The Letter, The Mirror and the Light

This was the letter I sent to the gentleman who talked to us at his door, on a very cold morning. He said he has no belief in God, but that he knows a lot about what we believe as he had a friend he used to go fishing with who was a Jehovah's Witness.

For some reason, I asked him if he knew what Sir Isaac Newton had to say about the Bible.  Its possible that I may have been making some kind of muddled connection between Izaac Walton who famously wrote "The Compleat Angler" and this very different Isaac.  Who knows?  But the gentleman at the door seemed quite intrigued so I said I would pop a letter through his door.

I did. And here it is. What he thought, or thinks, of it, I do not know.

3rd December 2022

Dear ......

I enjoyed our chat with you this morning. And I hope we didn’t let too much of your valuable heat escape.

This is the quote I mentioned, from the website JW.org - the reference is below, if you want to look further into this, if you are online.  If not, of course, we would be only too happy to help.

It interested me as I was a Catholic Convent schoolgirl, a long time ago (dinosaur proof fencing round the school playground…) and I was taught all sorts of things that were not Biblical, things that often directly contradicted Bible teaching. And you were speaking about how the Church had imposed Bible teachings on us.  

Well, it has certainly imposed its teachings. But are they from the Bible?

Anyway here is what Sir Isaac Newton had to say about it.  

"The famous mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) also had a keen interest in the Bible. He understood that the holy ones will be raised to heavenly life and will rule invisibly with Christ. (Revelation 5:9, 10) As for the subjects of the Kingdom, he wrote: “The earth shall continue to be inhabited by mortals after the day of judgment and that not only for a 1000 years but even for ever.”

"Newton considered Christ’s presence to be centuries away. “One reason why Newton saw the Kingdom of God so far in the future was because he was profoundly pessimistic about the deep Trinitarian apostasy he saw around him,” said historian Stephen Snobelen. The good news was still veiled. And Newton saw no Christian movement that could preach it. He wrote: “These prophecies of Daniel and John [the latter recorded in the book of Revelation] should not be understood till the time of the end.” Newton explained: “‘Then,’ saith Daniel, ‘many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the great tribulation, and end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude, which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before it comes.”​—Daniel. 12:4; Matthew. 24:14; Revelation. 7:9, 10."

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2009603?q=john+milton&p=par

 

So while Christendom has certainly imposed its teachings, are they from God’s word?   And do you notice what Isaac Newton has to say about the Christian preaching work, and when it will be done, and why it could not be done in his day?

I would of course love to know what you think about what he said.  And I would be happy to talk some more about “the word” if you want to.   As I guess you will know from your talks with your fishing companion, we believe that Jesus is the word of God, the only-begotten son of God, and the one who was there in the beginning, working beside his Father, helping him to create all other things.

Anyway, if you would like to know more, please get in touch, or go to the website JW.org.  And I am enclosing an invitation to our meetings, which are open to all.

Best wishes

 

I am reading Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light, the third part of her Wolf Hall trilogy. It is such a page turner - and very interesting too in the frightening mixture of politics and religion that it describes.