In late February and early March 2003, a large amount of media attention circulated around the globe regarding largely unknown and unpublished documents, evidently written by Isaac Newton, indicating that he believed the world would end no earlier than 2060. The story garnered vast amounts of public interest and found its way onto the front page of several widely distributed newspapers, including the UKs Daily Telegraph, Canadas National Post, Israels Maariv and Yediot Aharonot, and was also featured in an article in the scientific journal Canadian Journal of History. Television and internet stories in the following weeks heightened the exposure and ultimately would include the production of several documentary films focused upon the topic of the 2060 prediction and some of Newtons lesser known beliefs and practices.
The two documents detailing this prediction are currently housed within the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. Both were believed to be written toward the end of Newtons life, circa 1705, a time frame most notably established by the use of the full title of Sir' Isaac Newton within portions of the documents.
These documents do not appear to have been written with the intention of publication and Newton expressed a strong personal dislike for individuals who provided specific dates for the Apocalypse purely for sensational value. Furthermore, he at no time provides a specific date for the end of the world in either of these documents.
To understand the reasoning behind the 2060 prediction, an understanding of Newtons theological beliefs should be taken into account, particularly his apparent antitrinitarian beliefs and his Protestant views on the Papacy.  Both of these lay essential to his calculations, which ultimately would provide the 2060 time frame.  See Isaac Newtons religious views for more details.
The first document, part of the Yahuda collection, is a small letter slip, on the back of which is written haphazardly in Newton's hand:
The second reference to the 2060 prediction can be found in a folio, in which Newton writes:
Clearly Newton's mathematical prediction of the end of the world is one derived from his interpretation of not only scripture, but also one based upon his theological viewpoint regarding specific chronological dates and events as he saw them.
Newton may not have been referring to the post 2060 event as a destructive act resulting in the annihilation of the globe and its inhabitants, but rather one in which he believed the world, as he saw it, was to be replaced with a new one based upon a transition to an era of divinely inspired peace. In Christian and Islamic theology this concept is often referred to as The Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of The Kingdom of God on Earth.  In a separate manuscript, Isaac Newton paraphrases Revelation 21 and 22 and relates the post 2060 events by writing: