I JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 25 



And again : 



" The natural end of human existence is the ' first death, 

 the dreamless slumber of the grave, wherein man lies spell- 

 bound, soul and body, under the dominion of sin and death 

 that whatever modes of conscious existence, whatever future 

 states of * life or of ' torment ' beyond Hades are reserved for 

 man, are results of our blessed Lord's victory over sin and 

 death ; that the resurrection of the dead must be preliminary to 

 their entrance into either of the future states, and that the nature 

 and even existence of these states, and even the mere fact that 

 there is a futurity of consciousness, can be known only through 

 God's revelation of Himself in the Person and the Gospel of His 

 Son." P. 389. 



And now hear Priestley : 



"Man, according to this system (of materialism), is no more 

 than we now see of him. His being commences at the time of his 

 conception, or perhaps at an earlier period. The corporeal and 

 mental faculties, in being in the same substance, grow, ripen, 

 and decay together ; and whenever the system is dissolved it 

 continues in a state of dissolution till it shall please that 

 Almighty Being who called it into existence to restore it to life 

 again." "Matter and Spirit," p. 49. 



And again : 



"The doctrine of the Scripture is, that God made man of the 

 dust ot the ground, and by simply animating this organised 

 matter, made man that living percipient and intelligent being 

 that he is. According to Revelation, death is a state of rest 

 and insensibility, and our only though sure hope of a future 

 life is founded on the doctrine of the resurrection of the whole 

 man at some distant period ; this assurance being sufficiently 

 confirmed to us both by the evident tokens of a Divine com- 

 mission attending the persons who delivered the doctrine, and 

 especially by the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is 

 more authentically attested than any other fact in history." 

 Ibid., p. 247. 



