The Metaphysical World of Isaac Newton

by John Chambers

  But then you will say: Why were we told of this book if it contained a revelation for the Lamb only, & not for us? To which I answer that it was done in prosecution of the main design of the Apocalypse, which was to describe & obviate the great Apostasy. That Apostasy was to begin by corrupting the truth about the relation of the Son to the Father in putting them equal, & therefore God began this prophesy with a demonstration of the true relation: shewing the Son’s subordination, & that by an essential character, his having the knowledge of futurities only so far as the father communicates it to him. And least you should think he had this knowledge given him from all eternity, the book was represented in the hand of God alone sealed at first. Yea it was represented sealed in his hand when there were beings in heaven & earth which could not open it, that is after the creation of the world: & consequently was not given to the Lamb at his first generation but since his resurrection; he meriting it by his obedience to death: which you need not wonder at if you consider his declaration which he made before his death concerning the day of judgment[:] Of that day & hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father Mark 13.32—but the Father only, Matth. 24.36. Yea here, upon the Lamb’s taking the book he is celebrated by this song of the Saints. Thou art worthy to take the book & to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain & hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, which is as much as to say that he merited this dignity by his death to take & read the book & consequently that the book continued sealed up in the hand of the father till after his resurrection. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ And to inculcate this further there immediately follows another song of angels & saints together, saying: worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power & riches & wisdom & strength & honor & glory & blessing. Which is as much as to say, the Lamb which was slain became worthy thereby to receive at the hand of the father, not only the wisdom of this book but power & honor & other perfections. And to this purpose speak other places of scripture also. To the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever—thou hast loved righteousness & hated iniquity, therefore, O God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladness above thy fellows. Heb. 1.8, 9. We see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory & honor: for it became him for whom are all things & by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Heb. 2.9. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus the Author & finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, & is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12.2. He emptied himself & took on him the form of a servant & was made in the likeness of men, & being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself & became obedient to death even the death of the cross; wherefore God hath highly exalted him, & given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven & things in earth & things under the earth, & that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Philip 2.8, 9. See also Acts 2.36. Rom 8.17. Heb 5.8, 9. Apoc. 3.21.

  But further because the Apostates were to deceive themselves with a sophistical distinction, saying that these things were spoken of the Lamb in respect of his humane nature & not as he was God: there is also care taken in this vision to obviate this distinction & that by a threefold insinuation: first by representing the book in his hand . . . first by representing the book in his hand alone that sate upon the throne, with a solemn declaration added that there was none in heaven or earth or under the earth besides the Lamb worthy to take & open it or to look thereon. Here was an universal assembly of all beings from the great God that sate upon the throne down to the lowest of the creatures, & in this assembly the two supreme (who were therefore afterward worshipped together by all the rest,) were God that gave the book & the Lamb that received it; & the Lamb till he received it was as absolutely represented without it as any of the other beings: whereas if the λογὸς had known it before, the Lamb was as much a possessor of the . . . book from the beginning as he was that sate upon the Throne, & ought to have been represented so, & not to have received it from another, but only the humane nature to have received it from the divine. For to what purpose was the humane soul hypostatically united to the Λογὸς if the Λογὸς communicated not with it but left it to receive knowledge from another hand? Or how could the Lamb as he was the Lamb (which is as much as to say, the Λογὸς incarnate) be represented at first without this book & afterward receiving it, if the Λογὸς had it from the beginning? And also since the communication of the wisdom of this book is called unsealing it, & consequently it’s being sealed in his hand only who sate upon the Throne must denote its being shut up in his breast till then uncommunicated, how could it be properly represented sealed in his hand if he had communicated it to the Son or any other person before? We must therefore, unless we will do violence to the vision, affirm that this was the first communication of this book by the Father, & that he communicated it to the Lamb absolutely & properly so-called without any ambiguity, that is, to the Λογὸς incarnate. And indeed what else can we affirm if we consider our Saviour’s own confession which he made concerning the day of judgment which he made before this book was given him. Of that day & hour knoweth none, no, not the Angels in heaven nor the Son, but the father. He first asserts in general, none but the father; & then to take away all suspicion of further exception, he instances in the chief of those none, the Angels & the Son.

