JERUSALEM — He's considered to be one of the greatest scientists
of all time. But Sir Isaac Newton was also an influential
theologian who applied a scientific approach to the study of
scripture, Hebrew and Jewish mysticism.
Now Israel's national library, an unlikely owner of a vast trove
of Newton's writings, has digitized his theological collection —
some 7,500 pages in Newton's own handwriting — and put it online.
Among the yellowed texts are Newton's famous prediction of the
apocalypse in 2060.
Newton revolutionized physics, mathematics and astronomy in the
17th and 18th century, laying the foundations for most of
classical mechanics — with the principal of universal gravitation
and the three laws of motion bearing his name.
However, the curator of Israel's national library's humanities
collection said Newton was also a devout Christian who dealt far
more in theology than he did in physics and believed that
scripture provided a "code" to the natural world.
"Today, we tend to make a distinction between science and faith,
but to Newton it was all part of the same world," said Milka
Levy-Rubin. "He believed that careful study of holy texts was a
type of science, that if analyzed correctly could predict what was
to come."
So he learned how to read Hebrew, scrolled through the Bible and
delved into the study of Jewish philosophy, the mysticism of
Kabbalah and the Talmud — a compendium of Jewish oral law and
stories about 1,500 years old.
For instance, Newton based his calculation on the end of days on
information gleaned from the Book of Daniel, which projected the
apocalypse 1,260 years later. Newton figured that this count began
from the crowning of Charlemagne as Roman emperor in the year 800.
The papers cover topics such as interpretations of the Bible,
theology, the history of ancient cultures, the Tabernacle and the
Jewish Temple.
The collection also contains maps that Newton sketched to assist
him in his calculations and his attempts to reveal the secret
knowledge he believed was encrypted within.
He attempted to project what the end of days would look like, and
the role Jews would play when it happened. Newton's objective
curiosity in Judaism and the Holy Land contrasted with the
anti-Jewish sentiment expressed by many leading Christian scholars
of the era, Levy-Rubin said.
"He took a great interest in the Jews, and we found no negative
expressions toward Jews in his writing," said Levy-Rubin. "He said
the Jews would ultimately return to their land."
How his massive collection of work ended up in the Jewish state
seems mystical in its own right.
Years after Newton's death in 1727, his descendants gave his
scientific manuscripts to his alma mater, the University of
Cambridge.
But the university rejected his nonscientific papers, so the
family auctioned them off at Sotheby's in London in 1936. As
chance would have it, London's other main auction house —
Christie's — was selling a collection of Impressionist art the
same day that attracted far more attention.
Only two serious bidders arrived for the Newton collection that
day. The first was renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes,
who bought Newton's alchemy manuscripts. The second was Abraham
Shalom Yahuda — a Jewish Oriental Studies scholar — who got
Newton's theological writings.
Yahuda's collection was bequeathed to the National Library of
Israel in 1969, years after his death. In 2007, the library
exhibited the papers for the first time and now they are available
for all to see online.
The collection contains pages after pages of Newton's flowing
cursive handwriting on fraying parchment in 18th-century English,
with words like "similitudes," ''prophetique" and "Whence."
Two print versions in modern typeface are also available for
easier reading: A "diplomatic" one that includes changes and
corrections Newton made in the original manuscript, and a "clean"
version that incorporates the corrections.
All of the papers are linked to the Newton Project, which is
hosted by the University of Sussex and includes other collections
of Newton's writings.
The Israeli library says the manuscripts help illuminate Newton's
science and well as his persona.
"As far as Newton was concerned, his approach was that history was
as much a science as physics. His world view was that his 'lab'
for understanding history was the holy books," said Levy-Rubin.
"His faith was no less important to him than his science."