by Joseph Priestley, intro by Lewis Loflin
Intro by Lewis Loflin: Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) straddled Deism and Unitarianism—reason’s champ, revelation’s skeptic, yet no French radical like Voltaire (see Voltaire). A scientist who nabbed oxygen (1774) and a minister who ditched the Trinity, he wrote this for Jefferson, blending English Deism’s logic (see English Deism) with resurrection hope. It’s not Herbert’s pure creed (see Creed), but it’s closer to Jefferson’s “Nature’s God” than Rousseau’s mess (see Rousseau, Jefferson).
The Doctrines of Heathen Philosophy, Compared with Those of Revelation (Northumberland: John Binns, 1804) is Priestley’s late jab at pagan ideas versus Christian clarity. A Presbyterian turned Unitarian, he went Arian—Christ’s no God—and dumped the atonement, Trinity, and Bible’s divine stamp. At Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds (1767), he embraced Socinianism, co-founded the Unitarian Society (1791), then fled to America in 1794 after public heat. He landed in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, pushing universal restitution and post-death moral progress. Science-wise, he’s famed for oxygen and Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1774-86).—Adapted from Cross, Oxford Dict. Christian Church, p. 1105.
By Joseph Priestley: Thomas Jefferson nudged me to write this—Plato’s afterlife yarns are a mix of fancy and fable, thin on proof. His immortality talk? Eastern fluff—Hindus still buy it—yet Plato doesn’t say where he got it. It flopped in the West, barely denting real thought.
The gospel’s light trumps that murk—no doubt about a future life, split clear between the righteous and wicked. Christ’s death and resurrection seal it—proof and pattern for all to rise, some to life, some to judgment, all judged by deeds. Plato’s guesses don’t touch this weight.
Scripture skips pre-existence or soul-body splits—man dies whole, rises whole, remembering every act, facing a fate that fits. We’ll know our friends, too—Jesus promised his crew they’d share his glory, a perk for all true believers. Suffer with him, reign with him. That’s fuel for virtue, guts for life’s grind, even death’s sting—Christ bore his cross with the same hope.
Loflin’s Note: Priestley’s no pure Deist—he clings to resurrection, not just reason—but he’s kin to English Deism’s moral core (see Origins). No French nihilism here (see French Deism). Jefferson dug this mix—reason plus hope, not Voltaire’s sneer or Rousseau’s bloodlust. More at Deism Mainpage.