  Secondly the said distinction is obviated by making the Lamb, as he was worthy to take & open the book. &c. by making the Lamb, as he was worthy to take & open the book to be the object of worship[;] for he is here worshiped both alone & together with him that sate upon the throne: the first by the four beasts & 24 Elders, falling down before him & singing a new song saying thou art worthy to take the Book & to open the seals thereof for thou was slain & hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred & tongue & people & nation: the last by the whole creation saying, Blessing & honor & glory & power to him that sitteth upon the throne & unto the Lamb for ever & ever. Now this worship was given to the Lamb as he was a God without all doubt, Divinity & worship being relative terms, & yet it was given to him as he was worthy to take & open the Book for at the falling down of the four Beasts & 24 Elders before him to worship him, the very act of their worship was to celebrate him for his worthiness to take & open the book. The Lamb therefore as he was a God was worshiped for his worthiness to take & open the book & therefore took & opened the Book as he was the object of worship, that is a God. But to make all this plainer you may compare it with Philip: 2.9 where tis expressly said, that for his obedience to death God gave him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow &c. that is that all the creation should worship him which is as much as to say that he should be ισα θεω as a God over the creation: for Deity & worship are relative terms & infer one another.

  Thirdly the said distinction whereby Christ is made equal to the father as he is God though inferior as man, is obviated by the difference put between God & the Lamb in their worship & that in a double respect: first in that the Lamb, while he was celebrated together with the great God in a Doxology by the whole creation, did not sit upon a Throne as God did but only stood by the Throne which God sate upon; for what else is meant by his sitting upon the Throne but to signify that he was king over all that did not sit upon the throne & consequently over the Lamb too who as a God was worshipped together with him: And secondly in that after the Doxology given to God & the Lamb together, there followed a higher degree of worship given to God alone without the Lamb. I call it a higher degree of worship, for so I gather it to be first by the falling down of the worshippers which it is not said they did in saying the doxology: secondly by the gradation in worship which began with a celebration peculiar to the Lamb, & then proceeded higher to a Doxology common to the Lamb & God, &
ended in the worship of God alone: Thirdly by calling this last absolutely worship, as if it were an act distinct from those that went before, to which the name of worship specially belongs. But further to make the stronger impression of this difference of worship, you may see it repeated in the seventh chapter, where there is also first a doxology given to God & the Lamb together by a multitude standing, & then the Angels fall down before the Throne & worship only God. Now why the Lamb should not be joined with God in this supreme worship as well as in the precedent Doxology, I think there can be no reason given but this, that it was a worship peculiar to God: for otherwise he could not have been omitted seeing he as well as God was in the middle before the worshippers & the design of the vision here was to celebrate him As the solemnity began with the celebration of the Lamb for his worthiness to receive the book & other blessings at the hand of God, which was too low a worship for God & therefore given to the Lamb alone; & then proceeded to a Doxology which agreed both to God & the Lamb & therefore was given to both together: so ascending still higher to the supreme worship, worship properly & absolutely so called, it argues that this agreed to none but God because given only to him; & consequently the Lamb must be a God inferior to the great God that sate upon the throne. [F] or a close I might produce the whole strain of scripture to confirm this, but doing that in another place I shall content my self here with the first Chapter to the Hebrews: where you may see the son all along described by things agreeable only to the Λογὸς, as the worlds being made by him, his upholding all things, his being worshipped by the Angels, his being called God, & his founding the earth & making the heavens: & yet in the middest of this career, even in the same sentence where he is once at least if not twice called God, he is said to have a God above him & to be anointed by this his God with the oyle of gladness above his fellows, & that because he loved righteousness & hated iniquity.

  You have now had a view of the Preamble to the Prophetic visions, & by what has been said, I hope you conceive this is no insignificant ceremony but a very weighty passage, a system of the Christian religion, showing the relation of the father & Son, & how they are to be worshipped in a general Assembly of the Church & of the whole creation. The father the supreme King upon the Throne, the fountain of prescience & of all perfections. The Lamb the next in dignity, the only being worthy to receive full communications at the hand of the father. No Holy Ghost, no Angels, no Saints worshipped here: none worshipped but God & the Lamb, & these worshipped by all the rest. None but God upon the Throne worshipped with the supreme worship; none with any other degree of worship but the Lamb; & he worshipped not on the account of what he had by nature, but as he was slain, as he became thereby worthy to be exalted & endowed with perfections by the father. This was the religion to be corrupted by the Apostasy[.] This therefore was very pertinently shadowed out in the exordium to the Prophesy of that Apostasy. Which having explained, I proceed now to consider the Prophesy it self, & first the four Horsemen which appeared at the opening of the first four seals.

  APPENDIX E

  NEWTON ON ANCIENT SCIENCE

  Newton on the Scientific Achievements of the Philosophers of the Ancient World, published in De Mundi Systemate (The System of the World), 1728.

