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Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father
A major new biography, illuminating the great mystery of Benjamin Franklin’s faith
“Kidd vividly brings Franklin’s spiritual quest to life throughout his book, and he provides a direct line from Franklin’s beliefs to those we see around us today.”—Randy Dotinga, Christian Science Monitor
Renowned as a printer, scientist, and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin also published more works on religious topics than any other eighteenth-century American layperson. Born to Boston Puritans, by his teenage years Franklin had abandoned the exclusive Christian faith of his family and embraced deism. But Franklin, as a man of faith, was far more complex than the “thorough deist” who emerges in his autobiography. As Thomas Kidd reveals, deist writers influenced Franklin’s beliefs, to be sure, but devout Christians in his life—including George Whitefield, the era’s greatest evangelical preacher; his parents; and his beloved sister Jane—kept him tethered to the Calvinist creed of his Puritan upbringing. Based on rigorous research into Franklin’s voluminous correspondence, essays, and almanacs, this fresh assessment of a well-known figure unpacks the contradictions and conundrums faith presented in Franklin’s life.
“Kidd vividly brings Franklin’s spiritual quest to life throughout his book, and he provides a direct line from Franklin’s beliefs to those we see around us today.”—Randy Dotinga, Christian Science Monitor
Renowned as a printer, scientist, and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin also published more works on religious topics than any other eighteenth-century American layperson. Born to Boston Puritans, by his teenage years Franklin had abandoned the exclusive Christian faith of his family and embraced deism. But Franklin, as a man of faith, was far more complex than the “thorough deist” who emerges in his autobiography. As Thomas Kidd reveals, deist writers influenced Franklin’s beliefs, to be sure, but devout Christians in his life—including George Whitefield, the era’s greatest evangelical preacher; his parents; and his beloved sister Jane—kept him tethered to the Calvinist creed of his Puritan upbringing. Based on rigorous research into Franklin’s voluminous correspondence, essays, and almanacs, this fresh assessment of a well-known figure unpacks the contradictions and conundrums faith presented in Franklin’s life.
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 28, 2018
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338 people want to read
About the author
Thomas S. Kidd
38 books116 followersThomas S. Kidd teaches history at Baylor University, and is Senior Fellow at Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. Dr. Kidd has appeared on the Glenn Beck tv program, the Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager radio shows, and written columns for USA Today and the Washington Post. He is a columnist for Patheos.com. His latest book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots. Other books include God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution. His next book projects are a biography of George Whitefield, and a history of Baptists in America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 30, 2017
On the recommendation from my 25 year old son, I delve into the life and religion of founding father, Benjamin Franklin. I was pleasantly surprised by Franklin's progressive thinking; he was autodidactic, attempted vegetarianism, and he faced a constant struggle with organized religion upsetting the parental apple cart; they happened to be puritans. He believed that as long as one was virtuous than each of our lives were fulfilled despite the religion or God one practiced or prayed to. He often was opposed by many because of his open minded thinking but won the support to head into war with England despite his ties to that country. I believe that Franklin's own understanding, kindness, and virtue could be a great example for today's world.
December 28, 2019
I read this book because I’m fascinated with our founders and because I believed Kidd would stay on script with his thesis: weaving religion’s influence into the story of Ben Franklin. I was not disappointed. Kidd showed how Franklin’s departure with his Puritan upbringing led him to embrace moral, doctrineless, theism. Kidd documents well how Franklin’s deism was closer to today’s cultural Christianity than true deism. Franklin’s belief in God intersected every major movement of his life: adventure, writing, scientific discovery, statesmanship, and diplomacy. In his final years, Franklin began to embrace the belief in God’s providence, yet he fell short of accepting the tenants of Christianity. Like other Kidd books, this one is full of historical gems not widely known. My favorites were the origins of the small pox inoculation, how witches were tried, and the numerous references to religion in Franklin’s writing.
July 20, 2017
In 1787, the Constitutional Convention found itself bogged down over the issue of representation. Small states wanted equal representation in the national legislature. Large states wanted proportional representation. The dispute seemed irresolvable, and if it could not be resolved, the young American nation itself might not survive.
Benjamin Franklin — America’s gray eminence, Pennsylvania’s delegate — proposed to solve the impasse by means of daily prayer, reasoning this way:
Franklin’s proposal was defeated handily. “The Convention,” Franklin wrote, “except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.”
This episode, from near the end of Franklin’s life, reveals several things about Franklin’s mature religious beliefs, not to mention the influence of religion on the American founding. Like other Founding Fathers — George Washington especially comes to mind — Franklin believed that God providentially ordered world events, particularly the formation of the United States of America. His public rhetoric was shot through with biblical imagery. And he believed in the social usefulness of religion for republican government; hence, the call to prayer.
And yet, these mature religious beliefs, though sincere, were neither orthodox nor evangelical, a fact demonstrated in depth by Thomas S. Kidd in his recently published Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father. Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston to devout Puritans who raised him and his siblings in the doctrines of evangelical Calvinism. In his teenage years, under the influence of skeptical writings by Lord Shaftesbury and Anthony Collins, he left that faith and became, in his own words, “a thorough deist.”
Unfortunately, the word deist conjures up the image of a clockmaker god who winds up the universe then leaves it alone. That does not accurately describe Franklin’s mature belief, however. Deists of that stripe, to point out the obvious, do not issue the kind of plea for prayers Franklin made at the Constitutional Convention.
“The key to understanding Franklin’s ambivalent religion,” Kidd writes, “is the contrast between the skepticism of his adult life and the indelible imprint of his childhood Calvinism.” To be sure, Franklin was skeptical of orthodox Christology (i.e., the Incarnation) and evangelical soteriology (i.e., justification by faith). He was consistent on these points throughout his adult life, though he expressed the scope and intensity of his skepticism at different times and in various ways. What mattered to him more than what one believed was how one lived.
This moralism was not atheism, however. Five weeks before he died, in a letter dated March 9, 1790, Franklin described his creed to Yale’s Ezra Stiles, an evangelical Christian, this way:
Not nothing, religiously speaking, but not fully Christian either.
