Renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton predicted the end of the world in a letter written over 300 years ago.

Newton’s calculations and biblical interpretation

A letter from the famous mathematician and physicist—best known for formulating the laws of gravity—revealed that he believed the world would end in 2060. He made this prediction in 1704, writing the warning above a series of mathematical calculations.

As a theologian, Isaac Newton based his prophecy on his Protestant interpretation of the Bible. Using mathematics and historical dates from biblical texts, he determined that the predicted apocalypse would occur in the mid-21st century.

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How Newton arrived at the year 2060

Newton used biblical references, including the numbers 1260, 1290, and 2300 from the Book of Daniel and Revelation, which signify key moments in the end times. He interpreted these numbers as years rather than days.

Studying historical events, he identified 800 AD—the year the Holy Roman Empire was founded—as the moment when the church’s decline began. Based on his calculations, he projected that the world would reset 1,260 years later, leading to the year 2060.

Newton’s vision of the end times

Newton believed the reset of the world would be marked by plagues and war. In his 1704 letter, he wrote, “And the days of short-lived beasts being put for the years of lived kingdoms, the period of 1260 days, if dated from the complete conquest of the three kings AC 800, will end AC 2060.”

However, he added a disclaimer: “It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner. This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophecies into discredit as often as their predictions fail.”

Newton’s cautious approach to prophecy

Professor Stephen Snobelen from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, noted that Newton was “wary of prophetic date-setting” and feared that failed predictions could damage the credibility of biblical prophecy.

In his statement on the 2060 prediction, Snobelen emphasized that Isaac Newton did not believe the world would end in a literal sense. Instead, he saw it as the transition to a new era—what Jews refer to as the Messianic age and what premillennial Christians call the Millennium or the Kingdom of God.