Straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. :^) Can we now just admit that Franklin was of profoundly Christian persuasion and sensibility? Or are there still people out there who are prepared to argue the negative?
Thank you ever so much, dearest sister in Christ, for your excellent research into these issues!
What I said was that in his Autobiography, his message that he wanted people to know about his own life, said he was a thorough Deist. Here we see a quote where he openly admitted he doubted the divinity of Christ. He is hardly an example of the founding of our nation being ‘Christian to its core’ which is what the initial poster alleged. I pointed out that there was also a very strong Deist influence and Franklin might not be the best evidence of the argument that it was entirely Christian thoroughly and to its core. It was heavily influenced by the ideas of Deism and the natural rights of man and the ideas of freedom of religion inherent in the idea of freedom of conscience.
But if they didn't have that point to raise, they'd find something else, e.g. a creed, Scriptures, religious authority. "If a person is not [label], he's not Christian. If he is [label], he's not Christian." - on and on...
Faith and reason are tortured by men seeking to justify their desires.
Maranatha, Jesus!!!