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Isaac Newton And Christ’s Birth
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, December 23, 2025 (Donate)
Did you know that Isaac Newton, who was arguably the greatest
scientist who ever lived, wrote extensively more about theology, history, and
chronology? It shows how these subjects intertwine. Theology is often called the
“Queen of the Sciences” and gives a biblical framework to do science.
But Isaac Newton also loved chronology. Newton amended
Archbishop James Ussher’s work (The Annals of the World, 1650) in a few places, but otherwise affirmed and defended
Ussher’s dates. Newton also attempted to calculate the time of Jesus Christ’s
birth, treating it as a historical and chronological problem rather than a
theological doctrine.
In his posthumously published work The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728), Newton argued that Christ must have been born several years before the traditional AD 1 date. FYI, there was no "year 0", as the dating system goes from 1 BC to AD 1. Most later chronologists agree that AD 1 was off by a few years, as it was an early calculation that didn’t have all the necessary details. The original dating system (BC/AD) that arrived at AD 1 for Christ’s birth was done by Dionysius, and he calculated this in AD 530s.
Newton rightly reasoned from the biblical account that Jesus
was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who, according to widely accepted
ancient historical sources such as Josephus, died in what is considered around 4 BC/3 BC. Because Herod
was alive at the time of Christ’s birth (Matthew 2:1), Newton concluded that
Jesus must have been born prior to that year. Nevertheless, it shows the chronological
error of Dionysus.
Newton further examined Luke 3:23, which states that Jesus was “about thirty years of age” at the beginning of His ministry, and correlated this with the reign of Tiberius Caesar to reinforce a birth date earlier than 4 BC. While Newton wisely acknowledged uncertainty in reconstructing ancient chronology, he totally rejected the AD 1 birth date and placed the birth of Christ most likely around 5 BC, with 4 BC as the latest possible year.
Ussher also has Christ’s birth as the tail end of 5
BC and the onset of 4 BC—so most say 4 BC when referring to Ussher as that is
the first full year of Christ's earthly life. Newton also consider naturalistic ideas about
the star and tried to incorporate this data into calculation but the star was
clearly unique. Nevertheless, Newton’s conclusions align closely with the
consensus of many later historians and scholars who date the birth of Jesus
between approximately 5 and 4 BC.
If you want to research Newton’s and Ussher’s chronologies
further, I suggest:
· James Ussher, The Annals of the World
· Isaac Newton, The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended. London, 1728.
· Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVII.
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various
churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers
in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding
news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight
Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.