Franklin’s Calvinist rearing no doubt influenced his religious beliefs. Most obviously, it gave him a biblical idiom in which to express himself. Less obviously, warm relationships with evangelical Christians such as his sister Jane Mecom, evangelist George Whitefield, and others moderated his skeptical tone and made him appreciative of evangelicals’ good works. Throughout his life, these evangelicals pleaded with him to put his faith in Jesus, but at the end, all he would say is this: “I think the system of morals and his religion as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see.” Again, not nothing, but not Christianity.
Franklin’s ambivalent religion points to an important truth about the role of religion in America’s founding. Many evangelical Christians think of America as a Christian nation founded on biblical principles. This is not a new belief, and it is not entirely wrong. From the start of the colonies at Jamestown and Plymouth Bay and all the way to the present day, America has been a nation of self-professed Christians. Protestant political theology exercised tremendous influence on the American colonists; the Bible suffused their public rhetoric, and established churches shaped their public piety. In the 19th century, due to waves of revival, evangelical Christianity became the de facto established religion of the new nation.
And yet, alongside this Christianity sits something less than Christian. Neither orthodox nor evangelical, we might call it non-doctrinaire, moralistic theism. It is a peculiarly American faith. Shaped by Christianity, but not Christian. Sounding like the Bible, but not biblical. This was Franklin’s faith, and the faith of other Founders too, such as Thomas Jefferson. When we query the role of religion in the American founding, we must take this non-doctrinaire, moralistic theism into account, for it was present and it was influential. This was the reason why, for example, in drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson described God in generic terms — “Nature’s God”— rather than specifically biblical ones.
This truth about the role of religion in America’s founding generates two points of application for evangelical Christians, in my opinion. First, we must recognize that the American experiment is a joint venture, not a sole proprietorship. Yes, orthodox and evangelical Christians played an important role in the establishment of America. They did not play the only role, however. Alongside them and sometimes in conflict with them, theists of a non-Christian variety exercised influence on the development of our nation. Benjamin Franklin is proof of that
(In fairness, the same reminder needs to be issued to skeptical Americans today who deny Christians a role in the Founding. Not only were they present and influential, but atheists played no role. Even the radically skeptical Thomas Paine argued for the necessity of belief in God, after all.)
Second, given the foregoing point, it behooves orthodox and evangelical Christians to be more mindful of political rhetoric. Invocations of God — whether in American history or at the present time — are not necessarily invocations of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Too often, we read our Christian convictions into the theological pronouncements of the Founders, which means we misread them. By describing the religious life of Benjamin Franklin in detail over the course of his life, Thomas S. Kidd helps us better understand Franklin’s faith, which as much as American evangelicals love Franklin, was not our own.
Book Reviewed:
Thomas S. Kidd, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
Benjamin Franklin — America’s gray eminence, Pennsylvania’s delegate — proposed to solve the impasse by means of daily prayer, reasoning this way:
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and by-word down to future ages.
Franklin’s proposal was defeated handily. “The Convention,” Franklin wrote, “except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.”
This episode, from near the end of Franklin’s life, reveals several things about Franklin’s mature religious beliefs, not to mention the influence of religion on the American founding. Like other Founding Fathers — George Washington especially comes to mind — Franklin believed that God providentially ordered world events, particularly the formation of the United States of America. His public rhetoric was shot through with biblical imagery. And he believed in the social usefulness of religion for republican government; hence, the call to prayer.
And yet, these mature religious beliefs, though sincere, were neither orthodox nor evangelical, a fact demonstrated in depth by Thomas S. Kidd in his recently published Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father. Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston to devout Puritans who raised him and his siblings in the doctrines of evangelical Calvinism. In his teenage years, under the influence of skeptical writings by Lord Shaftesbury and Anthony Collins, he left that faith and became, in his own words, “a thorough deist.”
Unfortunately, the word deist conjures up the image of a clockmaker god who winds up the universe then leaves it alone. That does not accurately describe Franklin’s mature belief, however. Deists of that stripe, to point out the obvious, do not issue the kind of plea for prayers Franklin made at the Constitutional Convention.
“The key to understanding Franklin’s ambivalent religion,” Kidd writes, “is the contrast between the skepticism of his adult life and the indelible imprint of his childhood Calvinism.” To be sure, Franklin was skeptical of orthodox Christology (i.e., the Incarnation) and evangelical soteriology (i.e., justification by faith). He was consistent on these points throughout his adult life, though he expressed the scope and intensity of his skepticism at different times and in various ways. What mattered to him more than what one believed was how one lived.
This moralism was not atheism, however. Five weeks before he died, in a letter dated March 9, 1790, Franklin described his creed to Yale’s Ezra Stiles, an evangelical Christian, this way:
I believe in one God, Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we can render to him, is doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.
Not nothing, religiously speaking, but not fully Christian either.
Franklin’s Calvinist rearing no doubt influenced his religious beliefs. Most obviously, it gave him a biblical idiom in which to express himself. Less obviously, warm relationships with evangelical Christians such as his sister Jane Mecom, evangelist George Whitefield, and others moderated his skeptical tone and made him appreciative of evangelicals’ good works. Throughout his life, these evangelicals pleaded with him to put his faith in Jesus, but at the end, all he would say is this: “I think the system of morals and his religion as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see.” Again, not nothing, but not Christianity.
Franklin’s ambivalent religion points to an important truth about the role of religion in America’s founding. Many evangelical Christians think of America as a Christian nation founded on biblical principles. This is not a new belief, and it is not entirely wrong. From the start of the colonies at Jamestown and Plymouth Bay and all the way to the present day, America has been a nation of self-professed Christians. Protestant political theology exercised tremendous influence on the American colonists; the Bible suffused their public rhetoric, and established churches shaped their public piety. In the 19th century, due to waves of revival, evangelical Christianity became the de facto established religion of the new nation.
And yet, alongside this Christianity sits something less than Christian. Neither orthodox nor evangelical, we might call it non-doctrinaire, moralistic theism. It is a peculiarly American faith. Shaped by Christianity, but not Christian. Sounding like the Bible, but not biblical. This was Franklin’s faith, and the faith of other Founders too, such as Thomas Jefferson. When we query the role of religion in the American founding, we must take this non-doctrinaire, moralistic theism into account, for it was present and it was influential. This was the reason why, for example, in drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson described God in generic terms — “Nature’s God”— rather than specifically biblical ones.
