>> Narrator: A TEMPLE OF
GEOMETRIC PRECISION AND
SYMMETRY, BUILT ATOP THE HOLIEST
PLACE ON EARTH. FOR MANY, THIS RECONSTRUCTION OF
AN ANCIENT MONUMENT IS A
PROPHECY FULFILLED.
THE LOCATION -- ISRAEL. THE YEAR -- 2060.
THE PROPHET IS ONE OF THE
GREATEST SCIENTISTS WHO EVER
LIVED. AND HE HAS FOREWARNED THAT
COMPLETION OF THIS TEMPLE
HERALDS THE ARRIVAL OF THE
ANTICHRIST AND THE END OF THE WORLD.
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS,
PROPHETS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE
PREDICTED THE END OF DAYS. MORE THAN ONE SUGGESTS THE
APOCALYPSE IS FAST APPROACHING.
WE CALL THIS THEORETICAL
CONVERGENCE BETWEEN DOOMSDAY PROPHECIES AND TODAY'S EVENTS
THE NOSTRADAMUS EFFECT.
>> How will the end begin?
>> Narrator: SIR ISAAC NEWTON, ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST
SCIENTIFIC GENIUSES AND FATHER
OF PHYSICS -- THIS INTELLECTUAL
MASTER HELPED CREATE CALCULUS AND DISCOVERED THE LAWS THAT
RULE THE UNIVERSE.
BUT NEWTON ALSO POSSESSED A DARK
SIDE AS AN OBSESSIVE MYSTIC WHO BECAME CONVINCED HE HAD
UNCOVERED A SECRET BIBLE
PROPHECY IDENTIFYING 2060 AS THE
YEAR OF ARMAGEDDON. THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL
PREDICTIONS BY THE FAMED BRITISH
SCIENTIST, WHO LIVED FROM 1643
UNTIL 1727. SOME BELIEVE HE FORETOLD A
SERIES OF EVENTS THAT WOULD
CULMINATE IN THE RETURN OF A
MESSIAH TO THE HOLY LAND TO ENGAGE IN A FINAL BATTLE WITH
THE SUPPOSED ANTICHRIST.
>> NEWTON REALLY ISN'T
INTERESTED IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS.
HE'S DOING THEOLOGY.
>> HE WAS A VERY SECRETIVE MAN.
HE WOULD REVEAL SOME OF HIS FINDINGS ONLY TO A SELECT GROUP
OF FOLLOWERS.
>> Narrator: INTERPRETERS OF HIS
WORK SUGGEST THAT ISAAC NEWTON WAS AN OBSESSED STUDENT OF THE
BIBLE, ESPECIALLY THE BOOK OF
DANIEL AND THE CONTENTIOUS
BOOK OF REVELATION. EXACTLY WHAT WAS HE ATTEMPTING
TO DISCOVER?
HOW DID HE USE MATHEMATICS TO
DECIPHER THESE ANCIENT BIBLICAL TEXTS?
WHAT DID HE PREDICT CORRECTLY
THAT MAY BE A SIGN HIS
PROPHECIES ARE COMING TRUE? AND ARE THOSE EVENTS UNFOLDING
NOW?
WE WILL NEITHER REFUTE NOR
ENDORSE THESE THEORIES, MERELY PRESENT THE EVIDENCE.
IN 1936, AT SOTHEBY'S IN LONDON,
A BOX OF MYSTERIOUS PAPERS,
UNSEEN FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES, SURFACED FOR AUCTION.
THEY HELD A SHOCKING SECRET.
THE PAPERS IN THIS BOX CONTAINED
CODED MESSAGES AND COMPLEX MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS THAT,
ACCORDING TO THEIR AUTHOR,
REVEAL THE EXACT YEAR THAT THE
WORLD WILL END -- 2060. THE INFORMATION FOR THIS
PROPHECY COMES FROM THE BIBLE.
AND THE CODE BREAKER?
ISAAC NEWTON... A MAN MOST CLOSELY ASSOCIATED
WITH THE RATIONAL WORLD OF
SCIENCE.
>> I THINK ONE OF THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE FOUND THE 2060 STORY
SO COMPELLING IS THAT, FOR MOST
PEOPLE, IT WAS UNEXPECTED.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT ISAAC NEWTON, WHO IS PRESENTED
IN<i> POPULAR</i> CULTURE AS A KIND OF
COLD, RATIONAL THINKER, COULD
HAVE BEEN WORKING ON BIBLICAL PROPHECY?
>> Narrator: THESE PAPERS ARE
NEWTON'S SECRET WRITINGS --
WRITINGS BASED ON HIS DETAILED STUDY OF THE BIBLE.
BUT SCHOLARS SUGGEST HE HAD BEEN
AFRAID TO PUBLISH IN HIS
LIFETIME BECAUSE OF THEIR RADICAL AND SACRILEGIOUS
CONTENT.
>> SO, MATTERS OF BELIEF WERE
STILL VERY, VERY, VERY RISKY. NEWTON, FOR EXAMPLE, HAD BELIEFS
ABOUT THE NATURE OF GOD WHICH HE
HAD TO KEEP SECRET HIS WHOLE
LIFE. THERE WERE EVER SO MANY
EXECUTIONS AND PUNISHMENTS OF A
RELIGIOUS KIND IN ENGLAND DURING
THE MIDDLE OF THE 17th CENTURY. >> Narrator: NEWTON WAS KEENLY
AWARE OF THESE EXECUTIONS.
HE WRITES... IT WOULD TAKE OVER 200 YEARS FOR
THE SEEMINGLY TERRIBLE TRUTH,
HIDDEN WITHIN THE PAPERS, TO
SURFACE. NEWTON WAS CONVINCED HE HAD
UNCOVERED A SECRET BIBLICAL
PUZZLE THAT HAD BEEN CONCEALED
IN THESE SACRED TEXTS AND THAT HE ALONE UNDERSTOOD WHEN MANKIND
WOULD END.
>> HE WAS VERY INTERESTED IN
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE ORDER AND WHAT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
VARIOUS BIBLE PASSAGES WAS ON
CALCULATING THE ORDER OF THE
EVENTS OF THE END TIMES. >> Narrator: WHAT DID NEWTON
ACTUALLY SAY ABOUT 2060?
HOW DID HE RECONCILE THIS
SPIRITUAL PURSUIT WITH HIS SCIENTIFIC WORK?
MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHY WAS HIS
OMINOUS PROPHECY KEPT SECRET FOR
SO MANY YEARS? A CLUE MAY BE FOUND IN NEWTON'S
UNDERSTANDING OF CHRISTIANITY.
>> I THINK THAT NEWTON
CONSIDERED HIMSELF THE BEST CHRISTIAN THERE WAS, BECAUSE HE
WORKED HARD AT UNDERSTANDING
SCRIPTURE.
HE SAW IN THE BIBLE GOD SPEAKING TO MANKIND.
