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August 18, 2008
2012 Sells Better Than 2060
Jim West called our attention to an overview of Temple at the Center of Time: Newton's Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012, by David Flynn on World Net Daily. If half the claims in the World Net Daily, or as Ed Brayton would prefer, World Nut Daily, about Flynn's book are true, the thesis of the book is prima facie nuts. Here's a sample from the overview. Believe it or not, I'm not sure it is the nuttiest part but it does tie into a couple of things I want to say.
The book asserts it has “deciphered Isaac Newton’s greatest paradox: None other than ‘the unified field theory’ of Bible prophecy.”Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great thinker in physics, the book explains, but had extensive knowledge of the Scriptures with a special interest in prophecy. Newton believed there was a hidden code, a type of time-encrypted language. He believed the key to deciphering this code was the Temple of Solomon. He wrote extensively on the length measurements of the Temple and suggested it intersected time and dimension, serving as a prophetic and supernatural structure.
According to Flynn, although Newton never cracked this code, he was on the right track and was limited only by the lack of sophisticated satellite technology.
The idea that there is some kind of code to be cracked is nuts. Therefore, any supposed cracking of it is also nuts. What isn't nuts is that Newton had things to say on these subjects. Sure, most of what he has to say was itself nutty but he did address these subjects. His most thorough work on the Temple is in Prolegomena ad lexici prophetici patem secundam in quibus agitur De forma sanctuarij Iudaici. I believe there is some debate on the extent to which this particular work is mystical in nature. He also mentioned the temple in various other works, like The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended where he devotes an entire chapter to it.
Here's a drawing of the Temple and the Temple compound from Newton's Prolegomena ad lexici prophetici.
Newton based this drawing on his reading of the Hebrew Bible and LXX. This paragraph from his The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended provides glimpse of his approach.
This description of the Temple being taken principally from Ezekiel's Vision thereof; and the ancient Hebrew copy followed by the Seventy, differing in some readings from the copy followed by the editors of the present Hebrew, I will here subjoin that part of the Vision which relates to the Outward Court, as I have deduced it from the present Hebrew, and the version of the Seventy compared together.
Yes, Newton knew Hebrew and Greek and worked from both. Hebrew words pepper Newton's Prolegomena ad lexici prophetici.
By today's standards, I find Newton's exegetical and theological work nutty. Among the nuttiest is his Observations Upon The Prophecies of Daniel, And The Apocalypse Of St. John. But, remember, that is by today's standards.
I cannot find a prediction of the time of the apocalypse in Newton's larger works (It may be there, I just couldn't find it) but it does appear in one of his letters. Based primarily on his study of Daniel, he thought the apocalypse would come in 2060 or perhaps a little later.
It appears that David Flynn disputes Newton's "findings." If I understand correctly, for Flynn the apocalypse or something of equal import will happen in 2012! And 2012 is a much better date than 2060 if one wants to sell books and give lectures; soon enough to get the attention of the gullible and far enough off to provide time to come up with good excuses if it doesn't work out. This is a far better marketing approach than Newton's.
I listened to a video, to which I will not link, in which Flynn talks about the flood, Roswell and extraterrestrials, the illuminati, the Mayan calendar, earthly serpents, heavenly serpents, watchers and other things too fierce farcical to mention. This guy has an amazing ability to string unrelated things together to form an incoherent ramble leading to complete nonsense.
Posted by Duane Smith at August 18, 2008 8:18 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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