Science & Technology

Letter penned by Isaac Newton in 1704 predicted when the world would end

By T.K. Randall
February 14, 2025 ·  152 comments

Newton devoted time and effort into calculating the date of the apocalypse. Image Credit: Bonhams Newton, who famously came up with the theory of gravitation after he saw an apple fall from a tree, also formulated the laws of motion and helped to refine the scientific method, among other things.

He is still widely considered to be one of the most accomplished and influential scientists in history.

Less well known, however, was his work on establishing the precise date of the end of the world.

Newton was a Christian and a large amount of his writings concerned theology (and even alchemy), representing a body of his work that is rarely referenced relative to his scientific accomplishments.

As part of this, he became fascinated with biblical visions of the Apocalypse and in particular the Battle of Armageddon which would see the forces of good (led by God) pitted against the forces of evil (led by the kings of Earth), thus marking the end of the world and the beginning of a new era of peace.In a letter he wrote in 1704, Newton outlined the conclusion of his efforts to calculate the precise date of this battle by using historical dates as well as dates from scripture.

"So then the time times and half a time are 42 months or 1260 days or three years and an half, recconing [sic] twelve months to a yeare [sic] and 30 days to a month as was done in the Calendar of the primitive year," he wrote.

"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."

According to science historian Stephen D. Snobelen, however, Newton was ultimately "wary of prophetic date-setting" and was "worried that the failure of fallible human predictions based on divine prophecy would bring the Bible into disrepute."

Source: Mail Online | Comments (152)

Tags: Isaac Newton, Apocalypse