>> Narrator: SOME SAY THE FAMED
SCIENTIST PREDICTED EVENTS
TAKING PLACE BEFORE US TODAY -- AN INCREASE IN WARS, PANDEMICS,
AND ECOLOGICAL DISASTER IN THE
21st CENTURY -- THAT WOULD
CULMINATE IN A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO DURING OUR LIFETIME.
>> HE'S ALSO GOT THE COMMON
CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION THAT THE
WORLD'S GONNA END AT SOME POINT. IT'S JUST GONNA STOP BECAUSE
GOD'S GONNA INTERVENE.
THAT'S WHAT THE WORD
"APOCALYPSE" ORIGINALLY MEANT. SO NEWTON HAS A BIG INTEREST IN
CALCULATING THE DATE OF THE
APOCALYPSE, AND THAT'S WHY HE
DOES BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY. >> Narrator: INTERPRETERS OF HIS
WORK BELIEVE NEWTON NEVER SHARED
THIS DISCOVERY WITH ANYONE.
IF WE ACCEPT THIS NOTION AS TRUE, THAT NEWTON KNEW OF SUCH A
MONUMENTAL PROPHECY, WHY DID HE
NOT TELL ANYONE WHEN HE WAS
STILL ALIVE? >> HE NEVER PUBLISHED ANYTHING
ABOUT BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY, FOR
GOOD REASON, BECAUSE IF HE HAD,
HE WOULD HAVE GOT INTO BIG TROUBLE.
>> Narrator: TROUBLE BECAUSE
NEWTON'S BELIEFS, BASED ON HIS
BIBLICAL ANALYSIS, WERE CONSIDERED BLASPHEMOUS BY THE
ESTABLISHED CHURCH AND
THREATENED THE STATUS QUO OF THE
INSTITUTION'S HIERARCHY. NEWTON KNEW HE WOULD BE KILLED
IF ANYONE LEARNED OF HIS
RESEARCH.
BUT CRACKING THE BIBLE CODE BECAME AN INSATIABLE OBSESSION
FOR THE FAMED SCIENTIST, AND
THIS PASSION CAME TO DOMINATE
REASON. >> NEWTON BELIEVED THAT IT WAS
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE
THESE PROPHECIES WOULD BE
FULFILLED. >> Narrator: TO EVALUATE
NEWTON'S 2060 CALCULATIONS,
INTERPRETERS HAVE RE-EXAMINED
THE BIBLE-CODE EVIDENCE. BUT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND
NEWTON'S PROCESS IN DECIPHERING
THE CODE, OUR INVESTIGATION MUST
FIRST EXAMINE ISAAC NEWTON THE MAN.
>> ISAAC NEWTON IS USUALLY
CONSIDERED, ALONG WITH
ALBERT EINSTEIN, ONE OF THE TWO GREATEST SCIENTISTS WHO EVER
LIVED.
STRICTLY SPEAKING, PRACTICALLY
EVERYTHING WE KNOW AND EVERYTHING WE DO DERIVES FROM
SOMETHING THAT NEWTON DID.
BASICALLY, EVERYTHING THAT GOES
ON, ON EARTH, IN TERMS OF LIGHTS AND IN THE MOTIONS OF BODIES,
DERIVE FROM SOMETHING THAT
NEWTON FIGURED OUT.
>> Narrator: THIS DRIVEN GENIUS WAS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR
BREAKTHROUGHS IN OPTICS,
ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS, AND
PHYSICS. HE HELPED DEFINE THE RATIONAL,
OBSERVABLE WORLD WE ALL LIVE IN.
>> BY THE TIME HE DIED, IN 1727,
HE WAS PROBABLY THE SINGLE MOST FAMOUS PERSON IN EUROPE.
>> Narrator: BUT THE DARK AND
BIZARRE SIDE TO NEWTON IS
PERHAPS REVEALED IN THOUSANDS OF HIS PAPERS.
LONG HIDDEN FROM DISTINGUISHED
ACADEMIES AND THE PUBLIC, THESE
PAPERS ARE SAID TO REVEAL HIS UNORTHODOX INTERPRETATIONS OF
THE BIBLE AND THE NATURE OF GOD,
SPELLED OUT IN HIS OBSESSIVE AND
COMPULSIVE WRITINGS. >> NEWTON KNEW MORE ABOUT
SCRIPTURE THAN MANY THEOLOGIANS
IN HIS DAY.
NEWTON ALSO THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS ANCIENT WISDOM ABOUT THE
NATURAL WORLD THAT SCIENTISTS OR
NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS SHOULD TRY
TO UNCOVER, AS WELL. >> Narrator: SOME BELIEVED
NEWTON, WHO NEVER MARRIED AND
SEEMS NEVER TO HAVE HAD A CLOSE
RELATIONSHIP WITH ANYONE, HOPED TO USE HIS ABILITIES,
PARTICULARLY IN MATHEMATICS, TO
FIND THIS BIBLICAL WISDOM.
A CENTRAL DOCTRINE OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH IS THE
BELIEF IN THE TRINITY -- THAT
GOD, THE FATHER, JESUS, AND THE
HOLY GHOST ARE ALL EQUAL -- ONE IN THREE, THREE IN ONE.
NEWTON, ALWAYS FIERCELY
INDEPENDENT, REJECTED THIS IDEA,
BASED ON HIS OWN INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE.
>> NEWTON WAS AN
ANTI-TRINITARIAN, AND THAT WAS,
IN FACT, ILLEGAL IN ENGLAND IN THE 17th CENTURY.
>> NEWTON HIMSELF DIDN'T BELIEVE
HE WAS A HERETIC.
HE BELIEVED THAT HE WAS A TRUE BELIEVER, THAT HE REPRESENTED,
IN HIS OWN BELIEFS, AUTHENTIC
CHRISTIANITY.
>> Narrator: DESPITE THE DANGER TO HIS OWN LIFE, NEWTON
CONTINUED TO SECRETLY AND
OBSESSIVELY EXPLORE BIBLICAL
TEXTS. HIS MATHEMATICAL MIND
INTUITIVELY DETECTED PATTERNS,
FIGURES, DATES.
HE BEGAN TO ORGANIZE AND REORGANIZE THESE NUMBERS
METHODICALLY, CONVINCED THEY
WERE A CODED MESSAGE FROM GOD
HIMSELF. DETERMINED TO CONNECT THE DOTS
AND POSSESSED BY HIS MISSION,
NEWTON PORED THROUGH BIBLICAL
TEXTS FOR MANY YEARS TO CALCULATE THE EXACT DATE OF THE
END OF THE WORLD.
>> HE COULD LOCK ONTO A PROBLEM
AND GNAW IT THROUGH UNTIL HE'D GOTTEN RIGHT TO THE MARROW OF
THE BONE AND IN A WAY THAT I
DON'T THINK ALMOST ANYBODY ELSE
HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO DO. >> Narrator: BUT WHAT EXACTLY
WERE NEWTON'S MATHEMATICAL
FORMULAS, AND HOW DID HE DERIVE
THEM FROM THE BIBLE? THREE DATES IN PARTICULAR STAND
OUT -- DATES TIED TO KEY EVENTS
THAT HE BELIEVED WOULD TRIGGER
ARMAGEDDON. ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL PROPHECY,
THESE THREE EVENTS OCCUR IN THE
HOLY LAND, CULMINATING IN THE
ANTICHRIST RETURNING TO AN HISTORIC TEMPLE, USHERING IN
THE FINAL DAYS. >> Narrator: A STUNNING
DISCOVERY OF HIDDEN PAPERS
POINTS TO CATACLYSM IN OUR TIME.
