I picked up my old copy of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography this morning. It’s been some time since I opened it. Perhaps my neglect has something to do with it’s uninspiring title? It’s plainly titled The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I can’t help but think that a man with the genius of Ben Franklin could have come up with a catchier title than that one! I’m thinking something along the lines of “Metal Kites and Lighting Storms,” or “I Kissed Church Goodbye,” or “I’m OK – You’re a Smelly Fish.” Anything would have been better than the moniker slapped onto the cover of this book. It does no justice to the man’s content! Oh well, we still have the “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” That’s a great title!
At any rate, I picked up the old autobiography and randomly opened it to a page wherein Franklin writes about his church life. It’s is interesting, to say the least.
I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian and tho’ some of the dogmas of that persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation, etc., appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my study day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and govern’d 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. These I esteem’d the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, tho’ with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mix’d with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, serv’d principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This respect to all with an opinion that the worst has some good effects, indue’s me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion another might have of his own religion; and as our province increas’d in people, and new places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary contribution, my mite for such purpose, whatever might be the sect, was never refused.
Honestly, Franklin sounds like he is saying that getting along with people is his priority and he avoids church assemblies because they are so full of poor, unintelligible, and doubtful thoughts that he would be forced to point them out and, of course, a huge disagreement would result! In other words, it sounds like he is basically saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say anything at all!” For him, that translates, “If I don’t have anything good to say about the religious assembly, then, for the sake of our young province, it’s better if I just stay at home!” Franklin goes on to say that while he rarely attended meetings he did send in his “annual subscription” because he thought that when rightly conducted the meeting served some sort of purpose.
I would have loved to share a lunch with this fellow.
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