Benjamin Franklin, Thomas S. Kidd
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas S. Kidd
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Benjamin Franklin
The Religious Life of a Founding Father

Author: Thomas S. Kidd

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 9 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/23/2017

Synopsis

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.

About Thomas S. Kidd

Thomas S. Kidd teaches history at Baylor University, and is Associate Director of Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. Dr. Kidd writes at the Evangelical History blog at the Gospel Coalition. He also regularly contributes for outlets such as WORLD Magazine, the Washington Post, and USA Today. His recent books include George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father; and Baptists in America: A History, with co-author Barry Hankins.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rob

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,......more

Goodreads review by George P.

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 America......more

Goodreads review by Jeffrey

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......more

Goodreads review by Noah

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.......more

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