THESE DOCUMENTS SAY THE WORLD WILL END IN 2060.
>> [ CRYING ]
>> Narrator: THE PROPHET OF THIS
OMINOUS WARNING? FAMED SCIENTIST ISAAC NEWTON.
SOME SUGGEST THAT NEWTON WAS
SECRETLY A DARK HERETIC, WHO
CALCULATED EXACTLY WHEN THE END OF DAYS WOULD COME, USING CLUES
HE FOUND IN THE BIBLE.
BUT IS THIS POSSIBLE?
DID HIS COMPUTATIONS ALLOW HIM TO ANTICIPATE THE HOLY LAND
ERUPTING IN A NUCLEAR
APOCALYPSE?
NEWTON WRITES... RESEARCHERS WITH EXTENSIVE
KNOWLEDGE OF HIS LIFE AND WORK
SAY NEWTON OBSESSIVELY STUDIED
THE BIBLE FOR YEARS. THEY BELIEVE THE MOST CLOSELY
EXAMINED TEXTS BY THE SCIENTIST
WERE THE BOOKS OF DANIEL AND
REVELATION. THESE BOOKS TELL OF GOD'S PLANS
FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, OF THE
FINAL BATTLES BETWEEN CHRIST AND
THE ANTICHRIST, AND THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL, AND
HE BEGAN HIS SEARCH FOR CLUES
WITHIN THEM.
>> HE WOULD GO THROUGH THESE TEXTS, VERSE BY VERSE, LOOK AT
THE SYMBOLS, AND TRY TO PIECE
TOGETHER THE OVERALL
INTERPRETATION. NEWTON BELIEVED THAT THE
BOOK OF REVELATION WAS A MORE OR
LESS CONTINUOUS HISTORY FROM THE
TIME OF CHRIST UNTIL HIS SECOND COMING -- SO, FROM HIS
POINT OF VIEW, A ROUGHLY
2,000-YEAR SPAN OF HISTORY.
>> Narrator: NEWTON WAS CERTAIN THE APOCALYPSE WAS INEVITABLE,
BECAUSE HE BELIEVED GOD HAD
PROMISED IT IN KEY BIBLICAL
PASSAGES THAT NEWTON INTERPRETED AS PROPHECIES.
HE BELIEVED THAT IF HE COULD
SUCCESSFULLY CONNECT CONCEALED
MESSAGES IN THESE TEXTS, HE WOULD UNCOVER THE ACTUAL DATE
WHEN THE APOCALYPSE WOULD OCCUR.
>> NEWTON SAID THAT THE
AUTHORITY OF PROPHECIES IS DIVINE.
THAT'S A QUOTE.
>> Narrator: NEWTON CALLED THESE
BIBLE PROPHECIES "HISTORIES OF THINGS TO COME."
>> WHAT MIGHT NEWTON HAVE MEANT
BY THAT?
WELL, WHAT HE'S SAYING IS THAT BIBLICAL PROPHECY, AMONGST ITS
OTHER PURPOSES, SHOWS HISTORY IN
ADVANCE.
SO IT'S AS IF HISTORY WAS WRITTEN CENTURIES BEFORE IT
HAPPENED.
>> Narrator: ACCORDING TO
INTERPRETERS, NEWTON'S PAPERS SHOW THAT HIS FIRST STEP INTO
BIBLICAL DECODING INVOLVED
PASSAGES DESCRIBING THE
TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. THE TEMPLE PROPHECIES ARE A
CRITICAL CLUE TO ALL OF NEWTON'S
DOOMSDAY CALCULATIONS AND HOW HE
ARRIVED AT 2060 AS THE DATE FOR ARMAGEDDON.
>> NEWTON STUDIES IN GREAT
DETAIL, AND HE COMBINES THAT
STUDY WITH BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY IN ORDER TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT
WHEN THE BIG DAY IS GONNA COME,
SO THAT HIS STUDY OF
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE IS IN THAT CONTEXT.
>> THE BETTER YOUR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE TEMPLE, THE BETTER -- OR
THE CLOSER YOU GET TO UNDERSTANDING GOD AND HIS
CREATION.
THE TEMPLE IS A BLUEPRINT OF
GOD'S MIND. >> Narrator: THIS WAS THE
ORIGINAL TEMPLE OF SOLOMON,
BUILT IN JERUSALEM AROUND
1000 B.C. AND DESTROYED BY THE BABYLONIAN INVASION 400 YEARS
LATER.
A SECOND TEMPLE WAS REBUILT ON
THE RUINS OF THE FIRST, 70 YEARS LATER AND, ACCORDING TO THE
NEW TESTAMENT, WAS VISITED BY
JESUS.
BUT IT, TOO, WAS DESTROYED -- THIS TIME, BY THE ROMANS IN
70 A.D.
THIS MARKED A TIME WHEN THE
JEWISH PEOPLE WERE DRIVEN, BY THE ROMANS, OUT OF ISRAEL AND
INTO EXILE.
>> ANOTHER REASON WHY NEWTON WAS
INTERESTED IN THE TEMPLE WAS BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IT WAS GOING
TO BE REBUILT NEAR THE END OF
TIME.
>> Narrator: THE BIBLE STATES THAT WHEN THE END OF DAYS IS
NEAR, THE JEWS WILL RETURN TO
ANCIENT ISRAEL AND REBUILD THEIR
TEMPLE FOR A FINAL TIME. >> SO, HE BELIEVED THAT IF YOU
UNDERSTOOD THE STRUCTURE OF THE
TEMPLE, YOU COULD MAKE BETTER
SENSE OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
>> Narrator: THE BOOK OF
REVELATION STATES... >> NEWTON SEES REVELATION AS THE
STORY OF CHRISTIANITY, OF THE
INITIAL DISSEMINATION OF THE
TRUTHS OF CHRIST, AND THEN THE GRADUAL CORRUPTION OF IT BY, AS
HE SEES IT, CATHOLICS WHO
BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY.
>> Narrator: ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL SCHOLARS, WHAT GOD
PROMISES IN REVELATION IS THAT
THIS NEW TEMPLE WILL TRIGGER A
SERIES OF HORRIFIC TRIBULATIONS, LEADING TO ARMAGEDDON -- THE
FINAL BATTLE THAT WILL SEEMINGLY
DESTROY OUR WORLD.
REVELATION FURTHER STATES... >> THERE IS THE ASSUMPTION THAT,
BEFORE THE DAY OF COMING, THE
TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM WILL BE
REBUILT, AND IT HAS TO BE DONE AGAIN EXACTLY UNDER THE SAME
SPECIFICATIONS.
