Church Life

Chapter 7 examines how Franklin was a keen observer of religion in Philadelphia and even took sides in the disputes that were likely to develop amid the Protestant diversity of Pennsylvania. In particular, he followed closely and was vocal about the heresy trial of Samuel Hemphill, that revealed doctrinal differences among Presbyterians. This was surprising if only because of his own counsel to himself to avoid public controversy. Franklin also befriended the evangelist and Anglican priest, George Whitefield, the figure who inspired a trans-Atlantic awakening. Franklin’s involvement in colonial religious life was one more indication of the hold that Protestantism had on him.

Young, Restless and Deist (Briefly)

Chapter 2 traces the intellectual genealogy of the young Benjamin Franklin during a time when he was the most free-spirited and least restrained by social conventions. At age seventeen, having learnt the printing trade, he left Boston. For almost three years, while attempting to find regular work as a printer first in Philadelphia and then London, Franklin continued to read widely and think deep thoughts about his place in the universe. This was the period when he espoused deism and wrote (and published) a short treatise on predestination and determinism (subsequently destroyed) as well as A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity. The chapter discusses the influence on Franklin of the Earl of Shaftesbury, John Locke, and William Wollaston. In 1726, Franklin produced Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion.

Conclusion: The American Creed

The Conclusion sums up how, after Franklin’s death, his reputation rested on contemporaries and then historians and other writers. He had limited appeal to prominent Protestants even as business leaders and pastors later embraced Franklin’s understanding of religion in relation to the way to wealth. Historians recognized his remarkable career even while granting other American statesmen, no more devout than Franklin, were more profound than the Founder in their interpretations of divine providence. Franklin did not produce a set of reflections on the tragic aspects of human existence the way that other notable Americans did with the help of Protestant teaching. But he was no less a Protestant culturally than these other figures.

Introduction: A Different Kind of Protestant

The Introduction addresses the question that has long absorbed the biographers of Benjamin Franklin: how to regard his writing about religion as well as many of his endeavors that were friendly to religion. The question of Franklin’s spirituality is even more pressing thanks to his Puritan upbringing in Boston and his marriage to an active Anglican. This chapter lays out the debates and suggests an alternative to the interpretations that historians have offered. Roman Catholics and Jews refer to non-observant members of their groups as “cultural”—people who observe parts of the faith and live with an awareness of it but do not join the church or synagogue. Subsequent chapters attempt to do this for Franklin as a cultural Protestant.

The Intellectual

Chapter 8 outlines how Franklin gained international fame for discoveries he made about electricity and the nature of lightning, not to mention the inventions he produced on the basis of this knowledge. The Philadelphian’s scientific achievements, which gained a notable place in the Enlightenment, were largely the product of a curiosity that was indefatigable, as well as a dedication to share information and learn about the discoveries of other natural philosophers. But it was also indirectly an outworking of Protestant understandings of the natural world. Although that outlook was responsible for disenchanting the Christian cosmos of medieval Christendom, it also encouraged inquiry that looked beyond spiritual significance to understanding how nature worked.

The Way of Print

Chapter 4 discusses how, in addition to printing a newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Franklin produced books, documents, and records as part of his successful print shop. One of his most celebrated best-sellers was Poor Richard’s Almanac: one part diary for its owners, several parts trivia, and advice from the fictious Poor Richard. The chapter shows how, throughout his publications, Franklin’s understanding and sympathy for aspects of Christianity became apparent. His interest in making a profit was part of his larger effort to improve the morals of fellow colonists. Franklin’s work in an industry that was crucial to the spread of Protestantism reveals another link between his life and the world that the Reformation made.

Pennsylvania’s Protestant Politics

Chapter 9 discusses how Pennsylvania gave Franklin more room for his talents, doubts, and questions than Boston did, thanks to the Quakers’ commitment to intellectual and religious freedom. The colony’s religious diversity, especially among German Protestants, was a challenge to its well-being especially when Quaker pacifism proved a liability in defending against French and Native American military forces. It shows how Franklin continued to rely on his knowledge of Protestantism and skills as a civic leader while he served in the Pennsylvania Assembly during the French and Indian War and then as the colony’s chief negotiator in London with the Penn family and British government officials in efforts to secure a royal charter for Pennsylvania.

Striving

Chapter 3 traces Benjamin Franklin’s early development—purchasing equipment to open his own print shop and editing a Philadelphia newspaper. His work provided him with an outlet for advice about living a moral life. Sometimes he wrote under pseudonyms, such as Silence Dogood, and reprinted material that reinforced his own efforts to live a good life, creating a Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection. The chapter discusses Jonathan Edwards, whose views were substantially in agreement with Franklin’s, though much of Franklin’s moralism attracted criticism from twentieth-century writers such as D. H. Lawrence. Franklin’s thoughts about virtue emerged from similar concerns that Puritans had for the Christian life as one of sanctity.

Autobiography

Chapter 11 outlines Franklin’s return to America in time to offer advice to the new government and plans for a new constitution. He also wrote his Autobiography in instalments over the last fifteen years of his life, which was one part memoir, one part uplift. In some respects, it carried on Puritan conventions of introspection in journals and diaries. At the end of his life, friends and family pressed him to make a Christian profession. His well-lived life, with its work ethic and emphasis on self-help, he believed, was sufficient. The chapter also discusses his anti-slavery views, his friendship with Ezra Stiles, his deathbed scene and the views of his sister, Jane Mecom.

Growing up Puritan

Chapter 1 chronicles the family background of Benjamin Franklin, whose English Protestant father, Josiah, emigrated from Northampton in England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1683. The chapter describes Franklin’s childhood, including the Boston background of his maternal grandfather, Peter Folger, also an English emigré, and the influence of his uncle, Benjamin Franklin the elder. The chapter indicates the family’s religious affiliations, including their close associations with pastors Samuel Willard and Ebenezer Pemberton. Family friends included the parents of Charles Chauncey, whose adult convictions differed from those of Benjamin. The chapter explains how Josiah originally intended his youngest son to take up a career in the ministry, but came to understand that he lacked some of the requisite convictions. It relates how the search for alternative work in various trades led to an onerous apprenticeship in printing under his brother James. Ben learned about both the trade and himself—by his late teens, he realized that he needed other outlets for his independence of mind.