Pertaining to God
Pertaining to God
In Benjamin Franklin — An American Life, “Pertaining to God” is the tag for Franklin’s religious posture — a tension between a strong belief in providence and a candid skepticism about Christian doctrine. On the providence side, it captures his Constitutional Convention line: “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?” On the doctrinal side, it captures his deliberately unresolved view of Christ’s divinity — “I have some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it… and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble.” The concept marks Franklin as a deist who affirmed a governing God while declining to settle questions of Christology.
Where this appears
- Benjamin Franklin — An American Life — labels Franklin’s “God governs in the affairs of men” providence and his wry, undogmatic doubts about the divinity of Christ.