SO FOR ALL THOSE REASONS, IT'S
IMPORTANT TO GET THE ESSENCE OF IT CORRECTLY.
>> Narrator: NEWTON SPENT YEARS
CONVERTING BIBLE PASSAGES INTO
ELABORATE DRAWINGS AND MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS, CONVINCED
THAT GOD HAD DIRECTLY DESIGNED
SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.
HE WAS HAUNTED BY ITS ARCHITECTURE, CALCULATING THAT
IT WOULD REVEAL INSIGHT INTO
THE CREATION...
RETURN OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO ISRAEL...
AND FINALLY, THE APOCALYPSE.
>> WE NOW LOOK AT THE APOCALYPSE
AS REFERRING TO THE END OF THE WORLD, BUT ACTUALLY THE
APOCALYPSE LITERALLY MEANS THE
ENTIRE UNFOLDING, THE REVELATION
OF PROPHECY TO JOHN AT THE ISLAND OF PATMOS IN THE LAST
BOOK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
AND NEWTON SEES REVELATION AS
THE STORY OF CHRISTIANITY. >> Narrator: INTERPRETERS SAY
NEWTON WAS CONVINCED THAT THE
SOLUTION TO THE RIDDLE OF
ARMAGEDDON LAY IN THE BIBLE. IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL, THE FIRST
STEP TOWARD A DECISIVE CATACLYSM
INVOLVES THE RETURN OF THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO JERUSALEM. >> THERE ARE CERTAIN STANDARD
TOOLS THAT PEOPLE USE, WHERE
DANIEL WILL SAY THAT THE RETURN
OF THE JEWS IS GOING TO BE AT A CERTAIN TIME IN THE FUTURE, AND
HE DESCRIBES IT IN TERMS OF
DAYS.
THE STANDARD INTERPRETATION IS THAT DANIEL'S DAYS REALLY REFER
TO YEARS, AND THERE IS A PERIOD
OF 1,290 YEARS IN ONE PLACE.
>> Narrator: 1,290 YEARS. THIS IS WHEN NEWTON CALCULATED
THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE WOULD
RESETTLE IN THEIR FORMER
HOMELAND. BUT 1,290 YEARS FROM WHEN?
>> HE HAS TO DECIDE WHEN THAT
PERIOD BEGINS.
SO, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, HE SPECULATES WITH VARIOUS
COMMENCEMENT DATES.
ONE IDEA THAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT
WAS THAT IT COULD HAVE STARTED IN THE YEAR 609 A.D.
>> Narrator: 609 A.D. IS WHEN
THE ROMAN EMPIRE CEDED PART OF
ITS AUTHORITY TO THE CHURCH. ADDING 1,290 YEARS TO 609
RESULTS IN THE YEAR 1899 -- A
TIME WHEN ZIONISM WAS ATTRACTING
MORE FOLLOWERS. ZIONISM IS THE MOVEMENT THAT
SUPPORTS THE RETURN OF THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO THE HOLY LAND.
>> AND WE ALSO SEE, AROUND THAT TIME, IN THE 1890s, THE
FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS.
SO THIS IS -- THESE ARE EVENTS
THAT SIGNAL THE BEGINNING OF JEWISH ZIONISM.
SO SOME PEOPLE POINT TO THE
SIGNIFICANCE THAT HIS PREDICTION
ABOUT THE 1,290-YEAR PERIOD WAS ACTUALLY FULFILLED.
>> Narrator: THE FINAL CHAPTER
OF DANIEL CONTAINS ANOTHER
FIGURE -- 1,335. ADDING THIS TO THE 609 A.D.
STARTING POINT COMES TO 1944.
>> CLEARLY, 1944 IS ROUGHLY THE
END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE END OF JEWISH HOLOCAUST.
AND BOTH THOSE EVENTS
PRECIPITATED THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL
IN 1948. SO IT'S POSSIBLE TO LOOK AT THAT
PARTICULAR APOCALYPTIC
INTERPRETATION -- THAT
PARTICULAR CHRONOLOGY -- AND CONCLUDE THAT, WELL, MAYBE
NEWTON WAS ONTO SOMETHING.
>> Narrator: BUT WHAT OF THE
SUPPOSED APOCALYPSE? NEWTON STRUGGLED WITH
IDENTIFYING THIS DATE LONGER
THAN ANY OF HIS OTHER
PROPHECIES. >> HE CROSS-REFERENCED THE
VARIOUS APOCALYPTIC BOOKS, THE
VARIOUS PROPHETIC BOOKS TO
DEVELOP AN OVERALL PICTURE. HE ALSO DEVELOPED A VERY
INTERESTING SERIES OF
APOCALYPTIC TIME CHARTS.
HE LAYS OUT ALL OF THE SYMBOLS THAT HE SEES IN THE
BOOK OF REVELATION IN A
CHRONOLOGICAL PROGRESSION.
>> Narrator: NEWTON'S CHARTS SHOW TIME STARTING AT THE TOP
AND PROGRESSING TOWARD
APOCALYPSE, WITH A CLUSTER OF
EVENTS, TOWARD THE BOTTOM, THAT ARE MOST ASSOCIATED WITH THE
END TIMES -- A RESURRECTION, A
GREAT BATTLE, THE RETURN OF THE
JEWS TO ISRAEL, AND FINALLY, REBUILDING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE.
TO PREDICT THE DATE WHEN THE
WORLD WOULD END, NEWTON
ULTIMATELY RETURNED TO THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND
THE BOOK OF DANIEL. THIS SAME PHRASING OF "TIME,
TIMES, AND HALF A TIME," IS ALSO
WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF
REVELATION. INTERPRETERS SAY THAT THESE
PROPHECIES WERE THE KEY TO
NEWTON'S OBSESSION.
>> WHAT DOES NEWTON THINK THE "TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME"
REPRESENT?
WELL, HE BELIEVES THAT A TIME IS
A YEAR, TIMES IS TWO YEARS, AND THEN HALF A TIME REPRESENTS HALF
A YEAR.
NEWTON BELIEVED THAT THE
BOOK OF DANIEL WAS USING A 360-DAY YEAR, SO YOU END UP WITH
1,260 DAYS.
NEWTON ALSO BELIEVED, ACCORDING
TO THE DAY-FOR-YEAR PRINCIPLE, THAT THOSE DAYS REPRESENT YEARS.
>> Narrator: ARMED WITH THE
CRITICAL FIGURE OF 1,260 YEARS
UNTIL ARMAGEDDON, HE COULD FINALLY CALCULATE WHEN
REVELATION INTENDED THE TIME
FRAME FOR THE APOCALYPSE TO
BEGIN. >> LATER IN LIFE, HE SEEMS TO
HAVE SETTLED ON THE YEAR
800 A.D.
NOW, IT TURNS OUT THAT IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, IN THE
HISTORY OF EUROPE, 800 A.D. IS A
VERY, VERY IMPORTANT YEAR.
THIS IS THE YEAR THAT THE POPE CROWNS CHARLEMAGNE THE KING, OR
THE EMPEROR, OF WHAT BECOMES THE
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
AND HE'S CROWNED ON CHRISTMAS DAY 800 A.D.