This truth about the role of religion in America’s founding generates two points of application for evangelical Christians, in my opinion. First, we must recognize that the American experiment is a joint venture, not a sole proprietorship. Yes, orthodox and evangelical Christians played an important role in the establishment of America. They did not play the only role, however. Alongside them and sometimes in conflict with them, theists of a non-Christian variety exercised influence on the development of our nation. Benjamin Franklin is proof of that
(In fairness, the same reminder needs to be issued to skeptical Americans today who deny Christians a role in the Founding. Not only were they present and influential, but atheists played no role. Even the radically skeptical Thomas Paine argued for the necessity of belief in God, after all.)
Second, given the foregoing point, it behooves orthodox and evangelical Christians to be more mindful of political rhetoric. Invocations of God — whether in American history or at the present time — are not necessarily invocations of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Too often, we read our Christian convictions into the theological pronouncements of the Founders, which means we misread them. By describing the religious life of Benjamin Franklin in detail over the course of his life, Thomas S. Kidd helps us better understand Franklin’s faith, which as much as American evangelicals love Franklin, was not our own.
Book Reviewed:
Thomas S. Kidd, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017).
P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
May 16, 2020
A very interesting take on Ben Franklin's life. He was not unlike many founding fathers who believed in God but not in the divinity of Jesus Christ. But this was a religiously charged time and God and religion were regularly the topic of conversation and writing, especially Ben's. As such, Ben often used the "editorial section" of his newspaper (under various pseudonyms) to argue both sides of a religious topic. That made him a bit of an enigma in his convictions, but ultimately, being a deist and a moralist, he relied on his good deeds to gain God's blessing. Did he hold those beliefs until the end?
August 9, 2017
Lots of fun. Kidd seems to have found the happy (and scholarly) medium between the those who want to claim Franklin as an evangelical and those who want to claim him as a New-Atheist-before-it-was-cool.
March 17, 2019
John Fea begins his excellent article on “Benjamin Franklin and Religion” by saying: “Benjamin Franklin’s religious beliefs have been much discussed and debated, both by Franklin’s contemporaries and a host of scholars and pundits who have written about him since his death in 1790. John Adams, writing in his diary in 1779, said that Franklin’s beliefs placed him among ‘Atheists, Deists, and Libertines.’ In 1820, popular biographer Mason Locke Weems described Franklin as devout Christian who died staring, presumably in adoration, at a painting of Jesus on the cross. Joseph Priestley called Franklin a deist, while a 1796 writer for the American Annual Register said he ‘believed nothing.’ In an oft-cited essay published in 1933, D.H. Lawrence accused Franklin of manipulating religion to serve his bourgeois capitalist values.
Philosopher Kerry S. Walters, whose book Benjamin Franklin and His Gods holds historiographical supremacy among studies of Franklin’s religion, notes that Franklin ‘wrote both too much and too little about his religious convictions’. Of all the so-called founders save Jefferson, Franklin was most fascinated with the study of religion. Yet he never condensed his thoughts on the subject into a single volume. Franklin’s religious musings are scattered throughout his voluminous writings, making it difficult for scholars to bring his convictions into a coherent whole. This, of course, has not prevented them from trying.
There is nearly universal agreement among historians that Franklin’s religious beliefs grew out of his intellectual dissatisfaction with New England Calvinism. Franklin was baptized in Boston’s Old South Church and his parents - Josiah and Abiah Franklin - would remain covenanted members of the church throughout their lives. As a child of Calvinists, Franklin was well-acquainted with the Bible and the orthodox theological grid through which it should be interpreted. Josiah had planned to send his son to Harvard in preparation for a career in the ministry but, according to most biographers could not afford to pay for Benjamin’s education. Walter Isaacson … argues that Josiah thought that his son was not suited for ministry due to his ‘skeptical, puckish, curious, irreverent’ nature.” (pp. 129-130 of A Companion to Benjamin Franklin {Blackwell 2011)
Despite all of this Thomas Kidd has done as good of a job as anyone has to try to piece together Franklin’s faith. Kidd begins by citing Franklin’s famous response at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Discussions had come to a crisis point regarding whether to have equal representation for all the states or for the larger states to have more representations. “At this critical moment, the octogenarian Benjamin Franklin took the floor. Calling for unity, he asked delegates to open sessions with prayer. As they were ‘groping as it were in the dark to find political truth,’ he queried, ‘how has it happened that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?’ If they continued to ignore God, they would remain ‘divided by our little, partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages.’ This man, who called himself a deist, now insisted that delegates should ask God for wisdom. This was strange: classic deists did not believe that God intervened in human affairs.
Even more strange, he was one of the few delegates who thought opening with prayer was a good idea. …” (1-2)
Kidd then asks: “Was Franklin defined by his youthful embrace of deism? His longtime friendship with George Whitefield, the most influential evangelist of the eighteenth century? His work with Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence, and its invocations of the Creator and of “nature and Nature’s God”? Or his solitary insistence on prayer at the convention? When you add Franklin’s propensity for joking about serious matters, he becomes even more difficult to pin down. Regarding Franklin’s chameleon-like religion, John Adams remarked that “the Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker.” (p. 2).
Kidd then suggests: “The key to understanding Franklin’s ambivalent religion is the contrast between the skepticism of his adult life and the indelible imprint of his childhood Calvinism. The intense faith of his parents acted as a tether, restraining Franklin’s skepticism. As a teenager, he abandoned his parents’ Puritan piety. But that same traditional faith kept him from getting too far away.” (p. 2).
