RE: What Sir Isaac Newton says to all of us today

Historian of Science Stephen Snobelen has written extensively on these
issues. You can find an interview and links to many of his papers here:

http://www.galilean-library.org/snobelen.html

Jim Hofmann

________________________________

From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of SatTeacher@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 4:04 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: What Sir Isaac Newton says to all of us today

In a message dated 4/15/06 9:46:56 PM, alexanian@uncw.edu writes:

which I suppose denies the deity of Christ, or more precisely, the
Oneness of God in the face of the Trinity. Does anyone know? Did Newton
have at hand more than the very same Scriptures we have? Or else, was
his conclusion about the nature of Christ based on his prior assumptions
on the nature of God.

From reading Newton's MSS, it is my opinion that he did not deny the
deity of Christ. What surprised me the most about Newton was his vast
knowledge of the Word of God and his great respect for the truth of
God's Word. He was able to quote countless passages from the entire
Bible and thread them together constantly in his writings to convey his
ideas.
1. He did question the canonicity of 1 John 5:7b -8. He was very clear
about questioning the canonicity of the passage.
2. He did not like the word "trinity" because it was a word which was
taken from pagan theology to describe a Christian truth. He believed
strongly that we should only use words used in the cannon of Scripture
to describe God and His truth.
3. He did have associates who were Arian but he also had associates who
were not. Note, that I said associates and not friends. He was a very
thoughtful and reserved man and kept to himself and his studies.
4. Newton had no problem with the canonicity or truth of the passage in
John where Jesus claims to be deity and for that they stoned him when
Christ said, "I and my Father are one." John 10:30 &31

Sir Isaac Newton speaks to all of us today -

"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 keep to the judgment of the
multitude, for so thou shalt certainly be deceived. But search the
scriptures thy self 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 vigor it will add to thy faith, and
steddy satisfaction to thy mind which he onely can know how to estimate
who shall experience it." (I have used Newton's spellings.)

May we all be challenged by Newton's admonition to read and study God's
Word.

Helen Martin
Received on Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:08:23 -0700