TL;DR

  • Newton thought the “true religion” is universal piety and charity, available to Jew, Christian, and “heathen” alike—idolatry being the great deviation. 1
  • He worked to purge later corruptions from Scripture (famously the Johannine Comma and 1 Tim 3:16) via historical-textual criticism. 2
  • He read pagan myth as garbled Near-Eastern history; Osiris, Dionysus/Bacchus, and Sesostris/Sesac collapse into one conqueror, with rites aligning. 3
  • In natural philosophy he articulated a dominion-based monotheism (General Scholium), consistent with his anti-Trinitarian, biblical Unitarianism. 4 5
  • Prophecy isn’t fortune-telling; it authenticates Providence after fulfillment and anchors reform to primitive faith. 6

“This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all.”
— Isaac Newton, General Scholium (1713/1726) 4

What Newton Meant by the “Ur-Faith”#

Across private theological notebooks and published treatises, Newton sketched a primitive religion older than Sinai and enduring beneath later corruptions: a strict monotheism of piety toward God and charity toward neighbor. In the short manifesto he titled “A short Schem of the true Religion,” he insists there is “but one law for all nations,” rooted in reason, written on the heart, and continuous from Noah to the Apostles. He even says we may proselyte heathens to it—that is, to piety and righteousness—because it is the true religion of Christians as well as Gentiles. 1

In the General Scholium appended to the Principia, Newton’s natural-theological God is not an abstract essence but the Pantokrator—God as dominion—whose governance and providence are the proper grounds of worship. This dovetails with his private anti-Trinitarian commitments documented by modern scholarship. 4 5

The Problem to Solve: Idolatry and Priestcraft#

For Newton, the deviation was historical: nations slid from the worship of the one God into deifying the dead, building images, trusting relics and charms—classic priestcraft. The true worship excludes images and mediators: love, fear, trust, prayer, and thanksgiving are due to God alone. 1

Newton’s Three Tools for Reconstructing the First Religion

1) Purge the Text (Textual Criticism)#

Newton’s Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture attacks two loci classici of Trinitarian proof. Regarding 1 John 5:7 he walks through patristic citations and manuscript tradition to show the heavenly witnesses are a later interpolation; on 1 Tim 3:16 he argues “God was manifest” should read “who was manifest.” His method is austere: weigh witnesses, prefer earlier usage, and discard novelties.

“There cannot be better service done to the truth, than to purge it of things spurious.” 7

On the tortured Trinitarian reading of another passage he shrugs:

“Let them make good sense of it who are able: for my part I can make none.” 2

This is not contrarianism; it’s restorationism aimed at revealing the apostolic ur-faith under accretions. (For context on Newton’s anti-Trinitarianism and “Nicodemite” strategy of prudent concealment, see Snobelen.) 8

2) Synchronize Times (Sacred–Profane Chronology)#

In the Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended and related drafts, Newton compresses legendary antiquity into biblically coherent time. He argues that Osiris = Dionysus/Bacchus = Sesostris/Sesac, i.e., the Egyptian conqueror who invaded the Levant in Rehoboam’s day:

“This Bacchus … and [Sesostris] … must be one & the same man.” 3

Rituals corroborate identity: Newton tracks mourning, harvest, dismemberment motifs, and other festival elements to show the Bacchic and Osirian rites coincide:

“the rites agree in most things.” 9

Myth becomes garbled history; purge the fables, keep the events. The result is a single Near-Eastern narrative in which post-Flood monarchs are later deified—exactly the fall into idolatry he condemns in the Short Schem. 10 1

3) Read Providence (Prophecy after the Fact)#

Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse treats prophecy as a register of divine governance intelligible after fulfillment:

God gave prophecy “not to gratify men’s curiosities … but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event.” 6

Hence Newton’s vast efforts to date kingdoms, horns, weeks, and vials: not horoscope, but post hoc authentication of the same Providence proclaimed in natural philosophy and primitive religion. 6

How the Pieces Fit#

The three tools cooperate: text (purified Scriptures) names the ur-faith; time (synchronized chronologies) dissolves pagan deifications back into human history; providence (fulfilled prophecy) certifies that the ur-faith has never ceased to be God’s governance of the world. Natural theology supplies the metaphysical frame—“Lord God Pantokrator”—without metaphysical speculation. 4

Capsule Map of Newton’s Reconstruction#

PillarNewton’s own formula (≤15 words)How he restores itRepresentative texts
Piety (no images; one God)“We are therefore to acknowledge one God … and to have no other Gods.”Excises mediators; condemns relics/charms; worship is to God alone.Short Schem; General Scholium. 1
Charity (universal law)“There is but one law for all nations … righteousness & charity.”Ethics continuous from Noah → Moses → Christ; reason confirms it.Short Schem. 1
Anti-idolatry (deified mortals)“the rites agree in most things.”Euhemerism: Osiris = Bacchus = Sesostris/Sesac; myth = history.Chronology drafts. 9
Scriptural pruning“purge [truth] of things spurious.”Removes later doctrinal insertions; returns to apostolic sense.Two Notable Corruptions. 7
Providence in history“interpreted by the event.”Prophecy read post-fulfillment to vindicate divine rule.Observations on Prophecy. 6

What Remains “Christian” in the Ur-Faith?#

The primitive religion isn’t a lowest-common-denominator deism. It is biblical and moral: piety toward the one God and rigorous charity. Newton adds: “we may lawfully proselite heathens to it” because it names the core that makes Christians Christian—even as fuller Christian truth exceeds it. 1

In that sense, Newton’s “ur-faith” is not syncretism but reformation—a return to the oldest rule under God’s dominion that can be recognized in reason, Scripture, and the sifted remains of ancient rite.

FAQ#

Q1. Did Newton literally think Bacchus and Osiris were the same person? A. Yes; synchronisms and shared exploits/rituals led him to identify Osiris, Bacchus/Dionysus, and Sesostris/Sesac as one Egyptian monarch. 3

Q2. Is his prophecy-reading date-setting? A. Mostly no; he says prophecy is for recognition after events, not fortune-telling—authentication rather than speculation. 6

Q3. Was Newton a Trinitarian? A. Privately no (anti-Trinitarian/Unitary); publicly cautious. Scholars have mapped this “Nicodemite” posture from his papers and publications. 5 8

Q4. Where are his theological papers now? A. Thousands of pages survive; many are in the Yahuda Collection at the National Library of Israel and at Oxford’s Newton Project. 11 12

Footnotes#

Sources#

  1. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. Journals ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Archive ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. ResearchGate ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. Newtonproject ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. Nli ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. Newtonproject ↩︎

  13. Api ↩︎

  14. PMC ↩︎