Kidd further explains: “I gratefully draw from aspects of Weber, Aldridge, Walters, and many other commentators on Franklin’s religion. But adding to the themes of Franklin’s skepticism and ambivalence, my book shows how much Franklin’s personal experiences shaped his religious beliefs. Like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin’s early exposure to skeptical writings undermined his confidence in Christianity. But books alone could not erase Franklin’s childhood immersion in Puritan piety. His ongoing relationships with evangelical Christians made it difficult for him to jettison the vocabulary and precepts of traditional faith altogether. Although his view of Providence vacillated, the weight of the American Revolution fostered a renewed belief that history had divine purpose. Franklin and Lincoln—both self-educated sons of Calvinist parents, both of whom had much of the Bible committed to memory—gravitated toward a revitalized sense of God’s role over history …
It is difficult to overstate just how deep an imprint the Bible itself made on Franklin’s (or Lincoln’s) mind, or on his ways of speaking and writing. … Franklin knew the Bible backward and forward. It framed the way he spoke and thought. Biblical phrases are ubiquitous in Franklin’s vast body of writings. Even as he embraced religious doubts, the King James Bible colored his ideas about morality, human nature, and the purpose of life.” (pp. 5-6)
Kidd concludes: “Franklin was the pioneer of a related kind of faith: doctrineless, moralized Christianity. Franklin was an experimenter at heart, and he tinkered with a novel form of Christianity, one where virtually all beliefs became nonessential. … For Franklin, Christianity remained a preeminent resource for virtue. But he had no exclusive attachment to Christianity as a religious system or as a source of salvation. In Franklin’s estimation, we cannot know for certain whether doctrines such as God’s Trinitarian nature are true. But we do know that Christians—and the devout of all faiths—are called to benevolence and selfless service. God calls us all to “do good.” Doctrinal strife is not only futile but undermines the mandate of virtue. Doctrineless Christianity, and doctrineless religion, is utterly pervasive today in America. … Sociologist Christian Smith says that these characteristically American beliefs amount to “moralistic therapeutic deism. … ultimately, the focus of doctrineless Christianity is a life of good works, resiliency, and generosity—now.” (p. 7).
Kidd adds: “Thirteen years after Franklin’s death, Jefferson wrote that he considered himself “a Christian, in the only sense [Jesus] wished any one to be.” He admired Jesus’s “moral doctrines” as “more pure and perfect” than any other philosopher’s. But to Jefferson, Jesus’s excellence was only human. Jesus never claimed to be anything else. His followers imposed the claims of divinity on Jesus after he had gone to his grave and not risen again.
Franklin did not go as far as Jefferson. He preferred not to dogmatize, one way or the other, on matters such as Jesus’s divinity. Late in life Franklin told Yale president and Congregationalist minister Ezra Stiles that he had doubts about whether Christ was God. He figured that he would find out soon enough, anyway. In a classic tension that still marks American religion, Franklin’s devout parents, his sister Jane, and the revivalist George Whitefield all found doctrineless Christianity dangerous. Yes, they agreed that morality was essential. And yes, it was better not to fight over pointless issues. But true belief in Jesus was necessary for salvation.’ (pp. 8-9).
Kidd goes on to trace both Franklin’s life and his most significant faith statements. There is a lot more to this story and it is complex since “Franklin likely published more on religion than any other layperson of the eighteenth century.” (p. 9). Some of the most important things to examine are his: “Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain” (1725); “Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion” (1728); “On the Providence of God in the Government of the World” (1732); involvement in the Hemphill Controversy (1735); relationship with George Whitefield; relationship with the Quakers; plan for virtue and moral perfection; the creed he wrote in a letter to Ezra Stiles five weeks before he died:
“Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe: That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render him, is doing good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life, respect(ing) its Conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do, in whatever Sect I meet with them.
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity; tho’ it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, have never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble.”
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
Philosopher Kerry S. Walters, whose book Benjamin Franklin and His Gods holds historiographical supremacy among studies of Franklin’s religion, notes that Franklin ‘wrote both too much and too little about his religious convictions’. Of all the so-called founders save Jefferson, Franklin was most fascinated with the study of religion. Yet he never condensed his thoughts on the subject into a single volume. Franklin’s religious musings are scattered throughout his voluminous writings, making it difficult for scholars to bring his convictions into a coherent whole. This, of course, has not prevented them from trying.
There is nearly universal agreement among historians that Franklin’s religious beliefs grew out of his intellectual dissatisfaction with New England Calvinism. Franklin was baptized in Boston’s Old South Church and his parents - Josiah and Abiah Franklin - would remain covenanted members of the church throughout their lives. As a child of Calvinists, Franklin was well-acquainted with the Bible and the orthodox theological grid through which it should be interpreted. Josiah had planned to send his son to Harvard in preparation for a career in the ministry but, according to most biographers could not afford to pay for Benjamin’s education. Walter Isaacson … argues that Josiah thought that his son was not suited for ministry due to his ‘skeptical, puckish, curious, irreverent’ nature.” (pp. 129-130 of A Companion to Benjamin Franklin {Blackwell 2011)
Despite all of this Thomas Kidd has done as good of a job as anyone has to try to piece together Franklin’s faith. Kidd begins by citing Franklin’s famous response at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Discussions had come to a crisis point regarding whether to have equal representation for all the states or for the larger states to have more representations. “At this critical moment, the octogenarian Benjamin Franklin took the floor. Calling for unity, he asked delegates to open sessions with prayer. As they were ‘groping as it were in the dark to find political truth,’ he queried, ‘how has it happened that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?’ If they continued to ignore God, they would remain ‘divided by our little, partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages.’ This man, who called himself a deist, now insisted that delegates should ask God for wisdom. This was strange: classic deists did not believe that God intervened in human affairs.
Even more strange, he was one of the few delegates who thought opening with prayer was a good idea. …” (1-2)
Kidd then asks: “Was Franklin defined by his youthful embrace of deism? His longtime friendship with George Whitefield, the most influential evangelist of the eighteenth century? His work with Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence, and its invocations of the Creator and of “nature and Nature’s God”? Or his solitary insistence on prayer at the convention? When you add Franklin’s propensity for joking about serious matters, he becomes even more difficult to pin down. Regarding Franklin’s chameleon-like religion, John Adams remarked that “the Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker.” (p. 2).
Kidd then suggests: “The key to understanding Franklin’s ambivalent religion is the contrast between the skepticism of his adult life and the indelible imprint of his childhood Calvinism. The intense faith of his parents acted as a tether, restraining Franklin’s skepticism. As a teenager, he abandoned his parents’ Puritan piety. But that same traditional faith kept him from getting too far away.” (p. 2).
