The Preacher and the Printer

In 1739 two men met in Philadelphia. Not famous then, each would go on to become extremely well known in their respective fields. The first, Benjamin Franklin was a printer, and in 1739 was well on his way to creating a personal fortune in the printing business in that city, but was not yet well known elsewhere. The other, George Whitefield, was already fast becoming well known across the colonies as a preacher in what would come to be known as the Great Awakening.

Franklin recorded in his diary, "In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher." It was to be the first meeting in what would become a long relationship between the two men.

Whitefield's preaching in England and America brought thousands of souls to the Savior. He was a contemporary of such figures as John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. Franklin, of course, was a prominent figure in Philadelphia and would go on to spend his life in the service of his colony and eventually his country. Like some in America, Franklin was a deist, acknowledging the existence of God, but not recognizing the claims of Jesus Christ as the savior of sinful men.

On this occasion Whitefield was in Philadelphia to raise money for an orphanage in the new colony of Georgia. Originally established as a debtor colony, Georgia was populated with many people who had settled there to escape prison sentences or debt. Unqualified to clear and farm the land they had been given, many died, leaving widows and orphans. It was this cause for which Whitefield was raising money.

Franklin proposed that instead of raising money to send Pennsylvanian workers and materials to Georgia, it would be wiser to build the orphanage in Philadelphia and bring the orphans there. He writes, "This I advis'd; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel, and I thereupon refus'd to contribute."

Then Franklin actually attended a service where Whitefield was speaking. He was so moved by the message that his resolve evaporated. He emptied his pockets, and threw in not only a handful of copper, "but three or four silver dollars and five pistoles of gold."

Interestingly a friend of his had attended the service with the same resolution that he was not going to contribute. Franklin wrote, "Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong desire to give, and apply'd to a neighbor who stood near him, to borrow some money for the purpose." His neighbor's answer showed apparently that he was the only one in the audience unmoved by Whitefield's message, for he replied, "At any other time, Friend Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely; but not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right senses."

The result of this and other campaigns resulted in several orphanages in Georgia, but more importantly, it began a relationship between Whitefield and Franklin that would last the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, it never resulted in a relationship between Franklin and Whitefield's Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be sure, Benjamin Franklin was all for religion. Perhaps his life view could be summed up in one of Poor Richard's proverbs, "Work as if you were to live 100 years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow." (May, 1757.) He took the viewpoint that religion, or morality was good for the public order, for the betterment of society, but he never mentions the need for a personal relationship with Christ. "Though I seldom attended any public worship," he wrote in his Autobiography, " I still had an opinion of its propriety and its utility when rightly conducted..."

Whitefield wrote to his friend in 1752, "I find that you grow more and more famous in the learned world. As you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity, I would now humbly recommend to your diligent unprejudiced pursuit and study the mystery of the new birth."

They continued to correspond, and a few years later, Franklin wrote in a letter to Whitefield, "Your frequently repeated Wishes and Prayers for my Eternal as well as Temporal Happiness are very obliging. I can only thank you for them, and offer you mine in my return."

This is by no means the limit of the correspondence between these two men. But somehow, in reading between the letters, one almost hears Franklin echoing the words of Agrippa to Paul, "Almost thou hast persuaded me..." What tragic words to lay before the Great White Throne Judgment, "Almost..." I can just hear Christ's reply; "Almost thou hast made it into heaven, but almost only counts in Horseshoes and nuclear war. Depart from me, I never knew you."

Again, Franklin's own words reveal his philosophy, "A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district - all studied and appreciated as they merit - are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty." Towards the end of his life, Franklin wrote to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University, "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, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see."

Almost... but oh so far from eternity.

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