Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father

A major new biography, illuminating the great mystery of Benjamin Franklins faith

Kidd vividly brings Franklins spiritual quest to life throughout his book, and he provides a direct line from Franklins 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 Franklins beliefs, to be sure, but devout Christians in his lifeincluding George Whitefield, the eras greatest evangelical preacher; his parents; and his beloved sister Janekept him tethered to the Calvinist creed of his Puritan upbringing. Based on rigorous research into Franklins voluminous correspondence, essays, and almanacs, this fresh assessment of a well-known figure unpacks the contradictions and conundrums faith presented in Franklins life. See more