Benjamin Franklins Life As A Puritan Religion Essay

One of the greatest heads in early America was that of Benjamin Franklin.A Aside from his parts to diplomatic negotiations, literature, and civilization, he was besides in the head of religious evolution.A One of the most common and strongest spiritual motions at the clip was that of the Puritans.A Raised a Puritan, it did n’t take Franklin long to develop a new belief system and mentality on God and human nature inspired by deism.A Franklin ‘s thoughts of God and human nature were strongly against that of theA Puritan faith.A Franklin saw God through freethinkers eyes, that God created adult male and gave him free will to move as he chose.A Therefore, his thought of human nature differed in the fact that unlike theA PuritansA he believed adult male acted on his ain with his ownA desires and non that ofA God ‘s as his drive force.A

The Puritan position of God was a complex 1. God ‘s word and jurisprudence, the bible, was to be purely followed to the missive. They viewed God as sort and merely, a loving male parent who cared for his chosen, but he was besides wroth. He would penalize those who did non follow his word and did incorrectly in the universe. Though loving and sort, they still viewed God as being capable of great choler and wrath upon those that offended him. One of the cardinal things that the Puritan ‘s believed about God was the thought of predestination or the belief that God had already predetermined who would travel to heaven, utopia, and who would non. This caused much discord in a Puritan ‘s life, the changeless fright of non cognizing. The Puritan ‘s besides believed that God was active in persons and state ‘s activities. God would openly step in and answer supplications, assisting those that worshipped him. This would do much emphasis on the manner they viewed human nature and how one should populate their life.

Examples of the Puritan manner of thought are apparent throughout history. Mary Rowlandson was involved with a clang between Puritan colonists and the Native Americans. Many colonists were killed or captured and she herself was captured by the Indians. The belief that God punished those he was huffy at is really prevailing in her Hagiographas. She ne’er one time gives recognition to the Indians or their virtue, but ever blames the colonists for disconcerting God. That God punished the colonists when they fell into iniquitous ways utilizing the Indians as his tool for requital. Rowlandson even references God penalizing her for wishing for affliction and taking things for granted, “ It is good for me that I have been afflicted. The Lord hath showed me the amour propre of these outward thingsaˆ¦that we must trust on God himself and our whole dependance must be upon him ” ( Rowlandson, 20 ) . She shows clear Puritan thought in her Hagiographas. When the settlers found God ‘s manner they gained the upper manus against the Indians therefore meaning Gods pleasance with them.

Another was in the signifier of Michael Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth used his fright of God and note following him in his heroic poem poem The Day of Doom. In this verse form, he went into great item about how God would convey about the terminal of the universe on judgement twenty-four hours, “ Forthwith he cries, Ye Dead arise, and unto Judgment semen ” ( Wigglesworth, 3 ) . He used the verse form to strike place the manner that one should populate and follow God ‘s word and to demo what the penalty would be if one did non. Wigglesworth believed that though their destiny was predestined, “ Peoples need to seek to be good anyhow, since although “ your good responsibilities can non salvage you, yet your bad plants will curse you ” ” ( Wigglesworth, 4 ) . It was his private manner of prophesying to the multitudes.

Like Wigglesworth, John Dane ‘s authorship, “ A Declaration of Remarkable Providences in the Course of My Life ” , was a expression into the Puritan manner of life and their beliefs. In it, he spoke on all the enticements that one would confront in the universe like jumping church, adult females, and larceny. He talked of his young person when he disobeyed the word of God and what he had been taught. He spoke of how he finally got hurt in his iniquitous life and how he remembered the words of his female parent, “ God will happen you out ” ( Dane, 7 ) . He prayed to God to mend his arm, that he would alter his ways if God would reply him. Dane recognizes that “ Although I have many times lost His particular presence, yet he hath returned to me in clemency once more ” ( Dane, 12 ) . He finally changed his life and became a good and honest adult male, populating a Godly life. Dane believed his life became good because he had pleased God.

