The End of History—Messiah Conspiracy

CHAPTER 11—Newton's Forbidden Works Rescued

“ ‘...he [Newton] was much more sollicitous in his inquirys into Religion than into Natural Philosophy [science]....he had written a long explication of remarkable parts of the Old and New Testament, while his understanding was in its greatest perfection....That he would not publish these writings in his own time because they show’d that his thoughts were some times different from those which are commonly receiv’d, which would ingage him in disputes, and this was a thing which he avoided as much as possible. But now its hop’d that the worthy and ingenious Mr. Conduit will take care that they be publish’d that the world may see that Sr. Is: Newton was as good a Christian as he was a Mathematician and Philosopher.’ ”¹

Letter from Newton’s friend, John Craig, to John Conduit,
days after Newton’s death, April 7, 1727

“...Newton entered upon the Interpretation of the Prophecies (e.g. lot 228 on the Apocalypse) which form so large a part of his Theological writings, amounting to more than one-and-a-quarter million words, and mostly unpublished....Newton himself regarded them as the most important of all his works....”²

“Newton’s Manuscripts,” Leonard L. Mackall, July 12, 1936

“When the various components of Newton’s Bible scholarship are examined and evaluated, he can indeed be seen to be in the forefront of the critical scholarship...in the forefront in applying modern science to understanding the Bible, and in the forefront of those offering new historical data for interpreting prophecies....Perhaps, when his theological manuscripts have been published, we will be able to assess more accurately his entire theory and see his originality and his stature as a commentator on the scriptures.”³ “Newton was convinced that God had presented mankind in Scripture with certain most important clues about the future history of humanity. Newton’s explorations of the problems involved in uncovering the text and discovering the true meaning of the text was carried on in private in the vast amount of unpublished manuscripts that he drafted for almost sixty years.”⁴

Professor Richard H. Popkin, UCLA, 1990, 1994

11
NEWTON’S FORBIDDEN
WORKS RESCUED

I will never forget that day. It was Thursday, May 23, 1991. I was at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem requesting the manuscripts of Sir Isaac Newton, the great English scientist. The librarian, for
some reason, could not find Newton’s Yahuda manuscript 9.2 123-170 on microfilm, so they brought the original as I had ordered. The librarian, Moshe, told me, “I don’t dare to change the order in this box. They are very old. Here are Newton’s papers eight through fourteen—nine is here.”

A LIBRARIAN’S MISPLACED EMPHASIS AND
NONCHALANT SARCASM SOBERED ME!

Ephraim, the library attendant, removed number 9.2, looked at it curiously as he read and said to me, “The end of the world.” He smirked, tossing the manuscript down before me and saying carelessly, “We all hope it will come soon.”
The opening page of Newton’s document 9.2 spoke of judgment and the end of the world. I thought to myself, he takes so lightly what the greatest of all scientists considered his most important writings. I thought, “He is missing out on a lot!” He, like others, has misplaced his values and doesn’t know when or how to appreciate incredible truths—especially the treasure that lay before us.

THE REALIZATION OF NEWTON’S SCRIPTURAL
REALITY BROUGHT ME TO TEARS AS I TOUCHED
THE VERY PARCHMENT HE INSCRIBED

As I carefully picked up the forty-seven pages of ancient parchment written in Newton’s own hand, with his quill, almost three hundred years ago, I walked over to the tables and cautiously sat down. As I turned first one page and then another, I was struck by the reality of what I was reading; the very commentaries and calculations on the end days, Revelations, the Hebrew prophets, the millennial kingdom and the new world to come, written by the most famous scientist ever to live in England, or anywhere else for that matter.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized how faithful to God and the Bible Newton was, as I read his incredible words and quotations of Scripture. I held in my hand what few have ever seen or will see and what had been unknown of the man for nearly three centuries.
I remembered my high school classmate, Clay Turner, who once quoted Newton in an attempt to disprove God—an empty attempt, without substance. If only he could see these writings I had before me. I have never felt more touched in all of my studies on Revelations and Newton as I was then. It is my hope that all those who read these words about Newton’s description of the world to come (see our chapters 29 and 30), will take a piece of this unfathomable joy with them.
When the Messiah comes and sets up His kingdom on Earth, we shall see Newton⁵ and all the other famous believers we read about in our history books and we will enjoy a beautiful bliss together, forever! Only then will we be able to appreciate the true happiness God has in store for all of us who trust in His wonderful promises.

We are all aware that Roman Catholicism has spiritualized and allegorized the prophecies concerning the rebirth of Israel and the Coming of Christ to reign on Earth for 1000 years. These allegorical interpretations of what we consider to be a true historical event, grounded in a real time-frame,⁶ began to appear around the time of Augustine.⁷ Newton cautioned and gave careful guidelines to those who espouse allegory as opposed to literal biblical interpretations. Isaac Newton clearly says: “He that without better grounds then his private opinion or the opinion of any human authority whatsoever shall turn scripture from the plain meaning to an Allegory or to any other less naturall sense declares thereby that he reposes more trust in his own imaginations or in that human authority then in the Scripture and by consequence that he is no true beleever. And therefore the opinion of such men how numerous soever they be, is not to be regarded.”⁸ Thus we can write off the Roman Catholic claims of allegory, especially since, in past years, the literal interpretations of these prophecies have come true!
One example is the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Whether Newton said it⁹ or not, it happened. Thus we don’t have to take Newton’s word for it—we just look at the fulfilled prophecy in modern political events. Such events disprove the past and present Catholic allegorical claims. For example, you yourself can go to Israel, walk on her ground and experience her people. Nothing could be more literal and less allegorical.
True believers were right in their interpretation of this prophecy,¹⁰ while Catholicism and ecumenicism, which includes Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches, are still wrong. For instance, they did not even anticipate¹¹ or hope for a new State of Israel, as the Old and New Testaments predicted in the true oracles of the Christian writings and events. Rather, the Catholic Church, through Pope Pius X, tried to halt Jewish immigration. The Pope informed Herzl in a letter: “We [Catholics] are unable to favor this movement [Zionism]. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. As the head of the Church I cannot answer you otherwise....if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we will be ready....”¹²

Two centuries before the Pope made this absurd statement, Newton, referring to the literal rebirth of Israel as predicted by the Bible, said: “ ‘...since the commandment to return precedes the Messiah...it may perhaps come forth not from the Jews themselves, but from some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede their return from captivity and give occasion to it; and, lastly, that the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the waste places is predicted in Mich. vii. 11, Amos ix. 11, 14, Ezek. xxxvi. 33, 35, 36, 38, Isa. liv. 3, 11, 12, lv. 12, lxi. 4, lxv. 18, 21, 22...and thus the return from captivity and coming of the Messiah and his kingdom are described in Daniel vii, Rev. xix., Acts i., Mal. xxiv., Joel iii., Ezek., xxxvi., xxxvii., Isa., lx., lxii., lxiii., lxv., and lxvi., and many other places of Scripture. The manner I know not. Let time be the interpreter.’ ”¹³
Newton also noted that few Christians of his day realized the
truth of the prophets’ claims of Israel’s return: “So then the mystery of this restitution of all things is to be found in all the Prophets: which makes me wonder with great admiration that so few Christians of our age can find it there. For they understand not that the final return of the Jews captivity....”¹⁴ Frank Manuel notes that Newton referred to the institution of the papacy as the “Whore of Babylon.”¹⁵

Newton stated that there would be a great many unbelieving Jews who would become believers in Jesus during the same era that Israel would achieve national status, which would culminate in the entire nation of Israel (all Jews) believing in Jesus upon His Second Coming. He notes: “Hence I observe these things, first that the restauration of the Jewish nation so much spoken of by the old Prophets respects not the few Jews who were converted in the Apostles days, but the dispersed nation of the unbelieving Jews to be converted in the end when the fulness of the Gentiles shall enter, that is when the Gospel (upon the fall of Babylon) shall begin to be preached to all nations. Secondly that the prophecies of Isaiah described above by being here cited by the Apostle is limited to respect the time of the future conversion and restitution of the Jewish nation....”¹⁶

Newton taught, as do the true born-again Evangelical Christians of today, that one can have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Frank Manuel comments on and quotes Newton regarding this issue: “...one of the constants of his [Newton’s] religious and scientific outlook, was embodied in the argument that God is a Creator, a Master, that men have a personal relationship to....”¹⁷
Manuel goes on to quote Newton as follows: “...‘I, Isaac Newton, the lad from Lincolnshire, have a plain religious faith based on my personal obedience to the Lord, and I will not be entrapped by the Leibnizian subtleties. Metaphysics wrought havoc in the early centuries of Christianity, as the history of the apostolic creed and of the church councils bear witness....’ ”¹⁸

