Daily Log

Wednesday, November 17

Students answered five questions about the excerpts from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, and we discussed Franklin's outlook largely by comparing it with that of Jonathan Edwards, a figure as representative of his Colonial era as Franklin was of the Revolutionary period. Franklin's this-worldly, rationalist approach, stressing the primacy of human activity, was contrasted with the God-, Faith-, and Grace-centered outlook of Edwards.

Students received and read a handout with quotations from Franklin further clarifying his religious views.