Benjamin Franklin
SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA
"I believe in one God, the creator of the universe.
"That he governs by his providence.
"That he ought to be worshipped.
"That the most acceptable service we render to him is doing good to his other children.
"That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this."
"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see. "
13 comments:
"As to Jesus of Nazareth . . ."
No other way.
Great quotes.
hey Joe, why don't you change this comment box so we folks can type in our web address instead of doing the google thing? selahV
:) just a suggestion
Good Post Joe, As usual.....ans He is the way....stay well.....
SelahV: Hmmm. I don't know how to do that, but I'll look into it.
If I click on your name it takes me to your blog.
SelahV: 'Course its your old one.
See Joe...even and old dog can learn new tricks! You figured it out. thanks. I know it takes you to the old one. that's the way google keeps you locked into their grip forever and ever. I started out with blogger and went with Typepad. they gave me more whistles and bells and at the time I switched, they made creating a blog soooooo easy. Now Blogger has a great way to play with blogs and banners and such. But I have entirely too many posts (over 2000) to switch back to blogger.
anyway. glad you made this work here. cause I just love the one-click-and you're there system. ha. I have you in so many places, I can't lose ya. ha. ha.
SelahV: Woof! And now it takes me to your NEW blog. Cool. I'm a pretty big fellow...hard to lose.
Sadly, while he recognized the value of Christianity, he never embraced it for himself which is so sad.
shoprat: True. Still, his attitude toward Christianity confirms that our country was founded by people who recognized its dependence on Judeo/Christian values.
I've always liked this one;
I have ever let others enjoy their religious sentiments, without reflecting on them for those that appeared to me unsupportable and even absurd.
Franklin's point was that there is no real objective reality to judge any particular viewpoint on religion. It's irrelevant to the issue of government.
Then again, he's the same guy that said;
"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."
Remarkably enlightened men, these framers were, during an age where superstitious belief was pretty much a requirement.
One other thing that just occurred to me. I don't think that Frankin would agree with the characterization that his view is "sad", in terms of not embracing Christianity.
He made it plain when he said;
"I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He is even infinitely above it."
And that is precisely the view held by most secularists. There is no human ego associated with any "creator". Some human beings simply conjure up a creator in their own image, and ascribe to that creator their own characteristics.
Beautiful!!! Thank you.
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