Kidd further explains: “I gratefully draw from aspects of Weber, Aldridge, Walters, and many other commentators on Franklin’s religion. But adding to the themes of Franklin’s skepticism and ambivalence, my book shows how much Franklin’s personal experiences shaped his religious beliefs. Like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin’s early exposure to skeptical writings undermined his confidence in Christianity. But books alone could not erase Franklin’s childhood immersion in Puritan piety. His ongoing relationships with evangelical Christians made it difficult for him to jettison the vocabulary and precepts of traditional faith altogether. Although his view of Providence vacillated, the weight of the American Revolution fostered a renewed belief that history had divine purpose. Franklin and Lincoln—both self-educated sons of Calvinist parents, both of whom had much of the Bible committed to memory—gravitated toward a revitalized sense of God’s role over history …
It is difficult to overstate just how deep an imprint the Bible itself made on Franklin’s (or Lincoln’s) mind, or on his ways of speaking and writing. … Franklin knew the Bible backward and forward. It framed the way he spoke and thought. Biblical phrases are ubiquitous in Franklin’s vast body of writings. Even as he embraced religious doubts, the King James Bible colored his ideas about morality, human nature, and the purpose of life.” (pp. 5-6)
Kidd concludes: “Franklin was the pioneer of a related kind of faith: doctrineless, moralized Christianity. Franklin was an experimenter at heart, and he tinkered with a novel form of Christianity, one where virtually all beliefs became nonessential. … For Franklin, Christianity remained a preeminent resource for virtue. But he had no exclusive attachment to Christianity as a religious system or as a source of salvation. In Franklin’s estimation, we cannot know for certain whether doctrines such as God’s Trinitarian nature are true. But we do know that Christians—and the devout of all faiths—are called to benevolence and selfless service. God calls us all to “do good.” Doctrinal strife is not only futile but undermines the mandate of virtue. Doctrineless Christianity, and doctrineless religion, is utterly pervasive today in America. … Sociologist Christian Smith says that these characteristically American beliefs amount to “moralistic therapeutic deism. … ultimately, the focus of doctrineless Christianity is a life of good works, resiliency, and generosity—now.” (p. 7).
Kidd adds: “Thirteen years after Franklin’s death, Jefferson wrote that he considered himself “a Christian, in the only sense [Jesus] wished any one to be.” He admired Jesus’s “moral doctrines” as “more pure and perfect” than any other philosopher’s. But to Jefferson, Jesus’s excellence was only human. Jesus never claimed to be anything else. His followers imposed the claims of divinity on Jesus after he had gone to his grave and not risen again.
Franklin did not go as far as Jefferson. He preferred not to dogmatize, one way or the other, on matters such as Jesus’s divinity. Late in life Franklin told Yale president and Congregationalist minister Ezra Stiles that he had doubts about whether Christ was God. He figured that he would find out soon enough, anyway. In a classic tension that still marks American religion, Franklin’s devout parents, his sister Jane, and the revivalist George Whitefield all found doctrineless Christianity dangerous. Yes, they agreed that morality was essential. And yes, it was better not to fight over pointless issues. But true belief in Jesus was necessary for salvation.’ (pp. 8-9).
Kidd goes on to trace both Franklin’s life and his most significant faith statements. There is a lot more to this story and it is complex since “Franklin likely published more on religion than any other layperson of the eighteenth century.” (p. 9). Some of the most important things to examine are his: “Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain” (1725); “Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion” (1728); “On the Providence of God in the Government of the World” (1732); involvement in the Hemphill Controversy (1735); relationship with George Whitefield; relationship with the Quakers; plan for virtue and moral perfection; the creed he wrote in a letter to Ezra Stiles five weeks before he died:
“Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe: That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render him, is doing good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life, respect(ing) its Conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do, in whatever Sect I meet with them.
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity; tho’ it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, have never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble.”
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
April 27, 2022
Well done work. Covered a lot his progression in religious thought and the reasoning on why he changed, at least outwardly, so much throughout his life. I would have appreciated more coverage around the 1770-1780s whereas much was not said on that. The dynamic between Whitefield and Franklin was really interesting. This book answered many questions.
June 6, 2023
Kidd does great work in that he is realistic about Franklin's shortcomings, but also honest about his strengths. A balanced read.
June 15, 2017
This book is thoroughly reasearched and skilfully written. The author is careful to let the writings of Franklin speak for themselves. He does insert some comment for clarity or to remind the reader of earlier ideas, but he doesn't insert himself into the narrative. I look forward to reading more books by Thomas S. Kidd.
Franklin's spiritual beliefs are not easily categorized. His Calvinistic Christian upbringing is always in the background as Franklin sometimes embraces it and other times reacts against it. He prefers to trusr his own rational abilities over claims of revelation from God. This leads Franklin to reject some of the most basic teachings of Christianity like the deity of Christ and most of the miracles. His reasoning on the problem of evil drives much of what believes about God and how humans relate to him. Unfortunately, this reasoning doesn't match the Bible, causing him to reject the Christian view of salvation. In the end this quasi-deist trusts his own good works to save him believing that God would never punish a good man. He completely misses the holiness of God and the gravity of sin. This theology is the driving force behind Franklin's legendary work ethic.
Franklin's uses his rationality to explain away his lustful passions. His infadelity to his wife and his pursuit of women half his age, are creepy to say the least.
The interactions between evangelist George Whitfield and Franklin are intriguing. I am amazed that he could hold Whitfield in such high esteem yet reject the love of Christ which was at the core of Whitfield's very existence.
I gained a deep appreciation for Frainklin the scientist and diplomat but lost a lot of respect for him as a philosopher and as a man.
It's a sad story of Franklin's religious life but it worth reading.
