 
發表於 2014-2-7 11:22|隻看該作者
Nature, and Nature’s Laws, lay hid in Night.
God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light.
–Alexander Pope
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.
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1991/issue30/3038.html
 
 
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發表於 2014-2-7 13:10|隻看該作者

With this side by side comparison between Chinese statement and English description, I hope all the readers can make their own conclusion. At least, I've learned much more than before.:)
 
 
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發表於 昨天 23:53|隻看該作者
據說牛頓一直就是信教的。
發現萬有引力與信教不信教無關的。
在神學方麵,牛頓的著作的貢獻巨大。
至於說未信教前發現萬有引力,信教後無所建樹。這是扯淡了。有目的的說法而已。
就像愛因斯坦的天才與汗水的論述一下,很多人都故意說一半。
 
 
 
 
   
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