I’ve been reading a lot over the past couple years about the era of the American Revolutionary War. It all started when I needed something to read during our travel on spring break, and I came across one of my Grandpa Dobbin’s old books, “The Founding Brothers.” In the book was some amazing history of many key players in the movement for our country’s independence. Among them, one person stood out to me the most, Benjamin Franklin.
Many of us know bits and pieces, some true and some more legend, of Benjamin Franklin. He was a learned and talented printer and made a fortune by franchising printers throughout the colonies. He was a world-renowned scientist by progressing our understanding of electricity through many experiments (we all know his famous kite project). He was an inventor of many things, including bifocal glasses, the electric rod, the Armonica (musical instrument), and a more efficient fireplace/stove. He was also the writer of the famous “Poor Richard’s Almanac” and the “Dogood Letters”. Throughout the last half of his life, he founded the University of Pennsylvania, and went on to become America’s most important and beloved statesman and diplomat. He was also a strong believer of religious freedom and civic liberties for all people (as well as strongly opposed to slavery). History tells us he was very likable and charismatic as well. He was brilliant. What is even more impressive is that he was self read and taught, having only 2 years of formal education in a school.
However, he, like many of us, had an area of study in which he was purely ignorant. By ignorant I do not mean stupid, but rather uninformed (the Latin root for ignorance means ‘to ignore’). He was asked by his friends many times about his beliefs about God, life and death (the field of Theology and Religion). He explains his views best in a letter he had written a friend towards the end of his life:
“I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render him is doing good to his other Children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another life respecting its Conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion…having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble.”
When I read his words I was dumbfounded. The curiosity of this brilliant man enabled him to study, think and experiment to learn so much about science, yet he “never studied” to get answers about God, life and death. By ignoring this field of study, he was admittedly uneducated, and then he made his own presumptions about God, life and death.
Initially I wasn’t sure what to make of this contradiction of his studies, but it then hit me: I was the same way most of my life. But it isn’t just me; these religious views of Benjamin Franklin resonate with a large number of people today. His foundational belief is all religions were essentially the same (people who study Theology refer to this as Pluralism). This is easy to believe when you live by ignoring what different religions actually believe. However, I do agree that essentially all religions have a similar foundation: a person must do enough good (‘virtue’, as Mr. Franklin refers), although there is no known or agreeable amount needed, in order to be loved and accepted by God. This is what I believed for many years. But then I grasped a different view: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christianity is unique among all other religions. It’s based on love and acceptance by grace through faith, not by being good enough (Eph 2:8-9). Knowing that we never can do enough to earn the acceptance of the Creator, Jesus did enough for us all (John 3:16). That’s the gospel, and it’s unlike any other religion and that is why it is true.
I love reading about Benjamin Franklin and I would’ve loved to have met him. I admire his exceptionalism in so many fields. Yet he was so average when it came to understanding and finding real answers regarding the big questions of life. I hope you, like ‘Poor Richard’, strive to excel in some areas of study, but I hope you even more so look to find God. There is nothing more important than that.
“If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me“ (Jer 29:13, NLT).