Franklin's spiritual beliefs are not easily categorized. His Calvinistic Christian upbringing is always in the background as Franklin sometimes embraces it and other times reacts against it. He prefers to trusr his own rational abilities over claims of revelation from God. This leads Franklin to reject some of the most basic teachings of Christianity like the deity of Christ and most of the miracles. His reasoning on the problem of evil drives much of what believes about God and how humans relate to him. Unfortunately, this reasoning doesn't match the Bible, causing him to reject the Christian view of salvation. In the end this quasi-deist trusts his own good works to save him believing that God would never punish a good man. He completely misses the holiness of God and the gravity of sin. This theology is the driving force behind Franklin's legendary work ethic.
Franklin's uses his rationality to explain away his lustful passions. His infadelity to his wife and his pursuit of women half his age, are creepy to say the least.
The interactions between evangelist George Whitfield and Franklin are intriguing. I am amazed that he could hold Whitfield in such high esteem yet reject the love of Christ which was at the core of Whitfield's very existence.
I gained a deep appreciation for Frainklin the scientist and diplomat but lost a lot of respect for him as a philosopher and as a man.
It's a sad story of Franklin's religious life but it worth reading.
November 27, 2021
This is a biography written by a Christian historian, Thomas Kidd, with a particular focus on Franklin's engagement with the Christian faith. I think Dr. Kidd does an excellent job with this work, given his specific focus.
Franklin is an interesting figure, even fascinating. He came from a Calvinist home and, like many in his day, knew the Bible quite well. But his "Christianity" seemed to be more about selecting what he liked and discarding what he didn't like. Perhaps he was like Thomas Jefferson in that regard. Franklin approved of the part of Christianity that led to doing good to others, especially the common good. He was not a fan of ministers who seemed more focused on doctrinal teaching rather than exhorting the flock to practical good. And so he did not regularly attend church. His was basically a Christianity without Christ. He was more impressed by Reason than Revelation (Scripture). As such, he seemed to know better than God how one should think and live. As such, his "theology" was actually pretty uninteresting.
Kidd understandably devotes considerable space to the Franklin/ George Whitefield (renowned 18th century evangelist) three-decade relationship. Franklin respected Whitefield for his gifts and his desire to do good. But he couldn't embrace Whitefield's emphasis on the need to have a relationship with God by faith or his emphasis on the inspiration of the Bible. The relationship was very lucrative for Franklin, given all the content and drama Whitefield produced- great for a publisher who knew how to monetize it, which Franklin certainly did. Whitefield and others deeply cared about Franklin's relationship with God, but there's no evidence that Franklin moved beyond what we might call today "moralistic therapeutic deism".
Franklin is an interesting figure, even fascinating. He came from a Calvinist home and, like many in his day, knew the Bible quite well. But his "Christianity" seemed to be more about selecting what he liked and discarding what he didn't like. Perhaps he was like Thomas Jefferson in that regard. Franklin approved of the part of Christianity that led to doing good to others, especially the common good. He was not a fan of ministers who seemed more focused on doctrinal teaching rather than exhorting the flock to practical good. And so he did not regularly attend church. His was basically a Christianity without Christ. He was more impressed by Reason than Revelation (Scripture). As such, he seemed to know better than God how one should think and live. As such, his "theology" was actually pretty uninteresting.
Kidd understandably devotes considerable space to the Franklin/ George Whitefield (renowned 18th century evangelist) three-decade relationship. Franklin respected Whitefield for his gifts and his desire to do good. But he couldn't embrace Whitefield's emphasis on the need to have a relationship with God by faith or his emphasis on the inspiration of the Bible. The relationship was very lucrative for Franklin, given all the content and drama Whitefield produced- great for a publisher who knew how to monetize it, which Franklin certainly did. Whitefield and others deeply cared about Franklin's relationship with God, but there's no evidence that Franklin moved beyond what we might call today "moralistic therapeutic deism".
March 7, 2019
This thoughtful book from Thomas Kidd was solid from start to finish. As someone with a background in early US history and who teaches Franklin's Autobiography, I was intrigued by this title. I heard a talk from Kidd on the topic of George Whitefield, so I was eager to read more on his analysis of the time.
The book gives Franklin's faith immediate relevance. It's easy to see, based on Franklin's own biography, that questions of faith and providence were paramount in his mind from a young age. Through the familiar storyline of his life as an apprentice, printer, and eventually politician, we see consistent moments of hard questions and brilliant conversation. Eminent scholars from Europe appear in myriad conversations throughout the book. Kidd's analysis of Franklin's own writing on religion provide the backbone of the book, yet there are plenty of curious anecdotes along the way aluding to the fact that Franklin was thinking a lot more about religion than merely what he printed.
My overall assessment of the book is that it's certainly worth reading for anyone studying the colonial or Revolutionary Era. It should be a regular book on comprehensive exam lists for American Religious History for the forseeable future. I enjoyed Kidd's ability to bring Franklin to life not as a caricature, but as a thoughtful philosophe who would be worth meeting. Kidd presents Franklin's unique blend of Presbyterian piety and Enlightenment questioning (with a dash of Quaker company) to bear in a wonderfully engaging book.
The book gives Franklin's faith immediate relevance. It's easy to see, based on Franklin's own biography, that questions of faith and providence were paramount in his mind from a young age. Through the familiar storyline of his life as an apprentice, printer, and eventually politician, we see consistent moments of hard questions and brilliant conversation. Eminent scholars from Europe appear in myriad conversations throughout the book. Kidd's analysis of Franklin's own writing on religion provide the backbone of the book, yet there are plenty of curious anecdotes along the way aluding to the fact that Franklin was thinking a lot more about religion than merely what he printed.
My overall assessment of the book is that it's certainly worth reading for anyone studying the colonial or Revolutionary Era. It should be a regular book on comprehensive exam lists for American Religious History for the forseeable future. I enjoyed Kidd's ability to bring Franklin to life not as a caricature, but as a thoughtful philosophe who would be worth meeting. Kidd presents Franklin's unique blend of Presbyterian piety and Enlightenment questioning (with a dash of Quaker company) to bear in a wonderfully engaging book.