SO, WE SEE THE BEGINNING OF THIS
POLITICAL SYSTEM WHICH LASTS FOR
JUST OVER 1,000 YEARS -- THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.
>> Narrator: ADD THE NUMBER
1,260 -- THE TIMELINE TO
ARMAGEDDON THAT NEWTON CALCULATED -- TO THE YEAR 800,
WHEN CHARLEMAGNE IS CROWNED
HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR, AND YOU
ARRIVE AT THE YEAR 2060 A.D., NEWTON'S YEAR OF THE APOCALYPSE.
NEWTON WRITES... >> A DATE THAT, FOR HIM, WAS
MORE OF AN ABSTRACT DATE,
BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT HE WOULDN'T
LIVE TO SEE IT. BUT, OF COURSE, HISTORY HAS
CAUGHT UP WITH THAT DATE.
>> Narrator: IF NEWTON TRULY
BELIEVED HE KNEW THE YEAR OF THE END OF TIMES PROPHESIED IN THE
BIBLE, AND WHERE IT WOULD OCCUR
IN THE MIDDLE EAST, HE CERTAINLY
KNEW HE WOULD NOT LIVE TO SEE THEM.
HE ARRANGED TO CONCEAL THESE
SECRET PAPERS AND KEEP THEM
HIDDEN UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH. NEWTON WOULD NEVER LEARN WHETHER
THEY WOULD RESURFACE IN TIME TO
DO WHAT HE HAD PERHAPS
INTENDED -- WARN MANKIND OF ITS DESTRUCTION. >> Narrator: ONE OF THE WORLD'S
GREATEST SCIENTISTS,
ISAAC NEWTON, PREDICTED THE
WORLD WOULD END IN 2060. USING NUMBERS SCATTERED
THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE'S BOOKS OF
REVELATION AND DANIEL, NEWTON
BELIEVED HE HAD CALCULATED THE TIMING OF EVENTS LEADING TO THE
APOCALYPSE -- EVENTS THAT SOME
BELIEVE MAY HAVE ALREADY
OCCURRED, LIKE DOMINOES SETTING OFF A CHAIN REACTION THAT
ULTIMATELY LEADS TO ARMAGEDDON
IN OUR LIFETIME.
BUT SCHOLARS SAY HE MYSTERIOUSLY HID HIS DISCOVERY FROM HUMANITY.
WHY?
NEWTON WAS ONE OF MANY MAKING
PROPHETIC STATEMENTS IN THE LATE 17th AND EARLY 18th CENTURY.
HE WOULD HARDLY HAVE BEEN ALONE.
>> THE 17th CENTURY, IN MY
OPINION, WAS AN AGE OF PROPHECY PAR EXCELLENCE, NOT JUST ABOUT
THE END TIMES BUT IN GENERAL.
THE END OF THE WORLD WAS
CONSIDERED TO BE IMMINENT BY MANY PEOPLE.
>> Narrator: BUT EXPERTS SAY
NEWTON DID NOT WRITE HIS
DOOMSDAY WARNING FOR HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
BUT RATHER, FOR<i> US --</i>
THOSE LIKELY TO BE LIVING IN
2060, WHEN HE BELIEVED ARMAGEDDON WOULD COME.
>> HE REALLY IS WRITING FOR
PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO COME IN
THE FUTURE, AND THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE AROUND HIM ARE NOT REALLY
FIT TO RECEIVE WHAT HE'S
WRITING.
>> Narrator: AND THERE WAS THE DANGER THAT NEWTON'S
CALCULATIONS WOULD BE DISMISSED
AS THE WORK OF A LUNATIC -- A
CHARGE THAT MUCH OF NEWTON'S BEHAVIOR SEEMS TO SUPPORT.
MUCH LIKE HIS SEARCH FOR CLUES
TO A BIBLICAL APOCALYPSE, HE
ALSO SCOURED THE BIBLE, LOOKING FOR SUPPOSEDLY HIDDEN FORMULAS
TO EXPLAIN ALCHEMY -- THE
MYTHICAL PROCESS THAT TURNS BASE
METALS, SUCH AS LEAD, INTO GOLD. BY THE 18th CENTURY, ALCHEMY HAD
BEEN MOSTLY DISCREDITED AS
MYSTICAL FOLLY PRACTICED BY
WOULD-BE SORCERERS. YET NEWTON, ONE OF THE PILLARS
OF RATIONAL SCIENCE,
IRRATIONALLY OBSESSED OVER IT.
>> HE PURSUED THE FIELD FOR ABOUT 30 YEARS OR POSSIBLY MORE.
WE HAVE EXPERIMENTAL NOTEBOOKS
OF HIS THAT ARE SURVIVED THAT
ARE LITERALLY FILLED WITH HUNDREDS OF EXPERIMENTS THAT HE
DID.
>> Narrator: NEWTON'S OBSESSION
WITH ALCHEMY SUGGESTS THAT HIS BELIEF IN A PROPHECY CODE HIDDEN
IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE A
MANIFESTATION OF AN UNSTABLE
MIND, UNDERCUTTING HIS HYPOTHESIS OF A DOOMSDAY
CALENDAR IN REVELATION.
IRONICALLY, NEWTON WAS APPOINTED
LATER IN HIS LIFE AS HEAD OF ENGLAND'S MINT AND GIVEN CHARGE
OF ALL COINAGE AND PRECIOUS
METALS IN THE ENTIRE BRITISH
REALM. THE JOB'S FUNCTION ALSO INCLUDED
REGULARLY SENDING COUNTERFEITERS
TO THE GALLOWS -- A GRUESOME
TASK THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO NEWTON'S TORMENTED INTEREST
IN THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF MANKIND
BY GOD.
HE WRITES... BASED ON HIS DOOMSDAY
CALCULATIONS, SOME SCHOLARS HAVE
EVEN TAKEN TO CALLING NEWTON THE
DARK HERETIC. >> WELL, NEWTON CERTAINLY
BELIEVED, LIKE VIRTUALLY
EVERYBODY ELSE, THAT THE
PROPHECIES OF DANIEL AND OF THE REVELATION SHOULD BE TAKEN
LITERALLY, AND THE WORLD,
INDEED, WILL COME TO AN END AT
SOME POINT. >> Narrator: THE
BOOK OF REVELATION STATES... >> HE BELIEVED IN INTERPRETING
BIBLICAL PROPHECIES, WHICH HE
REGARDED AS A SCIENCE JUST AS
MUCH AS ASTRONOMY OR MECHANICS. >> Narrator: WHAT MIGHT HAVE
BEEN DRIVING NEWTON?
GOD, SCIENCE, AN UNDIAGNOSED
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER? >> WERE ALL THESE ENDEAVORS
LINKED, OR WERE THEY ALL
SEPARATE?
WELL, RECENT WORK ON NEWTON'S PAPERS AND STUDIES OF NEWTON'S
BIOGRAPHY SUGGEST THAT THERE
WERE COMMON LINKS, AND IT'S FAIR
TO SAY THE CHIEF GOAL OF ALL HIS WORK WAS TO DISCOVER GOD.
