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135-599: The Joseph Priestley House was the American home of eighteenth-century British theologian , Dissenting clergyman , natural philosopher (and co-discoverer of oxygen), educator, and political theorist Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) from 1798 until his death. Located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania , the house, which was designed by Priestley's wife Mary, is Georgian with Federalist accents. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) operated it as

270-464: A collection of some of his friend's apparatus and other personal belongings to Dickinson College in Carlisle , which exhibits it each year when presenting the school's Priestley Award to a scientist who makes "discoveries which contribute to the welfare of mankind". The house lost its original furnishings when Joseph Jr. and his family moved back to England. Since it is not known what was originally in

405-757: A commitment conflicts with academic freedom. In some contexts, theology has been held to belong in institutions of higher education primarily as a form of professional training for Christian ministry. This was the basis on which Friedrich Schleiermacher , a liberal theologian, argued for the inclusion of theology in the new University of Berlin in 1810. For instance, in Germany , theological faculties at state universities are typically tied to particular denominations, Protestant or Roman Catholic, and those faculties will offer denominationally-bound (konfessionsgebunden) degrees, and have denominationally bound public posts amongst their faculty; as well as contributing "to

540-469: A fanlight. There are five windows on the second floor on both the front and rear sides of the house, with a dentil cornice above both sets of windows. The external details on the house also include a "frieze board with triglyphs ". Originally, delightful panoramic views were visible from the home. It was built facing the Susquehanna River so that visitors arriving by boat could be welcomed by

675-569: A frequent place of celebration for the American Chemical Society ; they commemorated the centennial and bicentennial of the discovery of oxygen gas by Priestley as well as the 250th anniversary of Priestley's birth. Following the French and Indian War (1755–63) and the forced migration of Native American tribes westward, German, Scots-Irish, and other European immigrants settled in the central Susquehanna Valley , including in

810-572: A last experiment in his lab but was too weak to continue it. He went to a bed in his library, where he died three days later. He was buried in nearby Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland. Priestley's epitaph reads: Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. I will lay me down in peace and sleep till I awake in the morning of the resurrection. Joseph and Mary lived with their son Joseph, Jr. and his family in

945-739: A museum dedicated to Joseph Priestley from 1970 to August 2009, when it closed due to low visitation and budget cuts. The house reopened in October 2009, still owned by the PHMC but operated by the Friends of Joseph Priestley House (FJPH). Fleeing religious persecution and political turmoil in Britain, the Priestleys emigrated to the United States in 1794 seeking a peaceful life. Hoping to avoid

1080-644: A museum. The house proved too costly for the borough to maintain, and was acquired by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1961. Eventually, in 1968 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) began restoring it and in October 1970 the museum was opened to the public. The renovations included a restoration of the laboratory, a removal of ornamentation added in the Victorian era , a return of doorways to their original locations, and

1215-514: A permanent Priestley museum at the Priestley House. After raising sufficient funds, he managed to purchase the home at auction for $ 6,000 from Scott's heirs on November 24, 1919 ($  105,400 in 2024). Pond believed that construction of a new railroad line would destroy the house, and so intended to move it to Pennsylvania State College (now Pennsylvania State University ). However, he died on May 20, 1920, before this plan could be enacted;

1350-963: A primary purpose at their foundation. Seminaries and bible colleges have continued this alliance between the academic study of theology and training for Christian ministry. There are, for instance, numerous prominent examples in the United States, including Phoenix Seminary , Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Criswell College in Dallas, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, Dallas Theological Seminary , North Texas Collegiate Institute in Farmers Branch, Texas, and

1485-434: A professor from what is now Pennsylvania State University , bought it and attempted to found the first Priestley museum. He died before he could complete the project and it was not until the 1960s that the house was first carefully restored by the PHMC and designated a National Historic Landmark . A second renovation was undertaken in the 1990s to return the home to the way it looked during Priestley's time. The home has been

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1620-746: A religious tradition; or it may be used to compare , challenge (e.g. biblical criticism ), or oppose (e.g. irreligion ) a religious tradition or worldview . Theology might also help a theologian address some present situation or need through a religious tradition, or to explore possible ways of interpreting the world. The term "theology" derives from the Greek theologia (θεολογία), a combination of theos (Θεός, ' god ') and logia (λογία, 'utterances, sayings, oracles ')—the latter word relating to Greek logos (λόγος, 'word, discourse , account, reasoning '). The term would pass on to Latin as theologia , then French as théologie , eventually becoming

1755-483: A result of Cooper's schemes. After the failure of Cooper's endeavor, Priestley attempted to convince other friends to move to Northumberland, particularly those he had made in America, but to no avail. Priestley wrote in his Memoirs that "the settlement was given up, but being here, and my wife and myself liking the place, I have determined to take up my residence here, though subject to many disadvantages. Philadelphia

1890-488: A return of the shutters "to their original locations inside the windows". The PHMC was supported by "The Friends of the Joseph Priestley House" (FJPH), who help with the visitor center, tours, special events, and outreach, as well as with clerical and museum work. Between 1998 and 1999 a renovation that was "one of the most extensive changes in the homestead's history" set out to "restore the grounds around

2025-491: A set of letters sent to Priestley by the radical printer John Hurford Stone and the liberal novelist Helen Maria Williams . Cobbett published the letters in his newspaper, asserting that Priestley and his friends were fomenting a revolution. Priestley was eventually forced to defend himself in print. Family matters also made Priestley's time in America difficult. His youngest son Harry died on December 11, 1795, probably of malaria . Mary Priestley died on September 17, 1796; she

2160-410: A small house while theirs was being built. Mary Priestley was primarily responsible for the design of the couple's new home and her family inheritance may have helped finance it, but she died before it was completed. By 1797, Joseph's laboratory was completed—the first part of the home to be finished. It was the first laboratory that "he had designed, built, and outfitted entirely himself" and was probably

