Professional paper

Benjamin Franklin: Religion and Freedom

Neven Brlek ; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The paper considers Benjamin Franklin’s writings on religious matters, as
well as his interaction with religious personae and institutions, on a culturological
level. In this, his Autobiography (1791) is the primary source, as are three principal
essays he published on the matter during his lifetime: “A Dissertation on Liberty
and Necessity” (1725), “Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion” (1728), and “On the
Providence of God in the Government of the World” (1732). From these sources,
an attempt to reconstruct Franklin’s curious approach to religion, cosmology and
the concept of God is made, and the trajectory along which his opinions seem
to have shifted is traced. Most importantly, it is argued that, for all the different
approaches to religion Franklin exhibited throughout his lifetime, his stance on
religion is in a metonymic relation with his political orientation as a Founding
Father of the United States. That is, religious freedom he advocated is ostensibly
a manifestation of his grander approach to freedom of any kind, which American
cultural identity is based on. This freedom is also considered in relation to
Franklin’s stance towards slave owning and towards Native Americans.

Keywords

Benjamin Franklin, religion, the Great Awakening, Quakers, Deism, freedom, slavery

Hrčak ID:

264981

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/264981

Publication date:

29.10.2021.

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