A tale of two Newtons

It was a weird morning when my kids were working on their studies and talking about Sir Isaac Newton. He gets a couple knocks on the head and comes up with three laws of physics. Can you name them? He is perhaps one of the most well known scientists ever. You'll note that as sharp as modern people may say Einstein was, they didn't name any measurements after him (like a Tesla or a Newton).

So naturally, I found Lego stop motion videos and Epic Rap battles of History and felt I now know everything that Newton discovered in a couple minutes.

Since this is my spiritual blog, we should mention that Newton studied the Bible quite a bit. In it, he noted a couple things. First, the end of the world won't happen until at least 2060. See, he was into the chronology of the Bible. I don't know if he was trying to prove the age of the Earth or disprove the end of the world arguments that seem to come out in every generation. The Bible says - no one knows the time of the end of the age except God. Newton was not saying that 2060 was the year - but that he believed he would not be alive on Earth to see it.

Second, on creation, he was quick to point out that there is no way that all of this came together by chance. I don't think that the "Intelligent Design" argument was really required in his day - but we can say he was an early adopter.

Then, the devotional I read started talking about Newton. It said he was dismissed from the Navy for dissent and insubordination, he became a slave trader, a murder, he did indescribable things to women and children. In short - he was a dirty man.

If you are wondering where this all came from, the change was just as weird for me, It was John Newton I was reading about - not Isaac Newton.

So - who is John Newton? Well, it is said that as had a near death experience, called out to God, and he had a conversion experience. He was still a slave trader, but as he recalled the sorrowful negro chants that came up from below decks, he penned a song that is equally as famous as Newton's laws of motion... Amazing Grace.

In the end, Newton and William Wilberforce worked to end slavery through England. He became a priest and lived a life of solitude.

This week, I was reminded of CS Lewis when confronted by his contemporaries about what makes Christianity so unique from other religions. It wasn't the creation story, one God, resurrection from the dead, wars, end times, none of that. He said "Oh, that's an easy question. The answer is GRACE."

Christianity is the only religion where there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more or any less. He extends GRACE and forgiveness. All we have to do is say "Yes."