Newton's Explanation of gravity

According to Issac Newton, renowned physicist of the Seventeenth Century, gravity is only the measure of the amount of force the heavenly bodies would exhibit on each other but could not explain the prime cause and the way gravity acts. He predicted, in case of a cosmic catastrophe, for instance, the sun vaporizes and disappears; the other planets would shoot tangentially off their orbits. Conclusively, Gravity acts instantaneously across any distance and the effect of such a cosmic catastrophe would be felt immediately on Earth.
But will that be so??