165. We find similar expressions to Jefferson’s above by other great geniuses of note: statesmen, scientists, justices, etc. They wrote and spoke against the great blasphemy of the trinity doctrine. For example:
Statesmen: U. S. Presidents John Adams, and John Quincy Adams (and, of course, Thomas Jefferson).
Scientists: Joseph Priestley, Samuel F. Morse, and Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Isaac Newton was voted by modern science historians (as reported in Science Digest) to have the greatest scientific mind of all time.
(“Sir Isaac Newton ... was a devout Christian who contributed many papers through his personal study of theology. In fact, Newton made the Holy Scriptures as much a study that commanded his attention as any field of science to which he had given thought.” - p. 71, One Who Believed, Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, trinitarian author and pastor of Christ Community Church.
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"What is not as well understood about Newton was his deep devotion to religion--especially the more mystical variety of it. Newton considered himself a deeply devout Christian--though not of the normal sort. He was, in short, a unitarian [one who believes ... that the position of God is not shared by two other "persons," namely Jesus and the Holy Spirit; ... that Jesus is rather an adoptive "Son" of God--as we all have the potential to be--through having lived a Godly life]. Discovery of his unitarianism would have been ruinous for Newton in English society--so he kept his religious beliefs well away from public view.
"In any case, he stood himself before God in great awe--great awe of the One who crafted the universe with such precision. It was this precision that so inspired Newton--that he gave his life to its uncovery for human viewing. Science and mathematics were thus for Newton virtually religious enterprises."
http://www.newgenevacenter.org/09_Biography/09a_In-Depth-Biographies/09a_In-Depth-Biographies.htm
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Theology and the word of God
When Newton was made a fellow of the College, along with an agreement to embrace the Anglican faith, the Trinity fellowship also required ordination within 8 years. During his studies Newton had come to believe that the central doctrine of the church, the Holy and Undivided Trinity was a pagan corruption imposed on Christianity in the fourth century by Athanasius. Newton was faced with an enormous dilemma. He now felt that, in all consciousness, he could no longer take holy orders. However, to give the reason for this would have led to his immediate expulsion from Cambridge. At that time, and throughout Newton's life, denunciation of the Trinity was illegal. He was by rights a heretic. He sought special dispensation from taking holy orders, something that was eventually granted. It is not clear what reasons he gave for seeking this dispensation but it is unlikely that it was for the genuine reason. In 1710, Newton's successor to the Lucasian Chair, William Whiston, was ejected from his position for advocating Unitarianism, the rejection of the Holy Trinity.
Although these views make Newton a heretic from the perspective of established Christianity, he was in fact a fervent believer in the Bible. Newton's laws of motion contradicted the accepted biblical doctrine in the same way that Galileo's views had. But rather than contradicting the Bible, Newton believed that the Bible was accurate and that it was the interpretation of theologians that was wrong. He continued to study biblical prophecy until his death, being fascinated by its symbols and developing a lexicon of prophetic emblems. He was also intrigued by the architecture of the Jerusalem Temple, believing it to hold the secrets to many unanswered questions of the Bible.
http://www.skyscript.co.uk/newton.html
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Enthralled by the power of mathematics, Newton launched a series of experiments to determine the nature of light and color. He next turned to theology. Not surprisingly, the doctrine of the Trinity captured his attention.
After scouring the Scriptures, he concluded that it [the Trinity Doctrine] was a lie fabricated by the church fathers. In truth, God was one. If Newton was a heretic, he was not a martyr. Comfortable with his Cambridge professorship and eager for a government post, he cautiously concealed his unorthodox beliefs.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/01/RV294132.DTL&type=printable
Law: Chief Justice John Marshall and Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - the two greatest legal minds of the U. S. Supreme Court.
Literature: And in the field of literature we have probably the greatest intellect of all time in John Milton. “He mastered Latin and Greek, and before long he was adept in most European tongues as well as Hebrew.” “It seems likely that Milton, in his time, read just about everything that was ever written in English, Latin, Greek and Italian. (Of course, he had the Bible by heart.)” - pp. 870, 871, The Norton Anthology of English Literature. “His Aereopagitica is, perhaps, the most powerful plea ever written for freedom of the press.” And, “Although Milton wrote only 23 sonnets, he is considered one of the most important sonnet writers in English.” - Britannica Junior.
Milton’s “Paradise Lost is one of the few monumental works of the world.” And, Paradise Regained is “one of the most artistically perfect poems in any language” and “Samson Agonistes is the most powerful drama in the English language after the severe Greek model.” - Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 15, p. 514, 14th ed.
Milton’s major poems “could have been produced only by a writer of genius who also held deeply sincere religious and ethical opinions.” - Encyclopedia International, vol. 12, p. 99, 1966 ed. “...while Milton was...a genuine Christian, believing in the Bible over all the other books in the world, he was at the same time one of the most intrepid of English thinkers and theologians.” - Encyclopedia Britannica. “Theologically, Milton rejected...the dogma of the trinity.... His anti-trinitarian position, set forth explicitly elsewhere, is obscured in Paradise Lost....” - Encyclopedia Americana, p. 138, vol. 19, 1957 ed.
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