2295-457: A stone foundation. The Priestleys built their home out of wood, dried in trenches on the site, because no stone or brick was available in the area. Joseph wrote a detailed description of the drying process, concluding: "A house constructed with such boards I prefer to one of brick and stone". This may have prompted journalist William Cobbett to caustically label the house a "shed" in one of his political tirades against Joseph. The central section of

2430-464: A timeline of Priestley's scientific work and times in the Pond building, as well as a video about his laboratory techniques and impact today. The American Chemical Society (ACS) has used the Joseph Priestley House as a place to mark special celebrations. On July 31 and August 1, 1874, "seventy-seven chemists made a pilgrimage to the site to celebrate the centennial of chemistry". The date was chosen to mark

2565-577: Is 243 miles (391 km) long, is entirely within the state of Pennsylvania , draining a large mountainous area within the Allegheny Plateau in the western part of the state. Along most of its course it meanders past mountain ridges and through water gaps , forming a large zigzag arc through central Pennsylvania around the north end of the Allegheny Mountains . In colonial times, the river valley provided an important route to

2700-842: Is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. For instance: The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church by papal bull as studia generalia and perhaps from cathedral schools . It is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception. Later they were also founded by kings ( University of Naples Federico II , Charles University in Prague , Jagiellonian University in Kraków ) or by municipal administrations ( University of Cologne , University of Erfurt ). In

2835-568: Is at an elevation of 456 feet (139 m). The property's original area was 2 acres (8,000 m), but this was reduced by about half around 1830 when the Pennsylvania Canal (North Branch Division) was dug through the house's front yard, between the house and river. On May 31, 1860, the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad opened with a train from Danville . This was the second railroad track in Northumberland, and ran behind

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2970-448: Is constituted by a triple aspect: what is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God ( Latin : Theologia a Deo docetur, Deum docet, et ad Deum ducit ). This indicates the three distinct areas of God as theophanic revelation , the systematic study of the nature of divine and, more generally, of religious belief , and the spiritual path . Christian theology as the study of Christian belief and practice concentrates primarily upon

3105-455: Is denied that there is as clear a boundary between them. Whether or not reasoned discussion about the divine is possible has long been a point of contention. Protagoras , as early as the fifth century BC , who is reputed to have been exiled from Athens because of his agnosticism about the existence of the gods, said that "Concerning the gods I cannot know either that they exist or that they do not exist, or what form they might have, for there

3240-541: Is in fault not religion. Theology is a science that may justly be compared to the Box of Pandora . Many good things lie uppermost in it; but many evil lie under them, and scatter plagues and desolation throughout the world." Thomas Paine , a Deistic American political theorist and pamphleteer , wrote in his three-part work The Age of Reason (1794, 1795, 1807): The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches,

3375-435: Is known at Aberdeen) and in religious studies. In some contemporary contexts, a distinction is made between theology, which is seen as involving some level of commitment to the claims of the religious tradition being studied, and religious studies , which by contrast is normally seen as requiring that the question of the truth or falsehood of the religious traditions studied be kept outside its field. Religious studies involves

3510-415: Is known of his experiments and late-18th-century laboratories. Extensive research on the laboratory within the house was completed in 1996, including excavations that revealed two underground ovens, as well as evidence of a primitive fume hood . The 1998 renovations also included work to restore the laboratory to a condition as close to its original state as possible. After Joseph's death, Thomas Cooper sold

3645-458: Is more than I hoped for at the time we came up...This country is very delightful, the prospects of wood and water more beautiful than I have ever seen before and the people plain and decent in their manners." Priestley's son, Joseph Priestley Jr., was a leading member of a consortium that purchased 300,000 acres (1,200 km) of land along Loyalsock Creek (between the North and West Branches of

3780-575: Is much to prevent one's knowing: the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of man's life." Since at least the eighteenth century, various authors have criticized the suitability of theology as an academic discipline. In 1772, Baron d'Holbach labeled theology "a continual insult to human reason" in Le Bon sens . Lord Bolingbroke , an English politician and political philosopher, wrote in Section IV of his Essays on Human Knowledge , "Theology

3915-401: Is not part of theology proper , but is found in the philosophy of religion , and increasingly through the psychology of religion and neurotheology . Theology's aim, then, is to record, structure and understand these experiences and concepts; and to use them to derive normative prescriptions for how to live our lives . The history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education

4050-443: Is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God." Whatever the case, there are various Buddhist theories and discussions on the nature of Buddhahood and the ultimate reality / highest form of divinity , which has been termed "buddhology" by some scholars like Louis de La Vallée-Poussin . This is a different usage of the term than when it is taken to mean the academic study of Buddhism , and here would refer to

4185-575: Is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste. A. J. Ayer , a British former logical-positivist , sought to show in his essay "Critique of Ethics and Theology" that all statements about

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4320-497: Is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing. The German atheist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach sought to dissolve theology in his work Principles of

4455-495: Is unclear whether Cooper's scheme was related to the lands that the younger Priestleys had purchased. Apparently technically unrelated to either of these schemes, but influenced by Cooper's, poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth , full of idealism and angered at Priestley's treatment in Birmingham , intended to emigrate to America and establish a utopian community which they called "Pantisocracy" (derived from

4590-716: Is used by Christine Kraemer in her book Seeking The Mystery: An Introduction to Pagan Theologies and by Michael York in Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion . Richard Hooker defines theology as "the science of things divine". The term can, however, be used for a variety of disciplines or fields of study. Theology considers whether the divine exists in some form, such as in physical , supernatural , mental , or social realities , and what evidence for and about it may be found via personal spiritual experiences or historical records of such experiences as documented by others. The study of these assumptions

