Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 41
EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY rationality, he was left with no option but to reject the dogma of Trinity which in his view had failed the test of reason. . Thus he became the all-time greatest victim of the prejudices of the Christian church sacrificed at the altar of the cross. As a tribute to the genius of Newton, he was elected as a Fellow of the "College of the Holy and. Undivided Trinity", University of Cambridge, a post which he held for many years. In 1675 however, he was given the choice to either vacate his seat and keep his convictions, or to compromise his convictions and assert his orthodoxy under oath one last time in ordination. . But the "Holy and Undivided Trinity” itself stood in his way. His stubborn refusal to subscribe to the doctrine of. Trinity cost him not only his fellowship, but also the handsome stipend of £60 a year. No small amount indeed, judging by the value of money in those days. He was dispossessed of his fellowship and chair from the university on the charge of heresy. The charge of heresy was levelled against him only because in Newton's eyes worshipping. . Christ was idolatry, to him a fundamental sin. R. S. Westfall writes on Newton: 'He recognized Christ as a divine mediator between. God and humankind, who was subordinate to the. Father Who created him. " 'The conviction began to possess him that a massive fraud, which began in the fourth and fifth centuries, had perverted the legacy of the early church. Central to the fraud were the Scriptures, which Newton began to believe had been corrupted to support trinitarianism. It is impossible to say exactly when the conviction fastened upon him. The original notes themselves testify to earlier doubts. Far from silencing the doubts, he let them possess him. " 41