A prediction of the end of the world found in Newton's 1704 letter

A prediction of the end of the world was found in a letter written by the physicist Isaac Newton in 1704, famous for formulating the laws of motion and gravity. The scientist left this ominous warning above a series of mathematical calculations.

According to MailOnline, his prediction is based on the Protestant interpretation of the Bible and the events that took place after the biblical story. According to the physicist, the world will end in 2060.

Newton believed in the biblical visions of the Apocalypse, in particular the Battle of Armageddon, and based his prediction on this. This prophetic war is described in the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, and it pits the forces of good (led by God) against the forces of evil (led by earthly kings). The Scriptures affirm that this battle will mark the end of the world, ushering in a new era of peace brought by God.

For the calculation, Newton used math and dates in biblical history to arrive at the apocalypse, using the days mentioned in Scripture as years to interpret prophecy. In his opinion, these time periods (especially the 1260s) represented a period of decline for the Church and the rise of "corrupt" Trinitarian religions, mainly Catholicism, which some Protestants view as a cult.

The scholar used the periods of 1260, 1290, 1335, and 2300 days, which are found in the Book of Daniel and Revelations, which refer to the end and beginning of certain times. However, he treated them as years, using the "day-for-a-year" principle, a method used to interpret biblical prophecy, according to which the word "day" symbolizes a year.

To determine the exact date when this neglect formally began, the physicist studied history and settled on 800 AD, the year the Holy Roman Empire was founded. 800 AD plus 1,260 years gave Newton the year 2060.

"So then the time times & half a time are 42 months or 1260 days or three years & an half, recconing twelve months to a yeare & 30 days to a month as was done in the Calendar of the primitive year. And the days of short lived Beasts being put for the years of lived [sic] kingdoms, the period of 1260 days, if dated from the complete conquest of the three kings A.C. 800, will end A.C. 2060. It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner," the 1704 letter says.

However, according to Stephen D. Snobelen, a professor of the history of science and technology at King's College University in Halifax, Newton did not use anything as sophisticated as the calculus he invented, but rather simple arithmetic that a child could perform.

"Despite his efforts to predict the end of the world, Newton was wary of prophetic date-setting and worried that the failure of fallible human predictions based on divine prophecy would bring the Bible into disrepute," Snobelen wrote, adding that even the physicist himself questioned his own prediction with the phrase that "it may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner."

In another letter, Newton clarified that he had set the date of the world's end in 2060 not to claim when the time of the end would come, but to put an end to the rash guesses of fanciful people who often predict the time of the end, and thus discredit sacred prophecies as often as their predictions do not come true, thereby explaining that no one can predict the exact date.

Professor Snobelen also explained why, in his opinion, the scientist did not separate science and the Bible, "For Newton, there was no impermeable barrier between religion and what we now call science. Throughout his long life, Newton laboured to discover God's truth — whether in Nature or Scripture," he said.

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