May 21, 2019
This is an excellent read from one of the better Christian historians currently writing. That said, Kidd is not trying to interpret Franklin into something he never was--an evangelical, or even more broadly, a Christian. Kidd is a Christian and a great historian which means he does not have the freedom to bolster Franklin's life as a way to somehow give greater authority to biblical Christianity. Those hacks (e.g., David Barton) who try to make the "founding fathers" patriotic evangelicals are not only watering-down the truth of American history but are guilty of making bible-loving Christians dependent on a caricature of the past which is not true or helpful to the Christian cause of proclaiming Christ.
Franklin was first a theist and then a deist. He died trusting in his own virtue and clinging to a self-made religion that placed human merit at the center of one's justification. According to Scripture (e.g., Ephesian 2), this self-trust form of justification placed Franklin beyond the bounds of Protestant orthodoxy or biblical Christianity and, if anything, has more in common with the Roman Catholic system, if that system was married to Quakerism and 18th Century philosophy. Sadly, Franklin's supposed "virtue" was anything but and it exposed the paucity of hope in seeking out systems of self-merit and self-atonement.
This volume also serves as a great compendium to Kidd's biography on George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father.
Franklin was first a theist and then a deist. He died trusting in his own virtue and clinging to a self-made religion that placed human merit at the center of one's justification. According to Scripture (e.g., Ephesian 2), this self-trust form of justification placed Franklin beyond the bounds of Protestant orthodoxy or biblical Christianity and, if anything, has more in common with the Roman Catholic system, if that system was married to Quakerism and 18th Century philosophy. Sadly, Franklin's supposed "virtue" was anything but and it exposed the paucity of hope in seeking out systems of self-merit and self-atonement.
This volume also serves as a great compendium to Kidd's biography on George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father.
October 4, 2023
Highly recommend. Thomas Kidd writes balanced history at its best. Kidd weaves a pseudobiographical tale of Benjamin Franklin's life--mostly dealing with his religious life and beliefs. Throughout the book, Kidd contrasts Franklin's religious beliefs with those of his day. Franklin is odd. Elusive. Hypocritical. Astonishing. For his time, and even today.
Interesting facts:
1. He knew George Whitefield well.
2. He was a deist, not theist
3. He only encouraged Protestants because they led to moral living in the colonies/"imagine how wicked the world would be without religion"
4. He grew up Protestant
5. He was friends with Unitarians & extreme skeptics
6. He wrote many women that weren't his wife (about religion & other things)
7. He helped make many good moral reforms come to fruition in the colonies (schools, orphanages, etc.)
8. He was indifferent to slavery
9. He knew the Bible like the back of his hand, but he didn't think it was authoritative or divine
10. He would interpret scripture to get people to do what he wanted. For example, he would use the Bible to argue against Pennsylvania pacifism.
11. Franklin was a good man, which he thought was all that matters...
12. But Franklin never knew the Son of Man.
What should we make of that?
B. Grizenko
Interesting facts:
1. He knew George Whitefield well.
2. He was a deist, not theist
3. He only encouraged Protestants because they led to moral living in the colonies/"imagine how wicked the world would be without religion"
4. He grew up Protestant
5. He was friends with Unitarians & extreme skeptics
6. He wrote many women that weren't his wife (about religion & other things)
7. He helped make many good moral reforms come to fruition in the colonies (schools, orphanages, etc.)
8. He was indifferent to slavery
9. He knew the Bible like the back of his hand, but he didn't think it was authoritative or divine
10. He would interpret scripture to get people to do what he wanted. For example, he would use the Bible to argue against Pennsylvania pacifism.
11. Franklin was a good man, which he thought was all that matters...
12. But Franklin never knew the Son of Man.
What should we make of that?
B. Grizenko
November 10, 2023
I tell my students that Ben Franklin is the inventor of the cheesesteak. (I also tell them true things.)
This book is tremendously interesting. Deism was, by its nature, never a stable or doctrinaire thing, and so to call someone a Deist is not particularly revealing. Franklin was a tremendously interested thinker on religious matters his whole life, and regarded himself as being a sincere Christian. He's also, of course, involved in science and politics and economics and literature, and his life story is more or less a treasure of American history.
By the end of his life, Franklin was telling a friend that he, like all rationalists, had doubts about the doctrine of the deity of Christ. But, as he said, he thought "it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble."
Kidd presents Franklin as a prototype of an American brand of Christianity which is impatient with doctrine and convinced that all true worship should express itself in charitable deeds. There are worse things!
This book is tremendously interesting. Deism was, by its nature, never a stable or doctrinaire thing, and so to call someone a Deist is not particularly revealing. Franklin was a tremendously interested thinker on religious matters his whole life, and regarded himself as being a sincere Christian. He's also, of course, involved in science and politics and economics and literature, and his life story is more or less a treasure of American history.
By the end of his life, Franklin was telling a friend that he, like all rationalists, had doubts about the doctrine of the deity of Christ. But, as he said, he thought "it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble."
Kidd presents Franklin as a prototype of an American brand of Christianity which is impatient with doctrine and convinced that all true worship should express itself in charitable deeds. There are worse things!
February 27, 2018
Kidd succeeds in making a clear thesis from the beginning and then fairly demonstrating that thesis through Franklin's own words throughout the various stages of his life. He does not render an easy verdict on Franklin's religious life, but instead shows the complexity of the question. I also enjoyed how Kidd was able to portray the sheer genius of Franklin and his true achievements even while questioning the nature of his faith. To me, this book reveals a Founding Father not only of American politics, but also religion (Kidd calls him "a pioneer of a distinctly American kind of religion," p. 6) -- a nonexclusive, doctrinally minimal faith centered on good works and placed in a God who especially works for the success of America.
June 5, 2019
Excellent read. There's a lot of disagreement about the religious convictions of the founding fathers. Kidd (an outstanding writer and researcher) unpacks some of the conundrums and contradictions in Franklin's faith (ie. his chief belief in "practical virtue" - works righteousness - while openly cheating on his wife with many younger women) and follows the trajectory of faith in his life. Franklin has always been an interesting character to me because of his entrepreneurial insight, vision, and way with words - Kidd does a great job of providing a deeper understanding for how his religious convictions grounded these character traits, though at times, like all of us, he was better with words than action.