4725-591: The ātman (soul). The Sanskrit word for the various schools of Hindu philosophy is darśana ('view, viewpoint'), the most influential one in terms of modern Hindu religion is Vedanta and its various sub-schools, each of which presents a different theory of Ishvara (the Supreme lord, God). Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars in India for centuries. A large part of its study lies in classifying and organizing

4860-729: The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. The only Judeo-Christian seminary for theology is the 'Idaho Messianic Bible Seminary' which is part of the Jewish University of Colorado in Denver . In some contexts, scholars pursue theology as an academic discipline without formal affiliation to any particular church (though members of staff may well have affiliations to churches), and without focussing on ministerial training. This applies, for instance, to

4995-553: The Church Fathers ). In the Renaissance , especially with Florentine Platonist apologists of Dante 's poetics, the distinction between 'poetic theology' ( theologia poetica ) and 'revealed' or Biblical theology serves as stepping stone for a revival of philosophy as independent of theological authority. It is in the last sense, theology as an academic discipline involving rational study of Christian teaching, that

5130-603: The Iroquoian -speaking Susquehannocks . Their name meant "people of the muddy river", from the Lenape name of the Susquehanna River, Siskuwihane ( sisku "mud", hane "river"). Decimated by diseases and warfare, they had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes by the early 18th century. The lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley were then chiefly occupied by

5265-914: The Mass . During the High Middle Ages, theology was the ultimate subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences". It served as the capstone to the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including philosophy ) existed primarily to help with theological thought. In this context, medieval theology in the Christian West could subsume fields of study which would later become more self-sufficient, such as metaphysics (Aristotle's " first philosophy ", or ontology (the science of being). Christian theology's preeminent place in

5400-734: The Moravian missionaries who were spreading the gospel throughout the wilderness of Pennsylvania during the 1740s. Count Zinzendorf , a missionary being guided by Conrad Weiser with the permission of Shikellamy , came to Ostuagy in 1742. The British purchased land from the Iroquois in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, opening what is now Lycoming County to settlement. However, the Line of Property (or Purchase Line ) border defined by "Tiadaghton Creek" dividing colonial and Native American lands

5535-648: The Munsee phratry of the Lenape (or Delaware) people and were under the nominal control of the Five (later Six) Nations of the Iroquois . Madame Montour 's village of Otstonwakin or Ostuagy was a vitally important location during the settlement of what is now Lycoming County. Her village at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River was an important stopping point for

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5670-641: The Ohio River valley. In the 19th century, its lower valley became a significant industrial heartland of Pennsylvania. In the 20th century, the upper reaches of the West Branch turned a yellow/orange color due to sulfurous drainage from nearby and abandoned deep bituminous coal mines. The West Branch rises on the west side of the Alleghenies in northwestern Cambria County , just outside the borough of Carrolltown . It flows generally north, crossing

5805-480: The Reading Advertiser to falsely accuse Priestley's son William , of trying to poison them with arsenic. Priestley continued the educational projects that had been important to him throughout his life, helping to establish a "Northumberland Academy" and donating his library to the fledgling institution. He exchanged letters regarding the proper structure of a university with Thomas Jefferson , who used

5940-498: The September massacres of the previous year. Although Europeans knew Priestley best as a scientist (he had published his paper on the discovery oxygen gas in 1774), Americans knew him best as a defender of religious freedom and as an advocate for American independence . Immediately upon his arrival, he was fêted by various political factions vying to gain his support. Priestley declined their entreaties, however, hoping to avoid

6075-402: The early medieval period , most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries. Christian theological learning was, therefore, a component in these institutions, as

6210-647: The supernatural , but also deals with religious epistemology , asks and seeks to answer the question of revelation . Revelation pertains to the acceptance of God , gods , or deities , as not only transcendent or above the natural world, but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and to reveal themselves to humankind. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument ( experiential , philosophical , ethnographic , historical , and others) to help understand , explain , test, critique , defend or promote any myriad of religious topics . As in philosophy of ethics and case law , arguments often assume

6345-671: The British. After the Wyoming Valley battle and massacre in the summer of 1778 (near what is now Wilkes-Barre ) and smaller local attacks, the " Big Runaway " occurred throughout the West Branch Susquehanna valley. Settlers fled feared and actual attacks by the British and their allies. Homes and fields were abandoned, with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to Muncy , then further south to Sunbury . The abandoned property

6480-520: The Christian church, to assist in the propagation of Christianity, to draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or need, or for a variety of other reasons. Islamic theological discussion that parallels Christian theological discussion is called Kalam ; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of Sharia or Fiqh . Kalam...does not hold

6615-528: The Deity". The Latin author Boethius , writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of academic study, dealing with the motionless, incorporeal reality; as opposed to physica , which deals with corporeal , moving realities. Boethius' definition influenced medieval Latin usage. In patristic Greek Christian sources, theologia could refer narrowly to devout and/or inspired knowledge of and teaching about

6750-754: The Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Canada , and to many university departments in the United Kingdom , including the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge , the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter , and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds . Traditional academic prizes, such as the University of Aberdeen 's Lumsden and Sachs Fellowship , tend to acknowledge performance in theology (or divinity as it

6885-526: The English theology . Through several variants (e.g., theologie , teologye ), the English theology had evolved into its current form by 1362. The sense that the word has in English depends in large part on the sense that the Latin and Greek equivalents had acquired in patristic and medieval Christian usage although the English term has now spread beyond Christian contexts. Greek theologia (θεολογία)

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7020-573: The Federal style in the region". As William N. Richardson, the site administrator for the Joseph Priestley House in the 1990s, notes, Priestley's American home did not resemble his "high-style Georgian town house" that was destroyed in Birmingham; rather, it was "plain" and built in the "American vernacular". The house has a two-and-half story central section, which is 48 feet (14.6 m) by 43 feet (13.1 m), and two one-story wings on

