Editing Joseph Priestley (section)

===Minister of Mill Hill Chapel===
{{further|Joseph Priestley and education|Joseph Priestley and Dissent}}

When Priestley became its minister, [[Mill Hill Chapel]] was one of the oldest and most respected Dissenting congregations in England; however, during the early 18th century the congregation had fractured along doctrinal lines and was losing members to the charismatic [[Methodism#Wesleyan revival|Methodist movement]].<ref>Schofield (1997), 165–69; Holt, 42–43.</ref> Priestley believed that he could strengthen the bonds of the congregation by educating the young people there.<ref>Schofield (1997), 170–71; Gibbs, 37; Watts, 93–94; Holt, 44.</ref>

In his three-volume ''[[Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion]]'' (1772–74),<ref>Priestley. ''[[Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion]]''. London: Printed for J. Johnson, Vol. I, 1772, Vol. II, 1773, Vol. III, 1774.</ref> Priestley outlined his theories of religious instruction. More importantly, he laid out his belief in [[Socinianism]]. The doctrines he explicated would become the standards for [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] in Britain. This work marked a change in Priestley's theological thinking that is critical to understanding his later writings—it paved the way for his [[materialism]] and [[necessitarianism]] (the latter being the belief that a divine being acts in accordance with necessary metaphysical laws).<ref>Miller, xvi; Schofield (1997), 172.</ref>

[[File:PriestleyInstitutes.png|thumb|upright|alt=Page reads: "Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion. In Two Volumes. Two which is prefixed, An Essay on the best Method of communicating religious Knowledge to the Members of Christian Societies. By Joseph Priestley, LL.D. F.R.S. The Second Edition. vol. I. Wisdom is the principal Thing. Solomon. Birmingham, Printed by Pearson and Rollason, for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul's Church-Yard, London. M DCC LXXXIII."|Priestley had been working on ''[[Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion]]'' since his Daventry days.]] 
Priestley's major argument in the ''Institutes'' was that the only revealed religious truths that could be accepted were those that matched one's experience of the natural world. Since his views of religion were tied deeply to his understanding of nature, the text's [[theism]] rested on the [[argument from design]].<ref>Schofield (1997), 174; Uglow, 169; Tapper, 315; Holt, 44.</ref> The ''Institutes'' shocked and appalled many readers, primarily because it challenged basic Christian orthodoxies, such as the [[Christ|divinity of Christ]] and the [[Virgin birth of Jesus|miracle of the Virgin Birth]]. Methodists in Leeds penned a hymn asking God to "the Unitarian fiend expel / And chase his doctrine back to Hell."<ref>Qtd. in Jackson, 102.</ref> 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 in 1782. Priestley believed that the ''Corruptions'' was "the most valuable" work he ever published. In demanding that his readers apply the logic of the emerging sciences and comparative history to the Bible and Christianity, he alienated religious and scientific readers alike—scientific readers did not appreciate seeing science used in the defence of religion and religious readers dismissed the application of science to religion.<ref>McLachlan (1987–90), 261; Gibbs, 38; Jackson, 102; Uglow, 169.</ref>