''An History of the Corruptions of Christianity'', published by Joseph Johnson in 1782, was the fourth part of 18th-century

Dissenting Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

minister Joseph Priestley's ''

Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion The ''Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion'', written by 18th-century English Dissenting minister and polymath Joseph Priestley, is a three-volume work designed for religious education published by Joseph Johnson between 1772 and 1774. ...

'' (1772–74).

Summary

Priestley's major argument in the ''Institutes'' is that the only revealed religious truths that can be accepted are those that also conform to the truth of the natural world. Because his views of religion were deeply tied to his understanding of nature, the text's

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with '' deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred ...

rests on the

argument from design The teleological argument (from ; also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument) is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world wh ...

. Many of Priestley's arguments descended from 18th-century deism and

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

. The ''Institutes'' shocked and appalled many readers, primarily because it challenged basic Christian orthodoxies, such as the

divinity of Christ In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

and the miracle of the Virgin Birth. Priestley wanted to return Christianity to its "primitive" or "pure" form by eliminating the "corruptions" which had accumulated over the centuries. The fourth part of the ''Institutes'', ''An History of the Corruptions of Christianity'', became so long that he was forced to issue it separately. Priestley believed that the ''Corruptions'' was "the most valuable" work he ever published. Robert Schofield, Priestley's major modern biographer, describes the work as "derivative, disorganized, wordy, and repetitive, detailed, exhaustive, and devastatingly argued." The text addresses issues from the divinity of Christ to the proper form for the Lord's Supper.

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

would later write of the profound effect that ''Corruptions'' had on him: "I have read his Corruptions of Christianity, and Early Opinions of Jesus, over and over again; and I rest on them... as the basis of my own faith. These writings have never been answered." Although a few readers such as Jefferson approved of the work, it was generally harshly reviewed because of its extreme theological positions, particularly its rejection of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

.Schofield, Vol. 2, 216–223; Thorpe, 106–108; Holt, 133–39.

Notes

Bibliography

*Gibbs, F. W. ''Joseph Priestley: Adventurer in Science and Champion of Truth''. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1965. *Holt, Anne. ''A Life of Joseph Priestley''. London: Oxford University Press, 1931. *Jackson, Joe, ''A World on Fire: A Heretic, An Aristocrat And The Race to Discover Oxygen''. New York: Viking, 2005. . *McLachlan, John. "Joseph Priestley and the Study of History." ''Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society'' 19 (1987–90): 252–63. *Schofield, Robert E. ''The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of his Life and Work from 1733 to 1773''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. . *Schofield, Robert E. ''The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773 to 1804''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. . *Tapper, Alan. "Joseph Priestley." '' Dictionary of Literary Biography'' 252: ''British Philosophers 1500–1799''. Eds. Philip B. Dematteis and Peter S. Fosl. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. *Thorpe, T.E. ''Joseph Priestley''. London: J. M. Dent, 1906. *Uglow, Jenny. ''The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. .

External links

''A History of the Corruptions of Christianity''
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The Corruptions Of Christianity, A 1782 non-fiction books 18th-century Christian texts Books about Christianity Books by Joseph Priestley