The Puritans believed that human nature was to function God and to laud him in everything they did. They believed adult male was to no wickedness even though he was surrounded by it. A adult male was to forgive even when surrounded by immorality. He was to be a searcher of redemption even though he may non hold been predetermined to have it. Though their actions did non matter in their ability to acquire into Utopia they still endeavor to take perfect lives harmonizing to the Bible and that it was adult male ‘s manner to follow God ‘s word. This was the ambiance in which Franklin was raised, like Wigglesworth, Dane, and Rowlandson. It did non take long for him to develop his ain thoughts about God and human nature, nevertheless.

When Franklin struck found his naming in the printing industry, his love for reading found a great mercantile establishment. Through his readings he came across many different beliefs about God and how God affected the universe. He shortly came across Hagiographas about free thought, both for and against the belief. The belief of free thought is that there is a God, but non a Christian God and that this God created the universe and adult male. When God created adult male he gave him free will and so has since stepped back to allow free will take over, that the Bible was fairy narratives and Jesus was a simple wise adult male. This was a extremist new belief for a Puritan raised Franklin, but as he read more the statements for and particularly against merely furthered his belief that free thought was right. When he was nineteen he published a freethinker piece of land entitled Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. This was a wildly extremist publication for its clip. In this piece of land, Franklin argued that if God was all-wise, almighty, and all-good there could be no immorality in the universe. If he was almighty so nil could go on without him doing it come about or without his consent. If he was all-good, so what he allowed would be good. So, if everything occurred was good so there would be no immorality.

Franklin went on to reason that pleasance was derived from hurting and farther commented on the immortality of the psyche. This was really controversial for its clip and was non received good. After his piece of land backfired on him, Franklin took a new position on life and focused more on how a adult male was to populate without Christian tenet or ideas of achieving a Utopian hereafter. He focused on virtuousness and how human nature itself was set towards populating a good life. He commented on how populating a good life was good in and of itself and populating a bad life was harmful so it was merely natural to desire to populate a good life. Franklin “ conceiv ‘d the bold and backbreaking undertaking of geting at moral flawlessness ” ( Franklin, 32 ) . He stressed 13 virtuousnesss to populate by. The first virtuousness was moderation, a belief of non to eat to dullness or imbibe to elevation. Next was silence, or the belief that one should merely talk when it may profit others or themselves. Then came order, allowing everything have its topographic point and clip in your life. Next was declaration, the resoluteness to execute what you should and to execute without neglect what you resolve. Fifth was frugalness, waste nil. Following came industry, cutting of all unneeded actions and ever being involved in something utile. Earnestness and Justice came following, non lying or aching others. Moderation was 9th, avoiding extremes of any sort. Cleanliness was 10th and repose was 11th. In these, he stressed being clean in organic structure, apparels and place and non being disturbed by accidents or trifles. Twelfth was celibacy, to merely utilize venery for wellness or progeny. Lastly was humbleness, to copy Jesus and Socrates. ( Franklin, 32-33 ) .

Franklin ‘s belief in human nature was the key to this list of virtuousnesss being successful. He believed that one did non make hurtful things out of fright of God but because they were hurtful. This was a motion off from his earlier freethinker beliefs. It showed ripening in him that lent his statements more weight. Alternatively of assailing the Puritan beliefs, seeking to happen holes in them and shore uping his ain beliefs up, it showed what he stood for.

Though he was raised in a rigorous Puritan place Benjamin Franklin shortly found himself following the beliefs of the freethinkers. In his extremist young person, he argued against the Puritan manner of life and belief utilizing his mind to organize strong yet extremist statements and Hagiographas. Without success, Franklin grew and expanded his ain belief and cognition to eventual organize new positions on both God and human nature. Unlike the Puritans: Rowlandson, Dane, and Wigglesworth, Franklin focused more on how one should life their life non harmonizing to what the Bible said, but instead how one should populate to most profit themselves and the people around them. He expressed these in his 13 virtuousnesss and tried to emulate them in his life. Though different and considered extremist for his clip he set a precedency that has lasted till this twenty-four hours.