7155-505: The Greek for "equal rule of all"). They assembled twelve couples who were interested not only in demanding physical labor but also in a life of the mind, but none of them had enough money to embark on the project, which required much capital. Therefore, the poets undertook a lecture tour of England to raise funds; however, they never generated enough money and never emigrated. The utopia was not built and few immigrants arrived in Northumberland as

7290-724: The Philosophy of the Future : "The task of the modern era was the realization and humanization of God – the transformation and dissolution of theology into anthropology." This mirrored his earlier work The Essence of Christianity (1841), for which he was banned from teaching in Germany, in which he had said that theology was a "web of contradictions and delusions". The American satirist Mark Twain remarked in his essay " The Lowest Animal ", originally written in around 1896, but not published until after Twain's death in 1910, that: [Man]

7425-402: The Priestleys moved there, it included Quaker and Wesleyan meeting houses, a brewery , two potteries , a potash manufacturer, a clock maker, a printer (who issued a weekly newspaper), several stores, and approximately one hundred houses. The Priestley property, which was purchased in 1794 at a total cost of £ 500 (£ 72,600 in 2024) from Reuben Haines, who had secured the patent to

7560-491: The Priestleys stopped in Philadelphia , where Joseph delivered a series of sermons that helped promote the spread of Unitarianism . According to J. D. Bowers, who studied Priestley's influence on Unitarianism in America, "[f]or a decade Priestley served as the inspiration and leading force in the spread of Unitarianism in America and the formation of numerous societies that followed his teachings on congregational formation,

7695-565: The Priestleys' holdings. A bedroom on the second floor is dedicated to an exploration of the life of an 18th-century woman. On January 12, 1965, the Joseph Priestley House was designated a National Historic Landmark and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on October 15, 1966. On August 1, 1994, the American Chemical Society named it the second National Historic Chemical Landmark ;

7830-661: The Susquehanna River). Shortly thereafter, Thomas Cooper , a friend of Joseph Priestley's, published a pamphlet in Britain titled Some Information Respecting America , meant to encourage others to settle in Pennsylvania and offering instructions on how to do so. It detailed a clear plan for establishing and financing a settlement. The French translation, Renseignemens sur l'Amérique , was, according to one scholar, "carefully phrased in legal terminology" and "lucidly outline[d] an ambitious financial venture". However, it

7965-741: The Susquehanna Valley. When he preached, Unitarians and non-Unitarians flocked to hear him and his sermons were published throughout the country. During his years in America, Priestley became increasingly convinced that the Millennium was approaching. His close study of the Bible, together with the happenings in France, persuaded him that he would see Christ's return. While Priestley enjoyed preaching in Philadelphia, he could not afford

8100-469: The Susquehanna and explore a route for a passageway to connect the West Branch with the waters of the Allegheny River . The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers ( squatters ) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley of Pennsylvania. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans , they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly, they established what

8235-574: The United States than during all his years in England: some 45 papers, not counting reprintings, and four pamphlets, not counting subsequent editions, but in general his science was now anticlimactic. Few of his papers contributed anything significantly new to the field of chemistry; most were committed to combatting the new chemistry. Despite Priestley's reduced scientific importance, he stimulated an interest in chemistry in America. By 1801, Priestley had become so ill that he could no longer write or experiment effectively. On February 3, 1804, Joseph started

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8370-474: The United States, and there were many, it was his four-volume General History that was the most important. Stretching from 475 CE to Priestley's present, he tracked and explained what he saw as the history of Christianity and its "corruptions", referencing his own An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1772–74). However, he ended it by praising American religious toleration. Priestley attempted to continue his scientific investigations in America with

8505-407: The United States. The fort was built under the direction of Colonel Antes, who was a member of the Pennsylvania militia . It was on the east side of Antes Creek , overlooking and on the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River on a plateau in Nippenose Township south of modern-day Jersey Shore in western Lycoming County . The local militia held the fort for a short period of time until it

8640-431: The advice when founding the University of Virginia . Jefferson and Priestley became close and when he had completed his General History of the Christian Church , he dedicated it to President Jefferson, writing that "it is now only that I can say I see nothing to fear from the hand of power, the government under which I live being for the first time truly favourable to me." Of all of the religious works Priestley published in

8775-420: The architecture signaled "subdued elegance". The house was accented with Federalist highlights, such as "the fanlights over the doors and the balustrades on the rooftop belvedere and main staircase", marking it as distinctly American. Douglas R. McMinn, in the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Northumberland Historic District , calls it a "mansion" that is "probably the finest example of

8910-419: The area that would become Northumberland, Pennsylvania . Northumberland was laid out around a central village green in 1772, on land originally purchased from the Iroquois by the Province of Pennsylvania in 1768, as part of the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix . During the American Revolution , the village was evacuated as part of the Big Runaway in 1778, and only finally resettled in 1784. In 1794, when

9045-434: The best of my situation". In his letters to friends back in Britain, Priestley consistently referred to himself as an exile and to England as his real home. His wife was happier with the couple's situation and wrote to William Vaughan: "I am happy and thankful to meet with so sweet a situation and so peaceful a retreat as the place I now write from. Dr. Priestley also likes it and of his own choice intends to settle here, which

9180-413: The conservative British reaction against the French Revolution , the Priestleys' home, Joseph's church, and the homes of many other religious Dissenters were burned. The Priestleys fled Birmingham and attempted to live in London , but could not escape the political turmoil. In 1794, they joined the tide of 10,000 emigrants who moved to America during the largest emigration from Europe to America until

