THE FAITH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

How America's Most Irreligious Founder
Was Impacted by George Whitefield and the Great Awakening

Benjamin Franklin, along with Thomas Jefferson, is usually considered the most irreligious of America’s Founding Fathers. If Franklin, however, were in Washington, D.C. today he would stand out for his strong religious beliefs and conservative political views. He would be pro-life, pro-traditional marriage and would advocate for prayer and Bible reading in the public schools. So far has our nation moved from its Christian origins that this most liberal, irreligious Founder would today be attacked for his Christian views and conservative policies. 

His Early Life & Indiscretions

Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 into a hard working Protestant family that had Puritan influences on both sides of the family. In fact, Franklin’s critics have derisively referred to his Autobiography, written later in life, as “little else than a Puritan document—a religious tract—for the justification of thrift and other Puritan qualities.”

At the age of 17 Franklin ran away from home and settled further south in Philadelphia. In his early life he engaged in inappropriate behavior such as fathering an illegitimate son and his common law marriage to Deborah Read. But in his Autobiography he describes himself as being at that time “under no religious restraint,” clearly indicating that “religious restraints” later became a governing force in his life.

Being a voracious reader Franklin, as a young man, also entertained the views of Deism. Deists, while not denying the existence of God, insisted that God was not involved in human affairs. They also denied the Deity of Jesus Christ. For the Deist, God was like the clockmaker who made a clock, wound it up and left it to run on its own.

His Deistic views, however, also changed with time. This was attributable, no doubt, to his Puritan upbringing and also to his exposure to the Great Awakening and his friendship with the Awakening’s most famous preacher, George Whitefield (1714-1770).

Franklin Participates in the Great Awakening

When Whitefield arrived in Philadelphia for the first time in 1739, Franklin was already established as a successful printer and one of the city’s leading citizens. Philadelphia, as was generally true of colonial America at the time, was spiritually indifferent and vice and immorality was running rampant. Some ministers had issued calls for prayer and fasting, but until now little evidence of answered prayer had been seen. This was all about to change.

Franklin was astounded at what transpired through Whitefield’s preaching. No building in Philadelphia was large enough to accommodate the thousands that flocked to hear him preach, and he was forced to preach outdoors. The meetings were nonsectarian and in his Autobiography Franklin wrote, “The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous.”

The city was transformed and Franklin described the change as “wonderful.” From his Autobiography, it sounds as if he was in regular attendance at all the meetings. He had never seen anything like it, and wrote;

It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion it seemed as if all the world were growing religious so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.”

His Friendship with George Whitefield

On this, his first visit to Philadelphia, Whitefield reached out and introduced himself to Franklin who was eight years his senior. This proved to be the beginning of a long friendship that lasted until Whitefield’s death 31 years later. In later visits, Whitefield would even stay in Franklin’s home when visiting Philadelphia.

Whitefield hired Franklin to print and distribute his Sermons and Journals and Franklin took on the task with enthusiasm. Franklin also advised Whitefield in business matters related to his ministry, such as the advertisement and distribution of his Sermons and the establishment of an orphanage in Georgia. He also contributed financially to Whitefield’s ministry.

In his Autobiography, Franklin refers to Whitefield as “a perfectly honest man” and describes their friendship as being “sincere on both sides, which lasted till his death.”It is obvious that, in spite of their differences, their friendship ran deep. It is also obvious that the friendship had a deep and lasting impact on Franklin and led to a transformation of his views about God and the Bible.

In his Autobiography Franklin says that Whitefield often prayed for his conversion but did not live to see his prayers answered. Even so, there is evidence to suggest that Whitefield’s prayers were eventually answered and that Franklin did come to know in a personal way the Savior that Whitfield so often spoke to him about.

Evidence of Change

It is known, for example, that Franklin became an avid reader of the Bible and would often quote Scripture in his conversations. He became a life-long member of the Presbyterian Church and financially supported that church until his death. 

On one occasion, when he learned that his daughter had stopped attending church because of a personal dislike of the minister, Franklin wrote her a letter in which he exhorted her on “the necessity and duty of attending church.” Being ever the philosopher, he then said, “Pure water is often found to have come through very dirty earth.”

Franklin came to believe the teachings of Jesus—whom he sought to emulate—to be a necessary and positive force in society and a restraint on evil in the world. That is why when Thomas Paine sent him a manuscript copy of The Age of Reason in which he attacked historic Christianity, Franklin wrote him a letter in which he defended orthodox Christianity and urged Paine not to print his manuscript, saying;

I would advise you, therefore . . . to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion [Christianity], what would they be if without it.

