Newton
set 2060 as the end of the world
Newton:
The Dark Heretic;
Saturday 1 March, BBC TWO, 8.05-9.05pm
A
BBC documentary uncovers, for the first time, the original manuscript
where Newton forecast the date of the end of the world.
Newton,
the father of modern mathematics, dedicated a large part of his
life to a quest to decode the Bible which he believed to be the
word of God.
For
over 50 years, he studied the Bible trying to unravel God's secret
laws of the Universe.
He
was fanatical in his quest to discover the date for the Second Coming
of Christ and the end of the world.
Scholars
have spent years trying to unravel Newton's writings on the Book
of Revelation to establish when he thought the apocalypse was coming.
For
the first time, Newton: The Dark Heretic reveals the date he forecast
is within many people's lifetimes - 2060.
The
BBC was given rare access to Newton's original manuscripts in the
Hebrew National Library in Jerusalem.
Buried
in his papers, Dr Stephen Snobelen, from the University of King's
College in Nova Scotia, found the original document where Newton
had written down his prediction.
In
2060, Newton believed the dramatic events forecast in the apocalyptic
Book of Revelation would occur: massive plagues and fires; the terrible
battle of Armageddon between good and evil and the destruction and
eternal damnation of the wicked.
Producer
Malcolm Neaum says: "Newton prayed daily for the end of the
world which he believed would herald the Second Coming of Christ.
This would usher in the 1000 year rule of the Saints and Newton
believed he would then take his place as Chief Saint."
Notes
to Editors
The
programme is a Blakeway Production for BBC TWO.
Pictures
are available, for press use only, on the BBC Bulletin Board.
www.bbc.co.uk/religion
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