The Mind of Newton

Sir Isaac Newton's name is synonymous with the most fundamental laws of physics. He revolutionized the comprehension of mechanics and mathematics in the 17th century with many of his theorems still the foundation for uncountable fields. His contributions revolutionized calculus, optics, astronomy, and gravitation lending to our current understanding and mastery of the fields. Newton was born in England in 1643 fittingly on the day of the birth of Christ, December 25th, foreshadowing perhaps the enlightenment he would usher to humanity. As a polymath, his brilliant mind pioneered and broadened the fields of science, yet lesser known were his vast interests in alchemy and theology. Conversely for some, Newton was a devout Christian and theological scholar who invested in his passion for early Christianity and biblical texts. How did the prolific polymath reconcile his discoverings in the hard sciences with his religious beliefs? To Newton, these domains were not separate but rather harmonious. His holistic view of his passions, both scientific and religious, coalesced on one goal - the discovery of the divine truth. By uncovering Newton's writings on a wide range of interests, a coherent and unified perspective on the natural world is revealed. Rather than looking at them as pseudoscientific diversions from his physics, his writings can be viewed as a consistent worldview incorporating natural philosophy, religion, and physical sciences.

To understand Newton's beliefs, various primary sources such as Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which describes physical motion and his laws of gravitation, Opticks, a groundbreaking description of light and color, and his theological writings such as Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John published posthumously in 1733, highlight his interest in understanding the natural world from various perspectives.

Newton's wide range of academic curiosities can be understood in his writings on topics today deemed esoteric and unacademic. However, Newton's pursuits into topics such as Alchemy and scripture are misunderstood by today's scientific standards. Rather than dismissing these works as diversions into pseudoscience, for Newton they were actual pursuits into discovering fundamental truths about the universe. With the same rigor he applied to discovering the physical laws which govern all physical bodies from apples to planets, he approached Alchemy with the idea of uncovering fundamental laws. Dismissing this work does not understand how it connects with his pursuits into things such as physics. Understanding Newton's motivations to uncover the physical world were driven by his belief in God and his work to uncover truths about the physical world as a form of worship helps us understand his motivation in investing much time on these subjects. Quoted from Henry Pemberton's A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy (1728), "Sir Isaac Newton had no regard for chemistry as a mere practical art, but pursued it with a different view: to search out by experiments what nature does, or perhaps rather what God does in nature. He looked upon the world as the effect of a Being necessarily existing, and always acting, and with this principle in view, he considered the operations of nature not as the result of mechanical necessity alone, but as the continual effect of the Divine Will. In this way, he believed that the study of nature could lead to a greater understanding of the Creator Himself." This quote illustrates how the polymath thought about his work and what was driving him to understand the world. Every fundamental truth he discovered about the world was more evidence of a greater power, because it had to be designed in an intelligent manner. Newton's quest for finding and proving God's existence was his biggest motivator, and this manifested in his pursuits to do so from many angles.

As Newton developed his pursuits in Physics and Mathematics, he saw the physical world governed by laws as a manifestation of a greater being. At the core of his beliefs, he reasoned that a divine order ruled over all and was responsible for its creation. He writes in General Scholium, a concluding section of Principia that "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." Explicitly stating his belief that the universe and all its bodies have a design only possible by God. For Newton, the fundamental truth of the universe was ultimately theological, and the more he discovered about the universe, the more evidence he accredited to intelligent design. Mathematics was the language which he used to explain these ideas, and the calculus he developed was an elegant way to explain them. Using this quote, science for Newton was a medium for revealing God's design. His revelations in the sciences for him led to more reasons to see God's hand in creation. For example in Opticks, Newton poses rhetorical questions to readers after laying out his theories of light and optics: "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?" This reasoning leads us to understand Newton's motivations for pursuing science and uncovering the things which underpin the universe's mechanics. Newton used his expertise in science as a form of worship, collapsing the complex world down into simple and uniform laws which he saw as divine. His concurrent pursuit of theology highlights that he did not see science and religion as separate, but rather as tools to help discover the ultimate truth of God.