Newton gives further definition to the church: “...before the end of the second century corruption had slowly crept into the Latin churches, first by the addition of new articles couched in the language of Scripture, thus setting a precedent for a ‘creed-making authority’, and then by the introduction of metaphysical terminology nowhere to be found in Scripture. All was brought into confusion, and the drama of apostasy in the Church had begun.”¹⁹
In Newton’s writings, he clearly draws a line between the true church of believers and the false church of history. The false church, due to its corrupt leaders’ wrongly contrived creeds and bizarre traditions, shows itself to be counterfeit in accordance with the words of Jesus: “ ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits....’ ” (Matthew 7:16 KJV).
Newton has also inscribed the following interesting and beautiful words concerning the prophetic Scriptures and the true church for us: “Having searched [and by the grace of God obteined after knowledg in the prophetique scriptures, I have thought my self bound to communicate it for the benefit of others....For it was revealed to Daniel that the prophecies concerning the last times should be closed up and sealed untill the time of the end: but then the wise should understand, and knowledg should be increased. Daniel 12. 4, 9, 10....If they [the prophetic Scriptures] are never to be understood, to what end did God reveale them? Certainly he did it for the edification of the church; and if so, then it is as certain that the church shall at length attain to the understanding thereof. I mean not all that call themselves Christians, but a remnant, a few scattered persons which God hath chosen....”²⁰

Today, many rabbis, Catholic ecumenical priests and liberal Protestant teachers attempt to dissuade us from reading and interpreting the Bible literally for ourselves! We should note that Isaac Newton encourages us, that is you and me, not to accept the opinion of others concerning the Bible, but to adventurously search these treasures (literal interpretation of the Scriptures) out for ourselves. In Newton’s own words: “Let me therefore beg of thee not to trust to the opinion of any man concerning these things....search the scriptures thy self....if thou desirest to find the truth. Which if thou shalt at length attain thou wilt value above all other treasures....search into these Scriptures which God hath given to be a guide...and be not discouraged by the gainsaying which these things will meet with in the world.
[They will call thee it may be a hot-headed fellow a Bigot, a Fanatique, a Heretique etc: And tell thee of the uncertainty of these interpretations, and vanity of attending to them: Not considering that the prophesies concerning our Saviour’s first coming were of more difficult interpretation, and yet God rejected the Jews for not attending better to them. And whither they will beleive it or not, there are greater judgments hang over the Christians for their remissness than ever the Jews yet felt. But the world loves to be deceived, they will not understand, they never consider equally, but are wholly led by prejudice, interest, the prais of men, and authority of the Church they live in: as is plain becaus all parties keep close to the Religion they have been brought up in, and yet in all parties there are wise and learned as well as fools and ignorant. There are but few that seek to understand the religion they profess, and those that study for understanding therein, do it rather for worldly ends, or that they may defend it, then...to examin whither it be true with a resolution to choose and profess that religion which in their judgment appears the truest. And as is their faith so is their practise....And when thou art convinced be not ashamed to profess the truth. For otherwise thou mayst become a stumbling block to others, and inherit the lot of those Rulers of the Jews who beleived in Christ but yet were afraid to confess him least they should be put out of the Synagogue. Wherefore when thou art convinced be not ashamed of the truth but profess it openly and indeavour to convince thy Brother also that thou mayst inherit at the resurrection the promis made in Daniel 12. 3, that they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the starrs for ever and ever. And rejoyce if thou art counted worthy to suffer in thy reputation or any other way for the sake of the Gospel, for then great is thy reward.”²¹

***
SOME NETWORK NEWS SHOWS EQUATE FUNDAMENTALISTS WITH TERRORISTS—
WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE SAID ABOUT
NEWTON, HAD THEY BEEN THERE?

Newton finally gives us, as believers in Jesus, a beautiful scenario of truths about the great and loving personal God whom we serve. He wrote: “We must beleive that there is one God....We must beleive that he is the father of whom are all things, and that he loves his people as his children....We must beleive that he is pantokratwr Lord of all things with an irresistible and boundless power and dominion....We must beleive that he is the God of the Jews who created the heaven and earth all things therein as is exprest in the ten commandments that we may thank him for our being and for all the blessings of this life....yet to us there is but one God...one Lord Jesus Christ....”²²

THE DISCOVERY OF A FORBIDDEN LETTER
OF CONCERN FOR PROTESTANTS AND JEWS

One of the major considerations pointed out by Albert Einstein and Abraham Shalom Yahuda, while urging that Newton’s religious writings be released to the public, was that they were against the Catholic Church, and thus of interest to both Protestants and Jews. Newton’s writings were donated at Yahuda’s death to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

