Isaac Newton had a terrifying prediction for when he thought the world would end, and it’s actually not that far away.
If you’re reading this, the chances are you’ll still (hopefully) be alive when this happens, so put it in your calendar.
Joking, of course, but when someone as influential as Newton makes a claim, the world listens.
After all, the 17th-century scientist is credited with formulating the laws of motion and universal gravity, which is, yeah, kind of a big deal.
Isaac Newton predicted when the world would end (Getty Images/Bettmann)
Stephen Snobelen, the Director of the Newton Project Canada, has explained Newton’s strong religious beliefs, and how much of an impact it would have on our future.
“Newton believed both in God and that the Bible was a revelation from God,” he wrote in a blog post.
“He also believed that God was not bound by time as are humans, allowing Him to see the ‘end from the beginning’.
“Thus, to use Newton’s own words, he was convinced that ‘the holy Prophecies’ of the Scripture are nothing else than ‘histories of things to come’ (Yahuda MS 1.1, folio 16 recto).
The end is near, apparently (Getty Stock Images)
“At the same time, biblical prophecy is written in highly symbolic language that requires skilled interpretation.
“Newton rose to this challenge as he attempted to discover the future of the world in the words of the prophets.”
To come to a date, Newton worked out some equations on a piece of paper, with Snobelen saying the calculations used were ‘simple arithmetic that could be performed by a child’ based around various time periods.
And the date he came to? 2060.
Ah, well, we’ve had a good run, haven’t we?
Newton is of the most influential scientists of all time (Getty Stock Images)
Although Newton warned that there would be ‘wars and cataclysms’ in the run-up to 2060, Snobelen added: “For Newton, 2060 A.D. would be more like a new beginning. It would be the end of an old age, and the beginning of a new era.”
He went on to say that Newton likely would have expected that ‘Christ would return and set up a 1000-year Kingdom of God on Earth’.
“Citing the prophet Micah, Newton believed this Kingdom would usher in a time of peace and prosperity, a time when people would ‘beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks’ and when ‘nations shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’,” he explained.
Whether his predictions turn out to be accurate or not is anyone’s guess – let’s all catch up in 36 years and see where we are, eh?
The Insta story would be very lit indeed.