Today's assumptions strictly separate theological debates and discoveries in physical sciences, but for Newton, there was no such boundary. As seen in his writings, he viewed his beliefs in religion and his discoveries as complementary. His groundbreaking conceptions of gravity or light were small understandings of God's plan. However, just as it is controversial today, in Newton's time his ideas were challenged by Theologians and Scientists alike. For the Anglican Church, Newton's ideas were controversial as he placed power in mathematics, experimentation, and empirical evidence to explain religion. Newton saw these things as important as scripture, and this dangerously undermined the church figures' authority. Furthermore, Newton's scientific colleagues were not aligned with Newton's view of natural philosophy. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German mathematician credited with creating calculus in parallel, is a prime example of criticism of Newton's views. Leibniz is quoted "Sir Isaac Newton and his followers have also a very odd opinion concerning the work of God. According to them, God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time, otherwise it would cease to move." Leibniz is openly mocking Newton's views, revering them as unscientific and rooted in religion, something not compatible with something as empirical as mathematics or astronomy. This illustrates the critique Newton faced during his life, not falling into any single group, but rather transcending any conventional group and pursuing his curiosities as his philosophy desired. Even in his most scientific works, Principia or Opticks, he writes openly and directly what he sees as evidence of the hand of God.

A primary example in Opticks:

"God is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, His duration reaches from eternity to eternity; His presence from infinity to infinity; He governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be done. He is not eternity or infinity, but eternal and infinite; He is not duration or space, but He endures and is present. He endures forever, and is everywhere present; and by existing always and everywhere, He constitutes duration and space."

Although his focus in Opticks was to lay foundations for the way light behaves, how it is observed by human viewers, and how it can be used for inventions like telescopes, he does not fail to include his personal belief and awe for the elegant design in which science complements religion.

Isaac Newton's commitment to Theology and dissecting Biblical texts is rooted in the same quest to uncover fundamental truths. To Newton, Biblical texts encoded sacred knowledge. In Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John Newton explains his stance on scripture and its usefulness. Just as the physical world offers clues to how the physics of everything is connected, he believed that scripture had divine truths which needed deciphering. Newton writes

"The folly of Interpreters has been, to foretell times and things by this Prophecy, as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophecy also into contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the Prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify mens curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not the Interpreters, be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things predicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that the world is governed by providence." (Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John)

Newton is directly saying that scripture is a pillar in God's existence. He first starts by critiquing those who try to use scripture to predict the future, calling it a "folly" and deeming that akin to a false prophet. Using scripture in this is not only incorrect to Newton, but also undermines the public authority of scripture when predictions fail. This leads to people doubting the Bible, but Newton argues that this is a problem with the interpreter and not the scripture itself. Newton dismisses in this passage that God has given a blueprint of the future, but rather that the purpose is retrospective. Only after events have occurred, does Newton say that God's presence in history shows God's presence. He is arguing that providence is evident only when looking backwards, and using scripture one can see God's authority over the universe. This is insight directly into Newton's mind and his thought processes into his beliefs. Just as he approached Physics, Calculus, or Alchemy, Newton used analytical methods to carry out his research on scripture.

Newton continues in his work in Observations with analytical accounts of biblical prophecies that he uses as evidence to prove divine providence. He takes his interpretations of biblical prophecies and projects them onto real historical events. Centered around the chapters of the Bible Daniel and Revelation, Newton uses these stories applied to several historical events in his attempt to show divine providence. His work is centered around accurate historical accounts using history as his evidence to ground his claims. Notably, he analyses the rise of the Papacy, an institution which Newton vehemently disagreed with. Newton quotes Daniel 7, a chapter which details four beasts rising from the sea, representing empires of the world. The fourth beast has 10 horns, and a "little horn" appears, and dominates the others. Newton's view is that these horns represent kingdoms stemming from this empire and compares the "little horn" to the Papacy. Historically, with the fall of the Roman empire, the empire fragmented into many kingdoms, leaving the Papal state as the only remaining figure of the Roman empire. This not only left the Papal state with political power, but also lent it religious authority. Newton writes entire chapters on detailed histories of each kingdom, as well as history of Popes and their actions covering thousands of years. Starting with the "10 horns" Newton lays the foundation for his argument with detailed histories of each of the 10 kingdoms:

"NOW by the wars above described the Western Empire of the Romans, about the time that Rome was besieged and taken by the Goths, became broken into the following ten kingdoms: The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa. The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain. The kingdom of the Visigoths. The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia. The kingdom of the Burgundians. The kingdom of the Franks. The kingdom of the Britains. The kingdom of the Huns. The kingdom of the Lombards. The kingdom of Ravenna."