This unsigned letter (courtesy of Jewish National & University Library: Yah.Ms. Var.3) is obviously a combination of the writings of the two professors, Yahuda and Albert Einstein (the librarian wrote “Yah. Ms. Var. 1/42 Nathan,” on the back of this document). They were living together at the time. The reference to the owner in the second person could only be a statement by Einstein in reference to Yahuda!
I make this clarification because upon my request to publish this letter, the Chairman of the Manuscript Department at the Hebrew University stated in his letter of permission that this was Yahuda’s letter. However, Moshe Ron, of the Edelstein Scientific History Library, insisted and proved to my satisfaction that this was Einstein’s letter after all, as I had always believed. I said, “What about Raffi?” He looked me straight in the eye and told me what he thought of him, which I will not repeat. Rafael Weiser is the Chairman of the Manuscript Department. Professor Richard Popkin of UCLA, who has done a great deal of research on these papers, also agreed with Moshe Ron’s opinion after I read him this letter during a telephone call from Jerusalem to California in 1991. Here are Einstein’s²³ letters from September and December 1940, expressing great interest in Newton’s papers. He praises Newton and encourages that the manuscripts be made public.

Einstein’s letter to Yahuda, published here for the first time.
Courtesy of The Jewish National & University Library
(Yah.Ms. Var. 3/Einstein).

---

Courtesy of The Jewish National & University Library
(Yah.Ms. Var.3/Einstein).

¹ “Catalogue of The Newton Papers,” p. 56. Compiled for the auction of Newton’s papers by Sotheby & Co. on May 13, 1936. Spellings are John Craig’s of three hundred years ago. [ ] mine.

² “Notes for Bibliophiles,” New York Herald Tribune Books, July 12, 1936, p. 18.

³ Essays on the Context, Nature, and Influence of Isaac Newton’s Theology. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, © 1990, p. 114, used by permission. James E. Force and Richard H. Popkin, editors.

⁴ The Books of Nature and Scripture, p. viii.

⁵ He waits in his grave at Westminster Abbey cemetery in England, for the soon-coming resurrection, as his soul is with Jesus.

⁶ We believe within a generation, meaning one hundred years or slightly less in accordance with a timetable which puts four generations at four hundred years, as recorded in Genesis concerning Israel’s previous Exodus. At most we probably have one-half century to wait. That is short when you consider past generations have already waited nearly twenty centuries, isn’t it?

⁷ Regina Sharif, Non-Jewish Zionism, p. 16.

⁸ Yahuda Manuscript 1. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Manuscript Department, © used by permission. Spellings are Newton’s.

⁹ In a July 26, 1985 interview with Professor Popkin, the Hebrew newspaper, Al Hamishmar, quoted Newton saying that the Jews will return to Jerusalem in the twentieth century.

¹⁰ Literally, in accordance with the apostles’ question in Acts 1:6-7, where the New Testament records: “...when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know....’ ” (NASB). Jesus did not deny Israel or indicate any mistake, did He? Later, using the fig tree as an analogy for Israel, He spoke of our end times: “ ‘Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place’ ” (Matt. 24:32-34 NASB). All of this is in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies of Ezekiel 36:24, and Isaiah 11:12: “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land....And will assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth” (NASB).

¹¹ With the exception of a few individuals who were considered heretics and risked punishment for studying and interpreting the Bible.

¹² Marvin Lowenthal, Diaries of Theodor Herzl, pp. 428-429. First [ ] mine.

¹³ Franz Kobler, “Newton on the Restoration of the Jews,” The Jewish Frontier, © March 1943, pp. 22-23, used by permission. Kobler’s source was Yahuda Manuscript 9.2.

¹⁴ Yahuda Manuscript 6.

¹⁵ Frank E. Manuel, The Religion of Isaac Newton, p. 95.

¹⁶ Yahuda Manuscript 9.2, fol. 158.

¹⁷ Frank E. Manuel, The Religion of Isaac Newton, p. 75. [ ] mine.

¹⁸ Ibid. Manuel’s source was Yahuda Manuscript 11.3, fol. 5r. Differences in spelling are Isaac Newton’s.

¹⁹ Yahuda Manuscript 15.5 fol. 92.

²⁰ Yahuda Manuscript 1 (as quoted from The Religion of Isaac Newton). are Manuel’s indications of words that Newton crossed out as he wrote. [ ] and bold mine.

²¹ Ibid. Spelling per original text.

²² Yahuda Manuscript 15.5, fol. 46r.

²³ Einstein had more than a passing interest in Newton and his faith. One example of this, and his great reverence for Newton, is seen in the fact that he had a portrait of Newton in his bedroom, which was removed when he (Einstein) died. Roger Highfield and Paul Carter, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein, p. 273.

²⁴ On the back of the copy of this letter made for us, a librarian wrote: “Yah. Ms. Var. 1/42 Einstein.” However, we credited the letter exactly the way Raphael Weiser asked in his letter dated December 27, 1990. Weiser’s letter appears later in this chapter.