June 8, 2023
I really liked this biography of Franklin; it definitely focuses on his thought development not so much his achievements or work around the Revolution. He was essentially looking for a "doctrinally minimal" Christianity; he was opposed to the dogmatism of his Calvinist upbringing for his entire life. . . . Franklin's close relationship with George Whitfield is interesting as Franklin genuinely enjoyed W's friendship despite differences of religious thought; Whitfield always asked after Franklin's beliefs until W's death.
November 23, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed this work. Kidd is a great writer, very clear and easy to read. He makes the case that Franklin never adhered to orthodox Christian belief, and though toyed with radical Deism in his younger days, he came to believe in a more personal God of Providence and judgement by the end of his life. Yet Franklin's faith was devoid of Christ (he never adhered to his deity), and was grounded in a works-based salvation focused on virtue and charity to the neglect of doctrine.
January 27, 2019
In this book, Kidd explores the complex and often contradictory religious beliefs of a fascinating figure who had massive international influence as a printer, scientist, diplomat, and founding father. Franklin, the self-proclaimed deist, praised virtue and doctrine-less Christianity, which makes me wonder if his friend George Whitefield, the famed Calvinist evangelist, ever explained the message of Titus to him—that sound doctrine leads to good works! It is not surprising that a man who pursued virtue failed to live up to his standards. We all sin.
Franklin's religion in some ways was an amalgamation of Enlightenment thought, deism, and biblical Christianity and points forward to the prevalent moralistic therapeutic deism in American churches today. I also found it interesting that Franklin played his religious audience by bolstering public arguments with Scripture, whether or not the Scripture in question taught what he argued.
Overall, Kidd's religious biography of Franklin is an engaging and worthwhile read, especially if you are interested in the timeframe in which Franklin lived.
Franklin's religion in some ways was an amalgamation of Enlightenment thought, deism, and biblical Christianity and points forward to the prevalent moralistic therapeutic deism in American churches today. I also found it interesting that Franklin played his religious audience by bolstering public arguments with Scripture, whether or not the Scripture in question taught what he argued.
Overall, Kidd's religious biography of Franklin is an engaging and worthwhile read, especially if you are interested in the timeframe in which Franklin lived.
February 20, 2020
Examined Benjamin Franklin‘s moralistic deistic faith that is also prevalent in today’s world. Surprisingly Franklin wrote a fair bit about faith and religion though his faith centered around good works. Interesting snapshot of 18th century & The religious life of one of the founding fathers. He cared little for the church but supported George Whitfield‘s ministry greatly. He believed strongly in the providence of God yet doubted Jesus’ divinity.
June 19, 2023
Benjamin Franklin had a rather varied trajectory in his religious beliefs throughout his life. He went from a Calvinist upbringing, to deism, to skepticism and mockery, to a moralistic theism. The best word I would use to sum up how Franklin viewed religion is utilitarianism. Kidd does an able job of tracing Franklin's views throughout his life and leaves you with a good picture of the man and his religion.
January 2, 2024
I completed reading Kidd's Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father recently. Highly recommended.
Replete with primary and secondary sources, this is theology and history written in an engaging manner. Kidd's writing is captivating. He demonstrates the mind of a true, called historian who likewise understands theological presuppositions from the various sides. Truly a wonderful read.
Replete with primary and secondary sources, this is theology and history written in an engaging manner. Kidd's writing is captivating. He demonstrates the mind of a true, called historian who likewise understands theological presuppositions from the various sides. Truly a wonderful read.
July 27, 2018
A helpful perspective of Franklin’s life and thought. He was as enigmatic in his views on religion as he was about almost everything else. The content was good, but the reader of the audiobook left a bit to be desired; he mispronounced several words and names.
January 23, 2022
Well written and well researched but a bit repetitive. Seemed the author was trying to squeeze a little bit of blood from a stone given the general lack of movement in Franklins religious beliefs (or lack thereof) over the course of his life.
June 24, 2024
A deep dive on Franklin’s thoughtful approach to religion and his own spirituality. He was a deist, and also advocated that perhaps the most universal path to spirituality was through virtue. Listened on hoopla.
July 2, 2018
Parts interesting, others laborious. Not for casual reading.
December 30, 2024
Franklin was a strange, interesting man in terms of what his religious beliefs were. Franklin had me rolling my eyes at times for what the things he believed. I think it is best to describe him, as Kidd briefly mentions in the book, as someone who subscribes to “secular pietism.” He liked the virtues of Christianity, he didn’t care for the doctrines. Kidd does a good job bringing that out.
August 14, 2017
Here we have another masterful work from Thomas Kidd. While Franklin was grounded in New England Puritanism and his friendship with evangelist George Whitefield, in the end Franklin believed virtue and doing good where what pleased God, a rejection of his Calvinist roots. In the end, Kidd make his point that Franklin was a believer in "doctrineless, moralized Christianity."
One Amazon reviewer seemed to want to pick a fight with Kidd about Franklin's involvement with the Masons, doing a lot of self righteous chest thumping about it. Fooey!
A work worthy of your consideration.
One Amazon reviewer seemed to want to pick a fight with Kidd about Franklin's involvement with the Masons, doing a lot of self righteous chest thumping about it. Fooey!
A work worthy of your consideration.
October 26, 2017
In this book it appears Kidd is trying to reconcile Franklin's religious beliefs which like most of Franklin (and his personality) are unreconciable.
He quotes Alfred Owen Aldridge as saying, "Frankling completely disbelieved Christianity; yet he was attracted by it as a system of worship." Kidd concludes that Franklin's certitudes included the obligations of benevolent service and toleration of religious differences. These were the only "unchanging dogmas in (Franklin's) creeds. (Aldridge, p 4) And This theme continues throughout the book, and until Franklin's very last days.
He quotes Alfred Owen Aldridge as saying, "Frankling completely disbelieved Christianity; yet he was attracted by it as a system of worship." Kidd concludes that Franklin's certitudes included the obligations of benevolent service and toleration of religious differences. These were the only "unchanging dogmas in (Franklin's) creeds. (Aldridge, p 4) And This theme continues throughout the book, and until Franklin's very last days.
June 30, 2019
An essential read for any American looking to better understand the religious sentiments of the “first American”, as Kidd calls him.
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