After a voyage to England in 1757, during which the ship almost crashed into a small, rocky island in the Atlantic at midnight, the first thing Franklin did upon reaching shore was to seek out a church and offer up thanksgiving to God. In a letter to his wife, he wrote, “The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately and with hearts full of gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we had received.”

Whether Franklin ever embraced all the tenets of orthodox Christianity is still debated. What is not in question is the fact that Franklin believed Christianity to be a positive force in society, which is why he recommended that it be taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania. Franklin would be appalled at modern attempts to remove expressions of Christianity from the public arena.

Franklin Calls the Constitutional Convention to Prayer

On June 28, 1787, seventeen years after Whitefield’s death, Franklin was attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia as one of the delegates. Much regional disagreement had surfaced and the convention was about to be suspended because of unresolved strife and dissension. It was at this critical moment that Franklin, now 81 years of age, rose to his feet, and addressed the Convention President, George Washington, with these words:

How has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. I have lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of  this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this.  I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.

According to those present, “An atmosphere of reconciliation seemed to settle over the convention hall.” Petty grievances and local interests were laid aside, and the delegates went on to complete their task of formulating the American Constitution and Bill of Rights. I think Whitefield must have smiled, and all of heaven with him!

Concluding Thoughts

The words in his call to prayer show that Franklin had discarded his Deistic views for Deists did not believe that God “governs in the affairs of men” and prayer for them would be meaningless. The impact of his Puritan upbringing, his exposure to the Great Awakening and Whitefield’s personal friendship are all obvious here in Franklin’s words and actions.

If Franklin was America’s most irreligious Founder, what does that say for most politicians in Washington, D.C. today? If Franklin was the most irreligious of our Founders, then it shows how far our nation has fallen and how desperate we are for another Great Awakening in our land. 

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an author, historian, revivalist and ordained minister. This article is derived from his book, America's Revival Heritage, available from Amazon and from his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html

A REVIVED AMERICA: IS IT POSSIBLE?

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” – Patrick Henry 

America is at a crossroads—one of the most critical moments in her history. For the first time in my life I can see the possibility of our Constitution and Bill of Rights being discarded and replaced in the midst of a national emergency. This could happen for two reasons: (1) because of lawless public officials who do not respect the rule of law or the American Constitution; and (2) because of an American populace that has no sense of the nation's overt Christian origins and the important role of her founding documents and are, therefore, susceptible to such a radical change. As God said in Hosea 4:6, My people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge.

The Crisis is Real

For the first time in my life I can see the possibility of a national chaotic situation in which our president declares a national emergency and refuses to step down when his time in office is up. He then uses his “emergency” powers to call a new Constitutional convention to create a modern and more relative Constitution to replace the old, outdated one.

If you think such could never happen, consider a recent article in the New York Times that noted, “The Constitution has seen better days . . . its influence is waning.” The liberal Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, reflected this contemptuous attitude toward the American Constitution when she told an Egyptian television audience, “I would not look to the U.S. Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012.” Noting this growing disdain for the Constitution, Professor Steven Hayward asked, “Is there any doubt that if liberals had their way, they would junk the U.S. Constitution and install one that enshrines liberal ideology?”

A national crisis could provide the perfect storm within which a Constitutional change could occur. Commenting on this, an article in the Wall Street Journal noted, “The thing about a crisis is that it creates a sense of urgency. Actions that once appeared optional suddenly seem essential.” Remember, a liberal mantra is, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

There is Hope

But in the midst of the current crisis, there is hope. In the midst of the darkness, there is light. God still rules among the nations of the earth. Psalm 33:12 that reads, Blessed is that nation whose God is the LORD is still true.

But our hope cannot be in a politician or a political party. Our hope must be in God Himself and His promises to His people. The only thing that will save America at this time is what has saved her through so many crises in her past—a great, national Spiritual awakening. Is such an awakening possible?

A Personal Visitation

In 2010 I experienced a visitation from the Lord in which it was made clear to me that America could see another great, national Spiritual awakening. Like many today, I had given up hope that such an awakening could ever occur. But one hot summer day as I began a leisure drive to preach in another city, my mind and heart suddenly and unexpectedly began to be flooded with hopeful, faith-filled thoughts that America could see another Great Awakening.

For the next two hours I was overwhelmed with a sense of God’s presence and my mind was continually flooded with thoughts of how America could see another great, national Spiritual awakening. By the time I reached my hotel I was so excited I could hardly wait to get out my PC and began to write and articulate the new hope for America I had just received. Out of that experience I wrote the book America’s Revival Heritage, published in 2012.

