Benjamin Franklin and His GodsUniversity of Illinois Press, 1999 - Počet stran: 213 Against the religious backdrop of pre- and postcolonial America stands the towering figure--and mind--of Benjamin Franklin. A Renaissance man in a Revolutionary time, Franklin had interests and knowledge not only in religion but in literature, philosophy, politics, publishing, history, and scientific inquiry, among many other disciplines. Kerry S. Walters examines Franklin's search for the Divine using a similar, multifaceted approach--and in so doing has created the first extended treatment of Franklin's religious thought in thirty years. Walters brings the same intellectual range and depth to the understanding of Franklin's beliefs that Franklin brought to his own quest. What emerges from this pilgrimage into the soul of one of America's greatest figures is a very human Benjamin Franklin who grew with the accumulation of knowledge to arrive at a "theistic perspectivism," which provided him with a philosophical explanation for the diversity of religious faiths--and a justification for the liberty of conscience he advocated throughout his life. Benjamin Franklin and His Gods is an original and beautifully challenging spiritual and intellectual biography. Destined to be a classic. |
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Strana 7
... existence of a Supreme Architect that establishes and ultimately sustains the system of physical laws that define and govern reality . In addition , the conclusion that Franklin came to espouse polytheism is likewise incorrect ...
... existence of a Supreme Architect that establishes and ultimately sustains the system of physical laws that define and govern reality . In addition , the conclusion that Franklin came to espouse polytheism is likewise incorrect ...
Strana 8
... existence of a plurality of actu- al deities , and moreover sees this as the key to grasping his overall religious orientation . As I will demonstrate in this book , Franklin's scattered remarks about the " gods " are essential to ...
... existence of a plurality of actu- al deities , and moreover sees this as the key to grasping his overall religious orientation . As I will demonstrate in this book , Franklin's scattered remarks about the " gods " are essential to ...
Strana 10
... existence is demonstrable through the light of reason , cannot meet these needs . He ( or , more accurately , “ it ” ) is as remote as the stars , and just as cold . Reason cannot fully fathom its nature , creeds cannot describe it ...
... existence is demonstrable through the light of reason , cannot meet these needs . He ( or , more accurately , “ it ” ) is as remote as the stars , and just as cold . Reason cannot fully fathom its nature , creeds cannot describe it ...
Strana 11
... forced him to deny the existence of good and evil , reject the pos- sibility of human free will , and posit a God infinitely distant from and uncon- cerned with human lives or affairs . But this early Introduction II.
... forced him to deny the existence of good and evil , reject the pos- sibility of human free will , and posit a God infinitely distant from and uncon- cerned with human lives or affairs . But this early Introduction II.
Strana 12
... existence of an impassable and unknowable First Cause , but it also salvaged his emotional need for a per- sonal relationship with a benevolent and loving deity by positing the symbol- ic reality of more approachable gods . Franklin's ...
... existence of an impassable and unknowable First Cause , but it also salvaged his emotional need for a per- sonal relationship with a benevolent and loving deity by positing the symbol- ic reality of more approachable gods . Franklin's ...
Obsah
Between Worlds | 17 |
A False Start | 43 |
The Great Insight | 67 |
A Comfortable Belief | 96 |
Taming Wolves | 113 |
Sugar and Paper | 130 |
Notes | 153 |
209 | |
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Addison Aldridge Alfred Owen ambivalence American argued argument atheism Autobiography Benjamin Franklin Bonifacius Boston Calvinism Calvinist Cause chap Christian church claim concludes Consequently conviction Cotton Mather credo D. H. Lawrence defended deism deists deity Denham Dissertation Dissertation's divine doctrine Dogood letters early eighteenth-century England Enlightenment Essay evil example faith fictions Fowler Frank Franklin and Nature's Franklin's religious thought George Whitefield God's gods Hemphill Hemphill's human Ibid Increase Mather insight intellectual James Jane Mecom John Jonathan Edwards Joseph Priestley Josiah Keimer later Lawrence liberal liberal Christianity logical London Madame Brillon metaphysical mind moral natural necessitarianism never Newton orthodox pain Papers Philadelphia philosophical polytheism prayer Presbyterian Puritan rational reason reflections religion religious beliefs religious perspective says sectarian sects Shaftesbury Silence Dogood special providences spirit tells theistic perspectivism theological thing tion truth University Press virtue William Wollaston worldview worship Writings wrote young Franklin youth