9315-417: The construction of the house difficult. For example, Richardson speculates that the main staircase was assembled from a kit. It is one step too short for the Northumberland hallway, but no extra step was added to finish off the symmetry of the stairwell, suggesting a dearth of skilled labor. After the deaths of Mary and Joseph Priestley, Joseph Priestley, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Ryland, continued to live in

9450-415: The context of the Jewish community and synagogue , including through rabbinical discussion of Jewish law and Midrash (rabbinic biblical commentaries). Jewish theology is also linked to ethics , as it is the case with theology in other religions, and therefore has implications for how one behaves. Some academic inquiries within Buddhism , dedicated to the investigation of a Buddhist understanding of

9585-417: The dedication ceremony was attended by 75 Priestley descendants. In 1988, the Northumberland Historic District , including the Priestley House (which it describes as a "gem" and one of the finest Federal style buildings in central Pennsylvania), was listed on the NRHP. The district includes one other building already on the NRHP: the Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library , which was built as an inn around 1820 and

9720-427: The development and growth of Christian knowledge" they "provide the academic training for the future clergy and teachers of religious instruction at German schools." In the United States, several prominent colleges and universities were started in order to train Christian ministers. Harvard , Georgetown , Boston University , Yale , Duke University , and Princeton all had the theological training of clergy as

9855-400: The divine are nonsensical and any divine-attribute is unprovable. He wrote: "It is now generally admitted, at any rate by philosophers, that the existence of a being having the attributes which define the god of any non-animistic religion cannot be demonstratively proved.... [A]ll utterances about the nature of God are nonsensical." West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch, which

9990-496: The early 19th century, various different approaches have emerged in the West to theology as an academic discipline. Much of the debate concerning theology's place in the university or within a general higher education curriculum centres on whether theology's methods are appropriately theoretical and (broadly speaking) scientific or, on the other hand, whether theology requires a pre-commitment of faith by its practitioners, and whether such

10125-495: The eastern corner of Indiana County at Cherry Tree , then into southern Clearfield County . Near Mahaffey it turns generally northeast and flows past Curwensville and Clearfield . In northern Clinton County it turns to the southeast to Lock Haven . At Lock Haven, it turns east, flowing through the West Branch Susquehanna Valley along the foot of Bald Eagle Mountain ridge past Williamsport ,

10260-627: The education of youth, lay preaching, and espousing one's faith in the presence of opposition from (and to) both the Protestant majority and a competing liberal faction." Through Priestley's influence, at least twelve congregations were founded in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, including the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia and Northumberland's Unitarian Universalist Congregation of

10395-685: The end of the Napoleonic Wars . The Priestleys left Britain at the beginning of April on the Samson , and arrived in New York City on June 4, 1794. Two of their three sons, Joseph, Jr. (eldest) and Harry (youngest), had already emigrated to the United States in August 1793, along with Joseph Priestley's friend, the radical activist Thomas Cooper . Their middle son, William , had moved to America from France, probably early in 1793, following

10530-532: The essential nature of God. In scholastic Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the doctrines of the Christian religion , or (more precisely) the academic discipline that investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in Peter Lombard 's Sentences , a book of extracts from

10665-424: The existence of previously resolved questions, and develop by making analogies from them to draw new inferences in new situations. The study of theology may help a theologian more deeply understand their own religious tradition , another religious tradition, or it may enable them to explore the nature of divinity without reference to any specific tradition. Theology may be used to propagate , reform, or justify

10800-542: The expense of living there; he also disliked the city's Quakers , who he believed were too opulent, and feared the yellow fever epidemic that had recently decimated the city. He considered settling in Germantown , which had better access to transportation and communication than Northumberland, but his wife preferred the country and wanted to be near her sons. Priestly then debated about splitting his time between Northumberland and Philadelphia, but soon realized this plan

10935-471: The family and because conventional 18th-century aesthetic theory held that countryscapes were more beautiful than townscapes. Priestley built a high wall blocking the view of Northumberland and added a belvedere to the top of his house to more easily survey the landscape. His plantings were "a much scaled-down version of the beautiful gardens" at Bowood , the estate of his former employer Lord Shelburne . The lack of skilled craftspeople in Northumberland made

11070-413: The first "scientifically-equipped laboratory" in the United States. Joseph continued his scientific and scholarly work in his new laboratory, identifying carbon monoxide (which he called "heavy inflammable air"). In 1798 Joseph Jr., his wife, and their children moved into the new house with Joseph Priestley. The house also held Priestley's library, which contained about 1600 volumes by his death in 1804 and

11205-408: The first and second floors; the first floor also has an intersecting hall that leads to the laboratory. The attic has three rooms for servants and a larger room for storage. A paint analysis done in 1994 revealed that the house had no wall paper initially and that the walls and woodwork were painted "a brilliant white". The house is a frame structure, covered with white wooden clapboards , anchored to

11340-483: The grounds and dedicated to Pond's memory in 1926. In 1941 the state legislature tried to have the State Historical Commission administer the house as a museum, but Governor Arthur James vetoed the plan for lack of funding. On December 14, 1955, the college donated the house to the borough of Northumberland. From 1955 to 1959 the house served as both the borough hall for Northumberland and as

11475-427: The home to dedicate the small brick museum and to celebrate the meeting 50 years earlier (two survivors of that first meeting were present). Theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity . It is taught as an academic discipline , typically in universities and seminaries . It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing

11610-538: The home, it is furnished and decorated with artifacts donated by descendants of the Priestleys and with ones similar to those listed in Priestley's testament of what was lost in the fire at his Birmingham home. A number of items that belonged to Joseph and Mary during their lives both in Britain and America are on display throughout the house, including Joseph's balance scales and microscope. Portraits, prints, maps, charts, and books have been carefully selected to replicate