>> Narrator: EXPERTS SAY THAT
NEWTON LIKELY CONSIDERED HIS
PROPHECIES THE GREATEST AND POSSIBLY MOST DANGEROUS AMONG
ALL OF HIS WORK.
THIS IS PERHAPS THE REASON WHY
HE WENT TO SUCH TROUBLE TO KEEP IT SECURE AFTER HIS DEATH.
1727, LONDON, ENGLAND.
ISAAC NEWTON DIES, MOST LIKELY
OF MERCURY POISONING. SOON AFTER, HIS SECRET PAPERS
CONTAINING APOCALYPTIC
PREDICTIONS MYSTERIOUSLY
DISAPPEAR. FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES,
VIRTUALLY NO ONE IS AWARE OF
THEIR EXISTENCE.
WAS THIS A CALCULATED MOVE BY NEWTON, PART OF HIS PLAN?
>> AFTER HIS DEATH, THEY'RE PUT
INTO A TRUNK AND THEY ARE STORED
AT AN ARISTOCRATIC HOME IN HAMPSHIRE FOR THE BETTER PART OF
200 YEARS.
VIRTUALLY NO ONE HAD ACCESS TO
THEM. >> Narrator: THEN, JUST AS THEY
HAD MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED IN
1727, THEY MYSTERIOUSLY
REAPPEARED IN LONDON. IN 1936, THEY WERE AUCTIONED AT
SOTHEBY'S OF LONDON.
ONE OF THE BUYERS WAS THE 20th
CENTURY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL ECONOMIST, JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES.
>> I THINK KEYNES FELT THERE
COULDN'T BE ANYTHING THAT WOULD
BE THE PRODUCT OF A MIND LIKE NEWTON'S THAT WASN'T WORTH
SAVING AND STUDYING, AND HE WAS
AFRAID THAT WHEN THOSE
MANUSCRIPTS WERE SOLD, THEY'D BE SPREAD OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD.
>> Narrator: ANOTHER LARGE
PORTION OF THE PAPERS WAS
PURCHASED BY BUSINESSMAN AND SCHOLAR, ABRAHAM YEHUDA.
>> YEHUDA IS A VERY INTERESTING
CHARACTER.
HE WAS A PALESTINIAN JEW. HE HAD A LIFELONG FASCINATION
WITH THE BIBLE, WITH BIBLICAL
PROPHECY.
SO, FOR HIM, THIS WAS A BONANZA, AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE
SIR ISAAC NEWTON, ONE OF THE
GREATEST MINDS IN HISTORY,
WRESTLING WITH SOME OF THE SAME ISSUES THAT I THINK YEHUDA WAS
INTERESTED IN.
>> Narrator: BUT BOTH OF THE
MANUSCRIPTS' OWNERS MYSTERIOUSLY WITHHELD THEM FROM THE PUBLIC
UNTIL AFTER THEIR RESPECTIVE
DEATHS.
MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY WOULD PASS BEFORE THE PAPERS FINALLY
BECAME PUBLIC.
>> YEHUDA KEPT THESE MANUSCRIPTS
OF NEWTON'S UNTIL HE DIED, IN 1947.
AND WHEN HE DIED, HE LEFT THEM
TO THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED STATE
OF ISRAEL, AND THAT'S WHY THEY'RE IN JERUSALEM AT THIS
TIME.
STRICTLY ACCIDENTAL -- JUST
ACCIDENTAL, BUT IT'S FASCINATING.
>> Narrator: THE VERY EXISTENCE
OF THE LOCATION OF NEWTON'S
DOOMSDAY CALCULATIONS -- THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED STATE OF
ISRAEL -- IS ONE OF HIS BIBLE
PROPHECIES -- A POSSIBLE DOMINO
THAT, ACCORDING TO BELIEVERS OF END TIMES, WILL PERHAPS TRIGGER
DOOMSDAY.
>> THESE PAPERS ONLY BECAME
KNOWN IN THE EARLY 1970s, AND THEY WEREN'T REALLY LOOKED AT IN
ANY GREAT DETAIL UNTIL THE LATE
1980s AND 1990s.
>> Narrator: NOW THAT NEWTON'S BIBLICAL PROPHECIES HAVE FINALLY
BEEN REVEALED TO THE MODERN
WORLD, HOW PRECISE MIGHT THEY
BE? COULD HE ACTUALLY HAVE
CALCULATED THE RETURN OF THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO ISRAEL?
AND DID HE ACCURATELY REVEAL OTHER SIGNS THAT BIBLICAL
ARMAGEDDON MAY BE COMING TRUE
TODAY?
THE ANSWER MAY LIE IN THREE KEY DATES. >> Narrator: A CALENDAR FOR
ARMAGEDDON, BASED ON NUMBERS
FOUND IN THE BIBLE THREE
CENTURIES AGO. THIS IS THE WORK OF
ISAAC NEWTON, MADE IN SECRET AT
THE HIGH POINT OF HIS CAREER.
THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS CONTAINING HIS DOOMSDAY
CALCULATIONS NOW RESIDE IN A
COUNTRY CONSIDERED BY MANY THE
HOLIEST LAND ON EARTH -- THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
SOME SUGGEST THAT NEWTON'S
HARROWING PREDICTION FOR THE END
OF THE WORLD MAY ACTUALLY BE UNFOLDING THERE TODAY.
>> HE BELIEVED THAT THE DATE FOR
ALL OF THE GREAT EVENTS OF THE
END TIMES -- BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THE RETURN OF
CHRIST, THE RETURN OF THE JEWS
TO ISRAEL -- ALL OF THIS WOULD
HAPPEN IN THE 20th OR THE 21st CENTURY.
>> Narrator: CONSUMED BY A
POWERFUL DRIVE TO IDENTIFY THE
FINAL DATE FOR ARMAGEDDON, NEWTON WORKED DAY AND NIGHT TO
CRACK THE BIBLE'S SO-CALLED
CODE.
HIS PROPHESIED YEAR FOR THE END OF DAYS?
2060.
BUT WHAT, IF ANY, ARE SIGNS THAT
NEWTON'S PREDICTIONS ARE COMING TRUE?
AND DOES ACTUAL PROOF LIE IN THE
VOLATILE MIDDLE EAST REGION, AS
THE FAMED SCIENTIST BELIEVED? >> IF NEWTON WERE ALIVE TODAY
AND COULD SEE THE STATE OF
ISRAEL, I THINK, IN SOME WAYS,
HE WOULD BE VERY PLEASED, BECAUSE HE WOULD SEE THIS AS A
VERY CLEAR, VERY PRECISE, VERY
ACCURATE FULFILLMENT OF BIBLICAL
PROPHECY. >> Narrator: NEWTON BELIEVED
THAT THE ROLE OF THE JEWISH
PEOPLE IN GOD'S PLAN WAS
FRIGHTENINGLY CLEAR... THAT THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE
BIBLICAL BOOK OF DANIEL
PROPHESIED THEIR RETURN TO
ISRAEL AS THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
NEWTON ALSO FORETOLD THAT
ANOTHER SYMPATHETIC COUNTRY
WOULD HELP BRING THIS ABOUT. HE WRITES... >> BUT WE DON'T KNOW, BECAUSE
NEWTON DID NOT HIMSELF SPECIFY
WHICH COUNTRY HE HAD IN MIND,
BUT IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT NEWTON WAS THINKING OF BRITAIN.
>> Narrator: AFTER WORLD WAR II,
THE BRITISH AIDED IN THE
CREATION OF MODERN ISRAEL. AND THE UNITED STATES WAS THE
FIRST COUNTRY TO OFFICIALLY
RECOGNIZE THE NEW NATION.
>> I TEND TO THINK THAT IF NEWTON WERE ALIVE TODAY, AND HE
SAW ACTUALLY THE RETURN OF THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO THE LAND OF
ISRAEL, THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXCITED.
>> [ SPEAKING HEBREW ]
>> Narrator: EXPERTS SAY THE
RETURN OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO THEIR HOLY LAND CAN BE TRACED TO
THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT INITIATED
IN THE 1890s.
THIS IS THE FIRST OF THREE KEY DATES USED BY NEWTON TO
IDENTIFY THE DATE FOR
ARMAGEDDON.
ISRAEL WAS CREATED IN THE WAKE OF WORLD WAR II, WHICH ENDED IN
1945.
THAT YEAR FOLLOWS THE SECOND KEY
DATE CULLED BY NEWTON FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL -- 1944.
AND NEWTON BELIEVED OTHER
BIBLICAL PROPHESIES ALSO
IDENTIFIED JERUSALEM AS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.
>> IT'S PROBABLY NOT AN
EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT NEWTON
SAW THE CITY OF JERUSALEM AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CITY ON EARTH.
FOR HIM, IT WOULD BE THE SITE OF
THE CAPITAL OF THE FUTURE
KINGDOM OF GOD, JUST AS IT WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE
KINGDOM OF ISRAEL AT THE TIME OF
DAVID AND SOLOMON.
>> Narrator: 1967, ISRAEL. IN JUST SIX DAYS, THE ISRAELI
MILITARY EMERGES VICTORIOUS FROM
ITS DECISIVE BATTLE AGAINST
THREE ARAB COUNTRIES. IT GAINED SIGNIFICANT NEW
TERRITORY.
THE MOST CRITICAL OF ALL IS
EAST JERUSALEM. FOR CENTURIES, THIS
27-SQUARE-MILE PLOT OF LAND HAD
BEEN UNDER MUSLIM CONTROL.
SOME FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THIS FULFILLS THE BIBLICAL PROPHECY
THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE WOULD
RETAKE JERUSALEM AS THEIR OWN.
>> WHEN ISLAM CAME THERE, IN THE 600s, THE -- IT WAS A BARREN
LOCATION, AND THE MUSLIMS
LOCATED WHAT THEY BELIEVED TO BE
THE SPOT OF MUHAMMAD'S ASCENSION TO HEAVEN.
>> Narrator: ON THAT VERY SITE
IN JERUSALEM TODAY SITS THE
DOME OF THE ROCK. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
SHRINES IN ALL OF ISLAM, AND IT
IS CENTRAL TO NEWTON'S PROPHESY.
HERE LIES THE TEMPLE MOUNT, FOUNDATION FOR THE DOME OF THE
ROCK.
THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS THE
LOCATION WHERE THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON STOOD.
THIS IS PRECISELY WHERE NEWTON
BELIEVED THE END OF DAYS WOULD
OCCUR. >> ANOTHER REASON WHY NEWTON WAS
INTERESTED IN THE TEMPLE WAS
BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IT WAS GOING
TO BE REBUILT NEAR THE END OF TIME.
>> Narrator: ACCORDING TO THE
BIBLE, AS THE END OF DAYS
APPROACHES, THE JEWISH PEOPLE WILL RETURN TO ISRAEL AND
REBUILD THEIR TEMPLE FOR A FINAL
TIME.
>> NEWTON SAW JERUSALEM AS THE CITY THAT WAS CHOSEN FOR THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO HAVE AS THEIR
FINAL CAPITAL.
AND HE SAW A REBUILT TEMPLE TAKING CENTER STAGE WITHIN THAT,
AS A PLACE WHERE THE WORLD WOULD
COME FOR WORSHIP.
>> Narrator: HERE THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS CONVERGE --
CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND
JUDAISM.
FOR OVER 50 YEARS, THIS SITE HAS IGNITED RELIGIOUS PASSION AND
UNREST ON AN UNPRECEDENTED
LEVEL.
SOME BELIEVE THAT REBUILDING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE MAY VERY WELL
TRIGGER A WAR THAT WOULD
DEVASTATE THE MIDDLE EAST REGION
AND POSSIBLY THE WORLD. >> IT'S VERY DEAR TO MUSLIMS,
AND SO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE
TEARING DOWN OF THE
DOME OF THE ROCK AND THE AQSA MOSQUE AND BUILDING A TEMPLE IN
ITS PLACE WOULD, FOR CERTAIN,
AROUSE THE ANGER OF THE MUSLIM
WORLD. I THINK IT WOULD BE ARMAGEDDON.
>> Narrator: NEWTON BELIEVED
THAT JUST AS GOD HAD CREATED THE
WORLD, SO WOULD HE DESTROY IT, EXACTLY AS DESCRIBED IN THE
BOOK OF REVELATION AND IN
KEEPING WITH NEWTON'S TIMELINE.
ACCORDING TO BELIEVERS, MANY SIGNS OF THE SUPPOSED APOCALYPSE
SEEM TO HAVE HAPPENED JUST AS
NEWTON PREDICTED.
BUT DOES THIS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT THE SACRED TEMPLE MOUNT IS
ACTUALLY THE NERVE CENTER FOR
ARMAGEDDON IN 2060?
SOME CONTEND THAT THE FINAL RESOLUTION WILL PERHAPS BE AT
HAND WITH THE RETURN OF THE
BIBLE'S DARKEST FOE, THE
ANTICHRIST. >> Narrator: 2003, LONDON,
ENGLAND.
THE SECRET PAPERS OF FAMED
SCIENTIST ISAAC NEWTON ARE RE-EXAMINED AFTER A MYSTERIOUS
ABSENCE OF MORE THAN 200 YEARS.
IN THEM, A PREDICTION THAT THE
WORLD WILL END IN THE YEAR 2060. >> NEWTON FELT THAT HE HAD BEEN
GIVEN A GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING,
FIRST OF ALL, THROUGH HIS
AMAZING DISCOVERIES IN MATHEMATICS AND THE SCIENCES.
BUT HE ALSO FELT THAT HE HAD
BEEN GIVEN A KEY OF WISDOM TO
INTERPRET SCRIPTURE -- THAT SCRIPTURE IS SORT OF ONE BIG
CODE.
IT'S FULL OF SECRETS.