  It was the ancient opinion of not a few, in the earliest ages of philosophy, that the fixed stars stood immovable in the highest parts of the world; that under the fixed stars the planets were carried about the sun; that the earth, as one of the planets, described an annual course about the sun, while by a diurnal motion it was in the meantime revolved about its own axis; and that the sun, as the common fire which served to warm the whole, was fixed in the center of the universe.

  This was the philosophy taught of old by Philolaus, Aristarchus of Samos, Plato in his riper years, and the whole sect of the Pythagoreans. And this was the judgment of Anaximander, more ancient than any of them, and of that wise king of the Romans, Numa Pompilius, who as a symbol of the figure of the world with the sun in the center, erected a temple in honor of Vesta, of a round form, and ordained perpetual fire to be kept in the middle of it.

  The Egyptians were early observers of the heavens. And from them probably this philosophy was spread abroad among other nations. For from them it was, and the nations about them, that the Greeks, a people of themselves more addicted to the study of philology than of nature, derived their first as well as soundest notions of philosophy. And in the vestal ceremonies we may yet trace the ancient spirit of the Egyptians. For it was their way to deliver their mysteries, that is their philosophy of things above the vulgar way of thinking, under the veil of religious rites and hieroglyphic symbols.

  It is not to be denied that Anaxagoras, Democritus, and others did now and then start up, who would have it that the earth possessed the center of the world, and that the stars of all sorts were revolved towards the west, about the earth quiescent in the center, some at a swifter, others at a slower rate.

  However, it was agreed on both sides that the motions of the celestial bodies were performed in spaces altogether free, and void of resistance. The whim of solid orbs was of a later date, introduced by Eudoxus, Calippus, and Aristotle; when the ancient philosophy began to decline, and to give place to the new prevailing fictions of the Greeks.

  But, above all things, the phenomena of comets can by no means consist with the notion of solid orbs. The Chaldeans, the most learned astronomers of their time, looked upon the comets (which of ancient times before had been numbered among the celestial bodies) as a particular sort of planets, which describing very eccentric orbits, presented themselves to our view only by turns, viz. once in a revolution when they descended into the lower parts of their orbits.

  And as it was the unavoidable consequence of the hypothesis of solid orbs, while it prevailed, that the comets should be thrust down below the moon; so no sooner had the late observations of astronomers restored the comets to their ancient places in the higher heavens, but these celestial spaces were at once cleared of the encumbrance of solid orbs, which by these observations were broke into pieces and discarded for ever.

  APPENDIX F

  NEWTON’S TRANSLATION OF THE EMERALD TABLET

  Note: Translation by Isaac Newton, circa 1690 (see B. J. Dobbs, “Newton’s Commentary on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus,” 183–84; or view online at www.sacred-texts.com).

  1) Tis true without lying, certain & most true.

  2) That wch is below is like that wch is above & that wch is above is like yt wch is below to do ye miracles of one only thing.

  3) And as all things have been & arose from one by ye mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.

  4) The Sun is its father, the moon its mother,

  5) the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nourse.

  6) The father of all perfection in ye whole world is here.

  7) Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.

  7a) Seperate thou ye earth from ye fire, ye subtile from the gross sweetly wth great indoustry.

  8) It ascends from ye earth to ye heaven & again it desends to ye earth and receives ye force of things superior & inferior.

  9) By this means you shall have ye glory of ye whole world & thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.

  10) Its force is above all force. ffor it vanquishes every subtile thing & penetrates every solid thing.

  11a) So was ye world created.

  12) From this are & do come admirable adaptaions whereof ye means (Or process) is here in this.

  13) Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of ye philosophy of ye whole world.

  14) That wch I have said of ye operation of ye Sun is accomplished & ended.

  FOOTNOTES

  *1. “Isaac Newton: whom Time, Nature, and the Heavens proclaim immortal, this marble reveals mortal.”

  *2. William Stukeley (1687–1765) was the first important antiquarian to declare that Stonehenge was a Druid
temple. He grew up in Grantham and later came to know the much older Newton personally. Stukeley wrote a memoir of Newton based on interviews with the townspeople of Grantham; he included the old woman’s poem, possibly written when Newton was fifteen.

  *3. At a Sotheby’s auction in 2001, a single manuscript page of Newton’s “Paradoxical Questions Concerning the Morals and Actions of Athanasius and His Followers” went for £18,000 ($26,000 at the time). By late 2014, collectors were finding it hard to buy a single manuscript page of Newton’s writings for less than £125,000 ($200,000).