He follows this with complete histories of each of these kingdoms, giving an exhaustive picture he poses to use to attest to cosmic order. Newton builds his reasoning that scripture is not a tool for predicting the future but is a way to see God's hand in history. His accurate reconstruction of historical events is not just a chronological account but a theological explanation rooted in factual evidence. Newton continues:

"By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the Roman religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, but did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast. It was his temporal dominion which made him one of the horns: and this dominion he acquired in the latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns as above"

Newton ends his argument here that the Papacy is fulfilling the prophecy after gaining dominance spiritually and politically in the 8th century. His explanation is not just giving the chronology of the events, but rather shows this timeline to elucidate the striking similarity from prophets in scripture and historical record. Newton is saying this is not accidental, but rather evidence for God's presence in the unfolding of history. His approach here parallels the same punctilious methods which he used to prove physical laws. Not only this, but his motivation for showing these connections is rooted in the same fundamental belief - that human reason has the ability for humans to realize God's intelligent design and rule over the physical world. For Newton, both of these pursuits revealed underlying order and brought credibility to his belief in a divine designer.

Furthermore, one of Newton's greatest interests was Alchemy, often deemed today as pseudoscience and with no academic validity. However, Newton delving into this subject was again in search of evidence for God's intelligent design. Newton discovered the laws which govern physical bodies, yet he understood there were processes not yet understood which could explain how elements interacted. He experimented by reducing elements to a simple form and combining them into one another. Modern day chemistry even traces back from the alchemical explorations pursued by Newton and others such as Paracelcus. However, unlike the empirical chemistry in modern application, Newton believed alchemy to possess a psychic element. In chemistry labs of today would find slowly dissolved elements down to their core, changing in form, and their essence remaining. Whereas the alchemist would utilize these pliable elements combined with the spirit, "material soul of all matter," and manifest a new physical form with the mindset, the experimenter's own expectation to create. For Newton, elements did not function in merely a mechanical way, there was "a more subtle, secret, and noble way" to comprehend the animation of matter. This "secret" to Newton was deliberate, attentive consciousness, recognizing that all things were alive, all things interconnected. Newton described matter as containing consciousness and could inform and be informed, influence and be influenced. Quoted from Of Nature's Obvious Laws and Processes in Vegetation, a manuscript housed in the Smithsonian dated to ~1670 by Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs in Appendix A of The Janus Faces of Genius: The Role of Alchemy in Newton's Thought Newton writes "There is a vital agent diffused through everything in the earth, a mercurial spirit, extremely subtle and supremely volatile." While modern science does not reconcile this mercurial spirit in chemistry, Newton's explorations may not have been entirely based on empirical data, but something more similar to his pursuits in theology. What could he be referring to if not consciousness itself. The mercurial, volatile nature of thought, of human influence. Newton attempted to decode the riddle of nature itself. He believed a secret, sacred, ancient knowledge had once been known but had been lost to history. This is his reason for immersing himself in the writings of Pythagoras, Moses, Thoth, Hermes, Archemeides and poured over the writings of early Greek philosophers and Egyptian priests. The search for this esoteric knowledge fueled him and inspired him, and all aligned with his philosophy that human reason could uncover God in various forms, from physics, theology, to early buddings of chemistry.

Newton will be remembered forever as a revolutionary thinker. His work towards mathematics and physics is among the most important ever. However, one should not reduce Newton to one dimension of modern science. He pursued many perspectives with the fuel of his religious beliefs guiding him. From calculus to theology, Newton employed strict and detailed methods in order to search for answers which are present in his original works. To dub the Newtonian method therefore encompasses a holistic view towards the natural world. His original works are windows into one of the greatest minds to ever walk the earth. Including his irrevocable beliefs that science and religion all point back to the one truth, belief in a divine, higher power that marries all fields of knowledge.

Khamara, Edward J. Space, Time, and Theology in the Leibniz-Newton Controversy. Germany: De Gruyter, 2013.

Dobbs, Betty Jo Teeter. The Janus Faces of Genius: The Role of Alchemy in Newton's Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Newton, Isaac. Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John. London: Printed by J. Darby and T. Browne, 1733. Call Number: BS647.A2 N46 1733. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Newton, Isaac. Opticks. Prometheus Books, 2003.

Newton, Isaac. The Principia: The Authoritative Translation; Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Translated and edited by I. Bernard Cohen and Anne Whitman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Pemberton, Henry. A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy. London: Printed by S. Palmer, 1728. Call Number: QA803 .P45 1728.