Why Benjamin Franklin became a Deist

Why Benjamin Franklin rejected his Presbyterian roots

There are many reasons a politician might reject being affiliated with a particular religious denomination.  In his early teens Franklin had exhausted the books in his fathers library which for the most part were related to bible study and religion.  He left home at seventeen looking for work in the printing business and ended up in England for over a year.  Returning to America in 1726 he was about twenty years old.  As he began to prosper in the printing business he was consumed by reading.  Though he seldom attended church he never abandoned his belief in God.  His view of the Presbyterian religion however he came to reject.

"I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; but though some of the dogmas of the persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation, etc., appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles.  I never doubted, for instance, the existence of a Deity- that he made the world and governed it by his providence - that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man - that our souls are immortal - that all crimes will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter."

In Philadelphia, a Presbyterian minister encouraged him to attend his church but it was short lived. "Had he been in my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued...but his discourse were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying; since not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforced; their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens."

After five Sundays of this experience he gave up on public assemblies and pursued his own studies on Sundays with the help of a liturgy and form of prayer of his own that he composed (1728) entitled, Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion.  He admitted that his conduct might have been blameable but he made no apologies.  Of his thirteen virtuous goals the final was to imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Reverend Whitefield came to preach from Ireland in 1739 Franklin became one of his great admirers and supporter.  Whitefield was not shy about calling out the errors of clergymen who shut him out of their churches.

When it came time for the Americans to pick up weapons to defend themselves against their enemies Franklin was more than a bit frustrated by the hypocrisy of the pacifist Quakers.

The Rock ain't Peter

Who is the Rock?

So this is what the Lord GOD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. (Isa, 28:16)

According to Roman tradition
 Peter is the rock and  foundation of the church. 

 But what does the bible say?

Throughout the bible the rock is actually God.  A few examples make it clear.  In the Song of Moses (Deu. 32:4) we read, "The Rock!  His work is perfect."  This is certainly not something we could say about Peter who was prone to jumping to conclusions and being carried away by peer pressure.  Apostle Paul had to rebuke him publicly for hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11)  Who did apostle Paul say was the rock? "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Cor. 10:4).  So neither Moses or Paul thought Peter was the Rock.

Psalm 62:1-2

"My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken."

Notice that God is our salvation, not the church.

A Psalm of David reads, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge." (2 Samuel 22:2-3, Psalm 18:2)

Those that prefer Peter as their rock apparently do not read the Old Testament or care what it says.  When one places there faith in a church or person rather than Christ they are setting themselves up for a painful disappointment.

Esoteric Truth

Can you judge a CD by its cover?

So when the name of a city from the Book of Mormon shows up on a CD cover what does this mean?

The Mormons use many things to promote their cult.  They use names like this from the Book of Mormon to merchandise their religion and neutralize any critical thinking.  Google Zarahemla and watch what comes up.  There is more than one way to skin a snake.