Faith Of Our Signers P7

As Franklin aged, he steadily became more outspoken in favor of religion and morality in private as well as public life. He helped start schools in which African American students learned not only academics but also the principles of Christianity.

He also helped found the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) for the explicitly declared purpose of instructing youth in the knowledge of the Christian religion, personally affirming that the history classes of the university would afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion from its usefulness to the public and the advantage of a religious character among private persons…and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern.

And when Thomas Paine, who was anti-religious and one of the few true deists in the Founding Era, informed Franklin of his plan to write a piece that was a direct assault on the Bible and Christianity, Franklin’s response to Paine was unequivocal and forceful:

The consequences of printing this piece will be a great deal of odium (or hate) drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits into the wind, spits in his own face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine any good would be done by it?…Think how great a portion of mankind… have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice - to support their virtue…I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person. 

More on this next week for another American Moment.

Sourced from The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton.