Benjamin Franklin

"Benjamin Franklin is the only founding father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain (1783) and the U.S. Constitution (1787.)"[1]  According History.com and other sites I researched, Franklin is probably the most influencial of the founding fathers, with the exception of  Washington. 

He was perhaps the most original genius of his age.  In addition to being a statesman, he was an author, a publisher, a brilliant negotiator, an ambassador, a scientist, an inventor, and the first Post Master General of the United States.  His experiments and inventions include:

The stove which was a major contribution to the warmth and comfort of colonial homes.  Most homes were heated by a large, open hearth fireplace.  Most of the heat went up the chimney flu.  The Franklin stove concentrated the heat within the stove from when it radiated about the room.

The famous experiment with electricity using a kite, a string, a key, and a thunderstorm.  Quite frankly, it is amazing that both Franklin and his assistant were not both electrocuted!  I’ve always thought that God was watching over him so that he could live to play his most pivotal role in history!

The armonica, a musical instrument made of glass which, when played, rivaled the sound of a harpsichord of the day.

An odometer, which he invented to calculate the milage between towns and villages for the colonial and later national postal services.

Franklin and Religion

zz

Many people today try to portray Franklin as an immoral, if not amoral, womanizer and anti-Christian.  He was sometimes referred to as Bawdy Ben. But as for being anti-Christ, nothing could be further from the truth.  He was highly moral, particularly when it involved social issues.  

As a young man, he wrote articles under the psuedonym of Silence Dogood, which criticized the British government's handling of the American colonies.  Later, under the psuedonym of Richard Saunders, he wrote Poor Richard's Almanack. 

While he owned slaves himself as a young man, he grew from being a "silent abolitionist" to being quite vocal.  He didn't argue against slavery at either the writing of the Declaration or the Constitution, primarily because he knew that it was not yet the time.  Had they pushed the anti-slavery clauses, the South would have refused to sign and there would have been no liberty, no nation, and no Constitution.  Pragmatic, Franklin believed in first things first.

He was born to Puritan parents and was baptized as an infant.  The writings of the great Puritan preacher, Cotton Mather, influenced his inate sense of social morality.

Franklin, like many others of his day, became disaffected by the religious sects of traditional Christianity.  This did not mean that he reject Christ or His teachings.  Franklin defined himself as a Diest, along with men like Thomas Jefferson.  Diests rejected much of the authorized canon of the day such as the concept of the trinity and in infallibility of the Bible and the closed canon of traditional Christianity.  Franklin described his religious views this way:

... Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." [2]  

Benjamin Franklin was among those founding fathers who believed that a republican form of government and a constitutional government could only succeed if there were a moral people.  As I have watched our nation move more and more away from the morality of its founders, I have observed its trials and failures as a result.  Franklin himself sought personal moral improvement his entire life.  He wrote what he called his Plan for Developing 13 Virtues:

1.   "Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."

2.   "Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."

3.   "Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."

4.   "Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."

5.   "Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."

6.   "Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."

7.   "Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."

8.   "Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."

9.   "Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."

10. "Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation."

11. "Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."

12. "Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."

13. "Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."[3]

We could all learn virture from him.

[1] http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/benjamin-franklinwho believed that a republican form

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#Virtue,_religion,_and_personal_beliefs

[3] Ibid