Mr. Iliffe, a professor of history at Oxford, documents the depth and breadth of Newton\u2019s religious inquiry, explaining how, in thousands of manuscript pages, Newton explored the mechanics of optics and motion alongside diligent theological research. His topics were varied, covering biblical prophecy, God\u2019s infinitude, the Incarnation, idolatry and the nature of the soul. Mr. Iliffe demonstrates how Newton pored over biblical scholarship, exhibiting a mastery of Greek as well as the chief sources on church history.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Newton\u2019s study of prophecy overlapped the period of his most groundbreaking scientific work\u2014in part because the discipline with which he approached one intensified the rigor of the other. Newton\u2019s underlying assumption was that religious truth was itself rational, because it, like science, was an explanation of the divine order. While Newton did not use the Bible as a book of science, his science was grounded in Christian assumptions that \u201chumans were made in the image of God\u201d and that rational thought could provide insight into the Creator God. His interpretation of scripture developed a universal order, through which all prophecy could be understood\u2014assumptions that also provided a framework for the mathematic system of Newton\u2019s \u201cPrincipia….\u201d<\/p>\n