11745-480: The house for $ 3,000 on April 11, 1888 ($  101,700 in 2024). In 1911 the last private resident moved out of the house, and it was sublet to the Pennsylvania Railroad for its workers (a large railroad yard was built in Northumberland at this time). This led to a general decline in the house and its grounds. Professor George Gilbert Pond was the first person to make a significant effort to establish

11880-486: The house has a slate gable roof with a railing-enclosed deck. The house has "three internal gable end chimneys, one for the main kitchen", and one each at the north and south ends of the central section. The house faces the Susquehanna River , and both the front and rear doors are "sheltered by a shallow portico". A circular carriage drive (originally gravel, now concrete) leads to the front door, which also has

12015-415: The house to exactly the way it was when Priestley lived" there. This involved reconstructing exact replicas of the original carriage barn, hog sties, horse stalls, gardens, fences, and even the privy . These structures were based on T. Lambourne's drawings of the house and grounds that had been discovered in 1983, other records, and excavations. Priestley left no written description of his laboratory, but much

12150-561: The house until 1811, at which time they emigrated to Britain and sold the home. The house passed through various hands during the 19th century. Judge Seth Chapman purchased the house from Joseph Priestley Jr. on May 13, 1815, for US$ 6,250 ($  104,000 in 2024). Chapman died on December 4, 1835, and Rev. James Kay, pastor of the Northumberland Unitarian congregation, and his family lived in the house next. James Kay died on September 22, 1847, and his widow probably lived in

12285-485: The house until her October 2, 1850 death. Charles H. Kay, son of James, had purchased the house in 1845, a few years before his parents' deaths. In April 1865 Charles Kay's children sold the house to Henry R. Campbell for $ 2,775 ($  55,200 in 2024). Florence Bingham purchased the house from Campbell for $ 5,679.53 on January 18, 1868 ($  130,000 in 2024), and Bingham's heirs sold it to T. Hugh Johnson for $ 2,000 on October 7, 1882 ($  63,100 in 2024). Kate Scott bought

12420-526: The house. The canal closed in 1902 and was later filled in. The modern railroad line approximates the canal's course through the front yard; the track behind the house no longer exists. The last three years the Priestleys spent in Britain were a time of political upheaval. During the Birmingham Riots of 1791 , which began on the second anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in the wake of

12555-540: The hundredth anniversary of Priestley's experiment producing oxygen by heating mercuric oxide with a magnifying lens and sunlight. These chemists came from 15 US states and the District of Columbia , Canada, and England, and their meeting at the house and a local school "is now recognized as the first National Chemistry Congress, and many ACS historians believe it led to ACS's formation two years later on April 6, 1876". On September 5, 1926, about 500 ACS members met again at

12690-400: The land for Northumberland, comprised four lots of the original village plan (numbers 29–32). Currently, the house and grounds occupy 1 acre (4,000 m) at 472 Priestley Avenue. (The address of the house was originally "North Way", but the street was later renamed in honor of Joseph Priestley.) This street forms the northwest boundary of the property; the other boundaries are Hanover Avenue to

12825-522: The largest city on the river, then turns south at the end of the ridge. From there it winds around Muncy , emerging from a water gap between Montour Ridge and Shamokin Mountain and joining the north (main) branch of the Susquehanna from the northwest approximately 2 miles (3 km) north of Sunbury . From its upper reaches to its lower reaches, it receives: Up through the early 19th century

12960-561: The leading place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for 'theology' in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Some Universities in Germany established departments of islamic theology. (i.e. ) In Jewish theology, the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within

13095-474: The logs. The men working at the end of the boom would sort the logs according to their corresponding brand and float them into the correct holding pond along the bank of the river. During the height of the lumber industry in Lycoming County, 1861–1891, the various mills produced 5.5 billion board feet (13 million m ) of lumber. Williamsport became one of the most prosperous cities in Pennsylvania and in

13230-526: The manifestations of thousands of gods and their aspects. In recent decades the study of Hinduism has also been taken up by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Bhaktivedanta College . There are also other traditions of Hindu theology, including the various theologies of Shaivism (which include dualistic and non-dualistic strands) as well as

13365-427: The most significant log drive was conveyed on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The Susquehanna's West Branch Canal Division further shaped the corridor, linking towns and villages and providing vital opportunities for commerce. Finally, railroads in the corridor fused the links between communities and commerce within the corridor. The first recorded inhabitants of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were

13500-483: The nearly 60 sawmills along the river between Lycoming and Loyalsock creeks in Lycoming County . The boom was constructed in 1846 under the supervision of James H. Perkins. A boom is a chain or line of connected floating timbers extended across a river, lake, or harbor, so as to obstruct passage or catch floating objects. The Susquehanna Boom extended 7 miles (11 km) upstream from Duboistown to

13635-408: The north and south sides that are each 22 feet (6.7 m) by 21 feet (6.4 m). The first and second floors have a total area of 5,052 square feet (469 m). The north wing was the laboratory and the south wing (which had an attached woodshed) was the summer kitchen. The cellar, first, and second floors of the central section are each divided into four rooms, with a central hall on

13770-569: The northeast, Wallis Street to the southwest, and the North Shore Railroad to the southeast. A baseball field is located beyond the railroad line; beyond that lies the Susquehanna River , which was the original southeastern boundary of the property. The confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River with the main (or North) branch of the Susquehanna is a short distance southwest of the property, which

13905-403: The number of visitors held steady after recent declines. According to the PHMC, in fiscal 2007–08 "total visitation ... was 1,705 with a paid visitation of 1,100 generating $ 4,125 in program revenue and 2,406 recreational and non-ticketed visitors". The fiscal 2006–07 operations budget for the house and its two full-time staff was $ 142,901, with $ 6,900 (five percent) coming from FJPH and

