Issac Newton had a chilling prediction for the end of the world and you may be interested to know that it’s creeping ever closer.
Yep, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the late genius - who was a mathematician, physicist and astronomer amongst numerous other things - reckoned there was an end-date for humanity and we’re gearing up to it.
The Director of the Newton Project Canada, Stephen Snobelen, explained that Newton - who was deeply religious - based the date on his religious beliefs.
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In a blog post, he explained: “Newton believed both in God and that the Bible was a revelation from God. He also believed that God was not bound by time as are humans, allowing Him to see the ‘end from the beginning’.
“Thus, to use Newton’s own words, he was convinced that ‘the holy Prophecies’ of the Scripture are nothing else than ‘histories of things to come’ (Yahuda MS 1.1, folio 16 recto).
"At the same time, biblical prophecy is written in highly symbolic language that requires skilled interpretation.
"Newton rose to this challenge as he attempted to discover the future of the world in the words of the prophets.”
To come to his date, Newton worked out some equations on a piece of paper with Snobelen saying the calculations used were ‘simple arithmetic that could be performed by a child’ based around various time periods.
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And the date he came to? 2060.
Ah well, we've had a good run, haven't we?
Although Newton warned that there would be ‘wars and cataclysms’ in the run-up to 2060 - Snobelen added: “For Newton, 2060 A.D. would be more like a new beginning. It would be the end of an old age, and the beginning of a new era.”
He went on to say that Newton likely would have expected that ‘Christ would return and set up a 1000-year Kingdom of God on Earth’.
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“Citing the prophet Micah, Newton believed this Kingdom would usher in a time of peace and prosperity, a time when people would ‘beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks’ and when ‘nations shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’,” he explained.
Whether his predictions turn out to be accurate or not is anyone’s guess - let’s all catch up in 36 years and see where we are, eh?
Topics: Weird, World News, Science
Claire Reid