1

(Related to Was Leo Tolstoy a heretic?) Most know Sir Isaac Newton as the person who discovered gravity when he observed the fall of an apple or his discovery of light being a particle, but few are aware of his religious views. For one, he held much disdain for Catholics and the Anglican church. He was an Antitrinitarian monotheist, declaring the trinity idolatry. Some would call him a heretic. Many did, but he has never been ostracized. He was not public about his views and his study of alchemy. Today, is he still branded as a heretic?

Turk Hill
  • 346
  • 2
  • 9
  • 1
    Trinitarians would still consider him a heretic, Arians wouldn't. Why would anything have changed? – curiousdannii Feb 11 '21 at 23:37
  • @curiousdannii Well, just as the Church condemned Galileo and Columbus, but today accept their views, so it might be so with Isaac Newton. – Turk Hill Feb 11 '21 at 23:42
  • I don't know what you mean in regards to Columbus, but there's no parallel with Galileo. A minor disagreement over scientific readings of the Bible is very different from disputing the eternal divinity of Jesus. – curiousdannii Feb 11 '21 at 23:44
  • @curiousdannii The Curch understood that the world was round, their dispute with Columbus was whether or not there was space for a new continent. As with Galileo, I wouldn't call it minor. Copernicus was treated well in his own time but his ideas were later banned, and Galileo's official pardon from the Vatican wouldn't be issued until the end of the last century. Not to mention that he was ordered to retract his statements. From what I can tell, Newton believed in Jesus but did not consider him divine. – Turk Hill Feb 11 '21 at 23:57
  • @TurkHill Awesome! I didn't know that about Newton. Now if only he hadn't wasted so much time on silly futurist eschatological theories ... well, perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon ... – Only True God Feb 12 '21 at 00:02
  • Th church did not condemn Columbus in any official way for his beliefs, even if many may have disagreed. Galileo wasn't condemned just for the reasons given in popular history. In any case the church accepts Galileos astronomical views as correct, which is not true if Newton's the logical views. – DJClayworth Feb 12 '21 at 00:05
  • @AnthonyBurg Your welcome. – Turk Hill Feb 12 '21 at 00:06
  • @DJClayworth You are correct. But it did take the Church hundreds of years to admit Galileo was correct. Galileo predicted that it would be a huge embarrassment to the Church. If the Church rejected him for other reasons, could you specify them? I admit I am ignorant about Galileo here. – Turk Hill Feb 12 '21 at 00:07
  • A JW article on Isaac Newton Was he a heretic? It depends on who you ask. If by heretic you mean one who believes in concepts not taught in Catholicism yes. – Kris Feb 12 '21 at 00:44
  • Related and possible duplicate [Socianism and Isaac Newton](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/79289/is-there-a-link-between-socinianism-and-sir-isaac-newtons-conclusion-to-his-pri}. – Nigel J Feb 12 '21 at 04:35
  • 1
    Does this answer your question? Is there a link between Socinianism and Sir Isaac Newton's conclusion to his Principia Mathematica (1687) where he attacks the Trinity doctrine? – Nigel J Feb 12 '21 at 04:35
  • FYI, Newton did not discover light can be considered a particle. That was Einstein. – Codosaur Feb 12 '21 at 07:43
  • @Codosaur No, it was Newton. If memory serves, I think Einstein felt the light was a wave, which would be in stark contrast to Newton. – Turk Hill Feb 12 '21 at 18:18
  • There is a difference between discovering and theorising. Newton wasn't the first to suggest light could be a particle though he did believe it. Current theories suggest light behaves as both a particle and a wave or at least can be reliably modelled as such in different situations. – Lio Elbammalf Feb 13 '21 at 07:23

0 Answers0