14040-441: The planned rail line was never built and the house proved too fragile to move. The college established a memorial fund in Pond's honor and retained the house as a museum, although Pond's children did not formally transfer the house to the college until April 14, 1932. Some restoration of the house was done in the 1920s, and a small, brick building—intended as a fireproof museum for Priestley's books and scientific apparatus—was built on

14175-427: The political discord that had embroiled him in Britain. He wrote to John Adams that he "made it a rule to take no part whatever in the politics of a country in which I am a stranger, and in which I only wish to live undisturbed". (Priestley never became a citizen of the United States.) He also turned down an opportunity to teach chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania at this time. On their way to Northumberland,

14310-411: The political troubles that had plagued them in Britain and the problems of urban life they saw in the United States, the Priestleys built a house in rural Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, political disputes and family troubles dogged Priestley during the last ten years of his life. After the Priestleys died, their home remained in private hands until the turn of the twentieth century, when George Gilbert Pond,

14445-435: The rest from the state of Pennsylvania. On March 4, 2009, the PHMC released a report examining its 22 museums and historic sites and recommended discontinuing operations at six, including the Joseph Priestley House. The proposed closure of the Priestley House was based on "low visitation and limited potential for growth". Despite public meetings, protest letters, and a general "public outcry" against closure, on August 14, 2009,

14580-716: The river provided the principal canoe route across the Alleghenies connecting the Susquehanna and Ohio valleys, with a portage at Cherry Tree to Blacklick Creek , a tributary of the Conemaugh River . In the late 18th century, Cherry Tree marked the frontier between the Pennsylvania Colony and the Shawnee and Lenape lands to the west as specified by treaty. The lands along the West Branch were vital hunting grounds and agricultural lands for Native Americans . During Pennsylvania's great lumbering era,

14715-554: The site". On November 1, there was a "grand reopening celebration" at the house with a dozen costumed volunteer guides and chemical demonstrations in Priestley's laboratory. On November 7, 2010, the brick Pond building was rededicated after an $ 85,000 renovation, as part of the museum's annual "Fall Heritage Day". The restoration, which had been planned for years, was paid for by private donors and included "handicapped accessibility, new roofing, heating and air-conditioning and new interior walls, ceilings and lighting". The FJPH plan to install

14850-432: The state closed the Priestley House and three other PHMC museums indefinitely due to a lack of funding as part of an ongoing budget crisis. The sole remaining state employee at Priestley House was furloughed. That month the Friends of the Joseph Priestley House submitted a plan to the PHMC to operate the house on weekends from May to October with staffing provided by volunteers. The plan depended both on acquiring insurance for

14985-562: The study of religions that worship a supposed deity (a theos ), i.e. more widely than monotheism ; and presuppose a belief in the ability to speak and reason about this deity (in logia ). They suggest the term is less appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently (i.e., religions without a single deity, or that deny that such subjects can be studied logically). Hierology has been proposed, by such people as Eugène Goblet d'Alviella (1908), as an alternative, more generic term. As defined by Thomas Aquinas , theology

15120-526: The study of historical or contemporary practices or of those traditions' ideas using intellectual tools and frameworks that are not themselves specifically tied to any religious tradition and that are normally understood to be neutral or secular. In contexts where 'religious studies' in this sense is the focus, the primary forms of study are likely to include: Sometimes, theology and religious studies are seen as being in tension, and at other times, they are held to coexist without serious tension. Occasionally it

15255-513: The study of the nature of what a Buddha is. In Mahayana Buddhism , a central concept in its buddhology is the doctrine of the three Buddha bodies (Sanskrit: Trikāya ). This doctrine is shared by all Mahayana Buddhist traditions. Within Hindu philosophy , there are numerous traditions of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God (termed Brahman , Paramatma , Ishvara , and/or Bhagavan in some schools of Hindu thought) and of

15390-632: The support of the American Philosophical Association. However, he was hampered by lack of news from Europe; unaware of the latest scientific developments, Priestley was no longer on the forefront of discovery. Although the majority of his publications focused on defending the outmoded phlogiston theory against the " new chemistry ", he also did some original work on spontaneous generation and dreams. As Robert Schofield, Priestley's major modern biographer, explains: Priestley published more scientific items during his decade in

15525-402: The term natural theology , which denoted theology based on reasoning from natural facts independent of specifically Christian revelation) or that are specific to another religion (such as below). Theology can also be used in a derived sense to mean "a system of theoretical principles; an (impractical or rigid) ideology". The term theology has been deemed by some as only appropriate to

15660-521: The term passed into English in the 14th century, although it could also be used in the narrower sense found in Boethius and the Greek patristic authors, to mean rational study of the essential nature of God, a discourse now sometimes called theology proper . From the 17th century onwards, the term theology began to be used to refer to the study of religious ideas and teachings that are not specifically Christian or correlated with Christianity (e.g., in

15795-525: The texts of the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theology might be undertaken to help the theologian better understand Christian tenets, to make comparisons between Christianity and other traditions, to defend Christianity against objections and criticism, to facilitate reforms in

15930-1075: The theologies of the Goddess centered Shakta traditions which posit a feminine deity as the ultimate. In Japan, the term theology ( 神学 , shingaku ) has been ascribed to Shinto since the Edo period with the publication of Mano Tokitsuna's Kokon shingaku ruihen ( 古今神学類編 , 'categorized compilation of ancient theology'). In modern times, other terms are used to denote studies in Shinto—as well as Buddhist—belief, such as kyōgaku ( 教学 , 'doctrinal studies') and shūgaku ( 宗学 , 'denominational studies'). English academic Graham Harvey has commented that Pagans "rarely indulge in theology". Nevertheless, theology has been applied in some sectors across contemporary Pagan communities, including Wicca , Heathenry , Druidry and Kemetism . As these religions have given precedence to orthopraxy , theological views often vary among adherents. The term