IT'S FULL OF THINGS THAT MEAN NOTHING UNLESS YOU HOLD THE KEY
TO ITS INTERPRETATION.
>> HE DID BELIEVE THAT PROPHETIC
INTERPRETATION WOULD PICK UP SPEED TOWARD THE TIME OF THE
END, THAT PEOPLE WOULD COME TO
INCREASINGLY ACCURATE
UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLICAL PROPHECIES.
AND IT'S POSSIBLE THAT HE WOULD
BE PLEASED IF PEOPLE WERE AWARE
OF HIS PROPHETIC WORKS IN THIS AGE.
[ INDISTINCT SHOUTING ]
>> Narrator: ARE TODAY'S
POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND INSTABILITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE
MIDDLE EAST, RANDOM ACTS OF
HOSTILITY OR A SIGN OF SOMETHING
MORE OMINOUS, A DIVINE PLAN ENVISIONED BY NEWTON?
HE WRITES... THESE EVENTS, PROPHESIED BY
NEWTON, NOSTRADAMUS, AND OTHERS
ARE ALSO CONTAINED IN THE
END TIMES OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION. ACCORDING TO BELIEVERS, THE PAST
HAS CONVERGED WITH OUR PRESENT
TO SET THE CONDITIONS FOR THE
END OF EVERYTHING. >> NOW, ONE OF THE IMPORTANT
THINGS ABOUT NEWTON'S BELIEF IN
THE RETURN OF THE JEWS IS THAT
HE BELIEVED THAT WHEN IT HAPPENED -- AND HE WAS
ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED THAT IT
WOULD HAPPEN -- THAT THIS WOULD
BE ONE OF THE GREAT SIGNS THAT PROPHECY WAS VALID, THAT THE
BIBLE WAS THE WORD OF GOD.
>> Narrator: THROUGHOUT MANY
PROPHECIES, FROM THOSE IN THE BIBLE TO THE QUATRAINS OF
NOSTRADAMUS AND WORKS OF
ISAAC NEWTON, THE GREATEST SIGN
OF IMMINENT DANGER MAY LIE IN THE PRESENCE OF ONE CENTRAL
FIGURE.
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, HE HAS
BEEN PROPHESIED TO EMERGE AFTER THE RETURN OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
HE IS THE ANTICHRIST, AND,
ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, HE WILL
RALLY PEOPLE FIRST INTO A FALSE RELIGION AND ULTIMATELY TO THEIR
FINAL DEMISE.
NEWTON WRITES... ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, THIS
WILL BE FOLLOWED BY OTHER
SEMINAL EVENTS -- THE RETURN OF
JESUS... RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD...
AND FINALLY, THE CLIMACTIC
BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL --
ARMAGEDDON. >> THE PROMISE IS THAT WE'D SEE
ANTICHRIST'S REIGN EVENTUALLY
BEING CHALLENGED, A GREAT BATTLE
IN WHICH THE CHRIST AND THE FORCES OF GOOD WOULD INTERVENE,
VANQUISHING ANTICHRIST ON THE
PLAIN OF ARMAGEDDON, AND THE
FINAL CONFLAGRATION, WHICH WILL DESTROY THE EARTH AS WE KNOW IT
AND PERHAPS TURN IT, NEWTON
ARGUED, INTO A WANDERING STAR, A
COMET SHOOTING ACROSS THE HEAVENS.
>> Narrator: SOME CHRISTIANS
TODAY EMBRACE NEWTON'S
APOCALYPTIC VISION. TO THEM, THE CONCLUSIONS HE DREW
FROM THE BIBLE ARE IRREFUTABLE
PROOF THAT THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST IS NOT ONLY IMMINENT BUT THAT MANY OF US TODAY MAY LIVE
TO SEE IT.
>> CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS SEE
THREE DEFINITE SIGNS BEFORE JESUS WILL RETURN.
THE FIRST WAS THE GATHERING OF
ALL THE JEWS IN ISRAEL, AND
THAT, OF COURSE, HAS HAPPENED IN 1948, WHEN THE STATE WAS
DECLARED.
THE SECOND WAS THE TAKING BY THE
JEWS OF JERUSALEM, AND THAT, OF COURSE, HAPPENED DURING THE
WAR OF 1967.
THE THIRD IS THE REBUILDING OF
THE TEMPLE. >> Narrator: THOSE WHO BELIEVE
IN THE IMMINENT RETURN OF JESUS
AGREE WITH ISAAC NEWTON'S
HYPOTHESIS THAT GOD DELIBERATELY CHOSE THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO HELP
TRIGGER THE END TIMES.
FOR THIS REASON, HE IS REGARDED
BY MANY TODAY AS AMONG THE FIRST CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS.
>> CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IS A
MOVEMENT TO TRY AND USHER IN THE
END OF TIME. >> THE TRUE GOSPEL IS GOING TO
BE PREACHED.
THERE'S GOING TO BE A
RESURRECTION, THERE'S GOING TO BE THE GREAT BATTLE OF
ARMAGEDDON, AND THE TEMPLE IS
GOING TO BE REBUILT.
THOSE APOCALYPTIC EVENTS -- THOSE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
TIME OF THE END -- FROM NEWTON'S
POINT OF VIEW, COME TO PASS
AROUND 2060 A.D. >> Narrator: THOUGH WE CANNOT BE
CERTAIN THAT 2060 WILL BE THE
END OF EVERYTHING, THE DATE IS
APPROACHING. RELIGIOUS CONFLICT AND WARS DO
NOT SEEM TO ABATE.
IN MANY INSTANCES, THEY HAVE
INCREASED. REVELATION STATES... ALTHOUGH THE VISION FOR
ARMAGEDDON IN BIBLICAL PASSAGES
PORTENDS A FIERY DESTRUCTION,
SCHOLARS SAY ISAAC NEWTON ULTIMATELY LOOKED BEYOND ITS
HORRORS.
THEY SUGGEST HE WAS MOST ANXIOUS
ABOUT GOD'S ULTIMATE PURPOSE. NEWTON APPEARED TO FOCUS MORE ON
THE AFTERMATH, WHICH REVELATION
SAYS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO
1,000 YEARS OF A PARADISE AND OF GOD ON EARTH.
ONCE MORE, THE SCIENTIST TURNED
TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION. IN THE MIND OF ISAAC NEWTON,
SCIENCE AND RELIGION WOULD
EMERGE AS ONE AND THE SAME.
BELIEVERS LOOK TO HIS 2060 PROPHECY AS A CRITICAL SIGNPOST
OF WHAT MAY INEVITABLY OCCUR IN
A FEW SHORT DECADES.
>> FOR NEWTON, IT'S ABSOLUTELY SCIENCE, BECAUSE THE PROOF IS
GOING TO BE IN THE HISTORICAL
EVENT.
IT'S THE EVENTS THAT WILL PROVE THE APOCALYPSE.
>> Narrator: WE WATCH AND WAIT
TO DETERMINE WHETHER 2060 WILL
COME LIKE ANY OTHER YEAR OR SERVE AS THE END OF EVERYTHING.
