Originally posted by TheFallibleFiend:
Probably Newton really believed what he said.
He was surrounded by religious influences.
Would he believe it today?
Even though his reputation rests on his scientific work, science occupied Isaac Newton?s interest for a relatively short period of his life. Even while he was finishing his monumental Principia at age 28, he had grown tired of science and became engrossed in interpreting the book of Daniel which had fascinated him since his youth. Over the remainder of his life he would write over 1,300,000 words on religious subjects with prophecy his principal focus.
His consuming interest in prophecy stemmed from three fundamental beliefs:
1. The book of Daniel was a pre-written history of the world and to interpret it would unlock a treasure of understanding.
2. The book had been sealed (Daniel 12:4) and Newton believed the appointed time had arrived to break the seal.
3. God had chosen him to interpret it. This remarkable fact surfaced from recently discovered manuscripts of his.
He was haunted all his life by this calling.
http://www.historicist.com/newton/title.htm