16065-476: The university started to come under challenge during the European Enlightenment , especially in Germany. Other subjects gained in independence and prestige, and questions were raised about the place of a discipline that seemed to involve a commitment to the authority of particular religious traditions in institutions that were increasingly understood to be devoted to independent reason. Since

16200-471: The village of Linden in Woodward Township . The boom was constructed by creating a series of man-made islands known as "cribs". These cribs built of local mountain stone and sunken timber were stretched diagonally across the river, beginning on the south side near Duboistown and ending on the north side near Linden. The boom was made of 352 separate cribs that were 22 feet (7 m) high. The boom

16335-474: The volunteers, the house, and its contents, and on the state passing a budget. On September 24, 2009, the PHMC and officers of the FJPH signed an agreement to reopen the museum on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The house reopened on October 3, with volunteer staffing from the FJPH. The agreement can be renewed annually and lets FJPH "schedule programs, set fees and be in charge of all the business aspects of running

16470-501: The world" and complaining that he had to wait a week for news. He wrote to his friend John Vaughan : "We know but little more than we did when we left you of European affairs." During the winter of 1794-1795, Priestley wrote to friends that his situation was very "distant from my original views" and "my time here is far from passing so agreeably as it did in England", yet he was "very thankful for such an asylum" and he attempted "to make

16605-440: The world, prefer the designation Buddhist philosophy to the term Buddhist theology , since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a theos or a Creator God . Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is in fact appropriate, can only do so, he says, because "I take theology not to be restricted to discourse on God.... I take 'theology' not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism

16740-440: Was already ill and never fully recovered after the shock of her son's death. On September 19 of that year Joseph wrote: "This day I bury my wife....she had taken much thought in planning the new house and now that it is far advanced and promises to be everything she wished, she is removed to another." After dinner on Monday 14 April 1800, various members of Priestley's household fell ill, with symptoms of food poisoning, which prompted

16875-486: Was burnt by the attackers. Some settlers soon returned, only to flee again in the summer of 1779 in the "Little Runaway". The Sullivan Expedition helped stabilize the area and encouraged resettlement, which continued after the war. In 1790, Timothy Matlack , Samuel Maclay and John Adlum were commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to survey the headwaters of

17010-560: Was disputed. The colonists claimed this was Pine Creek , the Iroquois and other tribes Lycoming Creek . The area between Pine and Lycoming creeks was disputed territory. The illegal settlers there were part of the " Fair Play Men " system of self-government, with their own Declaration of Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. In the American Revolutionary War , settlements throughout the Susquehanna valley were attacked by Loyalists and Native Americans allied with

17145-646: Was excessively expensive, and this a comparatively cheap place; and my sons, settling in the neighborhood, will be less exposed to temptation, and more likely to form habits of sobriety and industry." Priestley's attempts to avoid political controversy in the United States failed. In 1794, the journalist William Cobbett published Observations on the Emigration of Dr. Joseph Priestley , which falsely accused Priestley of stirring up rebellion in Britain, and attempted to undermine his scientific credibility. His political fortunes took an even worse turn when Cobbett obtained

17280-408: Was impractical. Determined to ensure the future economic stability of his family, he bought land and settled in Northumberland by July 1794, which was "five days of rough travel" north of Philadelphia. They both hoped that, in time, their new community would grow. Priestley yearned for a more cosmopolitan community than Northumberland provided, writing to his sister that it was "seemingly almost out of

17415-652: Was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the banks of Pine Creek . Fort Antes was a stockade surrounding the home of Colonel John Henry Antes, built circa 1778 in Revolutionary Pennsylvania in

17550-423: Was one of the largest in America at the time. The Priestley family held Unitarian church services in the drawing room and Joseph educated a group of young men until the local Northumberland Academy that he helped found was completed. The house proper was completed in 1798, with a Mr. Jones of Northumberland employed acting as master carpenter. Built in an 18th-century Georgian style, the "balance and symmetry" of

17685-524: Was opened and closed at the upper end by a device known as a "sheer boom". It was 1,000 feet (300 m) long and was controlled with a hand-powered windlass . The sheer boom gathered the logs into the main boom that was capable of holding up to 300 million board feet (700,000 m ) of logs. The lower end of the boom was where the logs were sorted. The mills in Williamsport, South Williamsport , and Duboistown each had their own distinctive brand burnt into

17820-535: Was ordered by Colonel Samuel Hunter to abandon Fort Antes during the Big Runaway . Despite being abandoned and attempts by the attacking British forces to burn it down, Fort Antes was one of only two structures in the valley to survive the Big Runaway. The Susquehanna Boom was a system of cribs in the West Branch Susquehanna River designed to hold timber in the river until it could be processed at one of

17955-460: Was owned by a great-grandson of the Priestleys in the 1880s. Today it serves as Northumberland's public library. The Joseph Priestley Memorial Chapel, which is a contributing structure in the historic district, was built in 1834 by his grandson, and is home to a Unitarian Universalist congregation that considers Priestley its founder. Under the PHMC, the museum was open ten months a year, closing between early January and early March. In 2007 and 2008

18090-464: Was the study of church or canon law : universities played an important role in training people for ecclesiastical offices, in helping the church pursue the clarification and defence of its teaching, and in supporting the legal rights of the church over against secular rulers. At such universities, theological study was initially closely tied to the life of faith and of the church: it fed, and was fed by, practices of preaching , prayer and celebration of

18225-718: Was used with the meaning 'discourse on God' around 380 BC by Plato in The Republic . Aristotle divided theoretical philosophy into mathematike , physike , and theologike , with the latter corresponding roughly to metaphysics , which, for Aristotle, included discourse on the nature of the divine. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of such discourse: Some Latin Christian authors, such as Tertullian and Augustine , followed Varro's threefold usage. However, Augustine also defined theologia as "reasoning or discussion concerning

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