Let's See America Revived

Just recently, through a series of providential occurrences, it was made clear to me that I am to begin presenting "Revive America” Events for the purpose of laying the Biblical and historical foundation for another national, Spiritual awakening. This will involve showing the radical Christian origins of our nation and the Christian context of its founding documents.

Most of all, it will involve calling God’s people to a new consecration, and imploring them to pray and believe for another Great Awakening that will revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our land. 

Yes, a revived America is possible; for as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, With God all things are possible.

Eddie Hyatt is a Bible teacher, church historian and author who holds a Doctor of Ministry from the School of Divinity at Regent University. He has specialized in researching Spiritual awakenings in church history and in American history, and he has a passion to see authentic Spiritual awakening in this generation.

REVIVAL OR TYRANNY?

We Will be Governed Either by God from Within or by Tyrants from Without

President Obama said we should be ashamed for not enacting gun control laws in light of the shooting of a 14 year old by a 15 year old at a school in Oregon. The president’s statement, however, is like calling for a band-aid to be put on a cancer. The immorality and violence in our land are not from a lack of laws. They are reflections of deep spiritual problems that include the breakdown of the family, the rejection of moral absolutes by our society, a secularist government that is increasingly hostile to Christianity and a weak, anemic church.

When I was in high school in rural NE Texas, practically every teenager owned a gun. My grandmother gave me my first gun, a 410 shotgun, when I was about 14 to use for hunting and target practice. The thought of using the guns for anything else--especially shooting someone-- never entered our minds because of the strong family, moral and Spiritual influences in the school and community.

What this country needs is not another law, but an open return to Biblical and moral principles. We must have another great Spiritual awakening. If we do not soon recover a morality and faith that governs us from within, then we will be governed by power-hungry political tyrants from without. 

Everyone who follows current events know that there is an all-out assault on Christianity in this nation. This has taken the form of banning prayer and Bible reading in public schools, removing the Ten Commandments from the walls of schools and court rooms, removing crosses from government lands and removing Nativity scenes from public city squares. In addition, Christian businesses are being ordered to provide services to their employees and the public, even if it violates their conscience and Christian faith. 

These are acts of tyranny by an overreaching, out-of-control government. It is no time for a quiet, timid Christianity. Our third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

America’s founders threw off the tyranny of King George and formed a nation with a Constitution designed for a moral and Christian people. Such a people would not need a lot of outward laws to govern their actions, for they would govern themselves from within according to Biblical principles. This is what James Madison, the chief architect of the Constitution, was referring to when he said,

We have staked the whole future of the American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future . . . upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.

This is what our second president, John Adams, was referring to when he said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”

When the Founders used the word “religious” they were referring to Christianity. As a nation we are rapidly moving away from our Christian beginnings. In fact, our president stood before a predominately Muslim audience in a foreign land and declared, “America is not a Christian nation.”

Those who think morality and Christian faith have no connection are deceived. I remember listening to a sociologist being interviewed by Charlie Rose and hearing him tell how his studies had revealed that the public display of Christian symbols have a direct bearing on morality. He told of one experiment that revealed that people in a room with a Bible in sight are less likely to lie than if there is no Bible to be seen.

In his farewell address, George Washington exhorted the young nation to remember that, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” He then went on to say,

And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion [Christianity]. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Today’s secularist politician sees more laws as the answer for every problem. The Founders would have been more inclined to call the nation to prayer and repentance.

We must have a national Spiritual awakening in our land that will restore a national morality and cultural change of character. For this to happen, pastors and Christian leaders must recover their voice and speak truth in love. Otherwise we will see more laws and more control and oppression coming out of Washington D.C. We will either have revival and be governed by God from within or we will continue our downhill moral slide and be ruled by tyrants from without.

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the founder and host of "Revive America." He is the author of several books on Spiritual awakenings and his latest book, PURSUING POWER: How the Historic Quest for Apostolic Authority & Control Has Divided and Damaged the Church, is available from Amazon and from his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html. 

LINCOLN'S CALL FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF REPENTANCE, FASTING & PRAYER

An Historical Precedent for our Senate & President 
and a Model for the Churches of America

During perhaps the darkest hour of this nation's history, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution asking President Abraham Lincoln to appoint a day of national prayer and fasting. The nation was in the throes of a great Civil War and the South seemed to have the upper hand. The nation's very existence was in jeopardy. Lincoln issued the following proclamation on March 30, 1863 designating April 30, 1863 as a national day of humiliation, prayer and fasting. Almost immediately after this day of repentance, prayer and fasting, the tide of the war turned and the Confederate troops led by their commander, General Robert E. Lee, were defeated by Union forces at Gettysburg the following July 3. Here is what President Lincoln said:

Whereas, the Senate of the United States devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation: And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is Lord:

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully concurring in the view of the Senate, I do, by this proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be hard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. By the President: Abraham Lincoln.

Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an ordained minister, Bible teacher, church historian and author. His latest book is PURSUING POWER: How the Historic Quest for Apostolic Power & Control Has Divided and Damaged the Church, available from Amazon and from his website at www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html.

IF MY PEOPLE: Why America's Future is in Our Hands

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (II Chrn. 7:14).

America’s future does not lie with the next election, a political process or a political party. America’s future will be determined by how the people of God respond to the current crises in our land. Will we humble ourselves and pray, acknowledging our absolute dependence on Him, or will we continue to selfishly pursue our own religious agendas and build our own personal kingdoms? America was formed out of a Great Spiritual Awakening that had been birthed in prayer and the only thing that will save her is another great spiritual awakening birthed in prayer.

Today, being the National Day of Prayer, offers an opportunity for the Christians of America to begin to fulfill the conditions that are clearly laid out in Scripture for a national healing and awakening. This day, as a national day of prayer, was formally enacted by Congress in 1952. However, national and regional days of prayer have been part of this nation’s history since colonial times, including 1775 when the Continental Congress designated a time of prayer in forming a new nation.

The 1775 designation was not something new but was actually an expression of the cultural mindset of the populace. Prior to this, for example, a pastor in New England reported that most of the churches had “set apart days wherein to seek the Lord by prayer and fasting.” In addition, he said, there were “annual fast days appointed by the government.” Benjamin Franklin reported that in 1739 his hometown of Philadelphia had been so transformed that one could not walk through the town without hearing prayer and praise coming from houses on every street.

This attitude of prayerful dependence permeated every facet of American life at this time. John Adams (1735-1826), one of the Founding Fathers and the 2nd President of the United States, gave a moving account of the First Continental Congress that convened in September 1774 with Bible reading and prayer. When Psalm 35 was read, many were moved to tears and spontaneous expressions of prayer to God. Verses 9 and 23 were particularly significant: My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation. . . . Awake and rise to my defense! Contend for me, my God and Lord! In a letter to his wife, Abigail, about this event, Adams wrote;

Who can realize the emotions with which they turned imploringly to heaven for divine interposition and aid. It was enough to melt a heart of stone. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seems as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read that day.

If this nation was birthed out of prayer and spiritual awakening can it hope to be preserved by anything less? Many Christians believe that America’s best days are behind her and that she will continue to decline politically, spiritually and morally. This was my view as well until one day in 2010 when I was surprised by the Holy Spirit who imparted a new hope and expectation in my heart.

It was a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon as I got in my car and began the three-hour drive to Kingfisher, Oklahoma, where I would be speaking the following day for friends in the church they pastored. As I pulled onto the highway, my heart and mind were suddenly and unexpectedly flooded with hope that America could experience another Great Awakening.

I must confess that I had lost hope of America seeing another national revival. It seemed to me that “revival” had degenerated into the self-serving pursuit of sensational, religious phenomena, rather than being the fruit of a sincere seeking after God. Revival, it seemed, had become a hyped, man-made, religious event rather than a Divine invasion from heaven. I could identify with the words of R. A. Torrey who, almost a century ago, said:

The most fundamental trouble with most of our present- day, so-called revivals is that they are man-made and not God sent. They are worked up (I almost said faked up) by man’s cunningly devised machinery—not prayed down.

But as I drove along the highway that day, my hope for America was renewed. My heart was filled with fresh faith and hope for another Great Awakening that would revive and renew the churches of America, impact our culture, and stem the tide of secularism, immorality, and false religion that is flooding our land.

I could also see that God had preserved this nation through national spiritual awakenings that happened at crucial moments in our history. The Second Great Awakening (1800-1840), for example, took place just in time to save America from the negative influences of Deism and the French Revolution and to tame the bawdy, western frontier. Then, in 1858-1859, the Great Prayer Awakening came just in time to carry the nation through its most difficult time to date—the Civil War. I could also see clearly that, without another Great Awakening, the America we have known will surely cease to exist.

I hope you will join me and many others today in sincerely petitioning God for another Great Spiritual Awakening in our land. 

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is a Bible teacher, historian and author. This article was derived from his book, America’s Revival Heritage available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html.