Sir Isaac Newton is referred to on page 46 of the Proclaimers book as the source JWs use for the "invisible presence" of Christ. Will they continue to use Newton's theories? If they do, then perhaps we will see 2060 in the Watchtower literature for the next date of Armageddon!
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/02_february/22/newton_2060.shtml
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."
The book published in 1993 by the Watchtower Society called, "Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom," states in the footnote on page 46 the following: "Neither Barbour nor Russell was first to explain the Lord's return as an invisible presence. Much earlier, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) had written that Christ would return and reign "invisible to mortals." In 1856, Joseph Seiss, a Lutheran minister in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had written about a two-stage second advent----an invisible "parousia", or presence, followed by a visible manifestation. Then, in 1864, Benjamin Wilson had published his "Emphatic Diaglott with the interlinear reading "presence." not "coming," for parousia, and B. W. Keith, an associate of Barbour, had drawn it to the attention of Barbour and his associates.
Apocalypse soon?
Newton predicts end of world for
2060
Sir Isaac Newton attained scientific immortality for formulating the law of gravity, but he was also a theologian who wrote more than one million words on biblical subjects and was influenced by Hebrew scripture, according to academic articles on his work. He studied the Bible for more than 50 years, trying to unravel what he believed were God's secret laws of the universe.Six years after his death, a book by the scientist about eschatology (the end of the world, in this case as revealed by the Bible) was published, On the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of Saint John.
However, most of his notes on the theme remained unknown, but in recent years a document has been found in a Newton collection in the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem that shows he set 2060 as the year the world would expire. The Newton Project, and in particular the academic, Stephen Snobelen, have been working on Newton’s documents and have revealed that Newton concluded that Armageddon – a last great battle, would occur in 2060, with plagues, the return of Christ, and the end of time. Newtone wrote that this apocalypse would be followed by a 1,000-year reign by the saints on Earth.
Newton stated:
This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fancifull men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail.
"(It) is very counter-intuitive for people to think of Newton in terms of date setting and working in prophecy," Stephen Snobelen told Bible Network News. "Because there's this conception that science doesn't have anything to do with religion, and that's a very unfortunate conception," he added. "You can find all sorts of examples to disprove that. Historically and also today, most scientists have some sort of religious background or sentiment."
Snobelen explained to Bible Network News how Newton devised his calculation. "In the book of Daniel you will find the time period 1260 days. And it appears there as 'a time, times, and a half', and that means a year, two years, and a half a year. In other words, 1260 days or 42 months. Newton interpreted the days as years, so that gave him 1260 years. The 1260 date (also) does appear in the Book of Revelation." These Biblical references can be found in Daniel 12:7, Revelation 11:3, 12:6 and 13:5.
The Newton Project is working towards the publication, for the first time, of all Newton’s theological and alchemical works, stating “There are excellent editions of his mathematical and scientific papers, as well as of his correspondence, but very few of his non-scientific writings have ever appeared in print. The Newton Project will place these writings in their relevant contexts, which will be made accessible by means of hyperlinks.”
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/newton_alchemist.html