Benjamin Franklin and John Edawrds view on God essays

Benjamin Franklin and John Edawrds view on God essays Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards have two very different ways of looking at God and how He is involved in a persons life. The one thing they do have in common however, is their similar belief that God is all knowing, as Franklin believes, and God is all-powerful, as Edwards believes. If Franklin were to look at Edwards beliefs in a more logical way, he could undoubtedly see that not only is God all-knowing, but he is also all-powerful due simply to the fact that He gave humans the ability to reason. In Franklins autobiography, he makes a simple prayer to God that asks Him to, ...Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interests...fill my soul with knowledge... He also says And conceiving God to be the Fountain of Wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit this assistance for obtaining it. That Franklin believes that God is the Fountain of Wisdom shows that he believes that God is all-knowing. As many Enlightenment thinkers believe, God gave humans reason. Using reason and logic, as Enlightenment thinkers would, it is possible to have Franklin believe that God is all-powerful, like Edwards does. Edwards clearly believes that God has omnipotent power. Since reason was given to humans by God, this obviously shows that God possess reason. Reason is believed to give humans the ability to figure anything out and thus do anything. If looked at in a different perspective, this would show exactly why what Edwards believes makes complete sense. Since God possesses reason, he can figure out anything and thus do anything. Since he is in fact God, it goes without saying that he is limitless in what he can do. Therefore, there is nothing that God can not do. If God can do anything because of this reason that he possesses, it can then be said that God is in fact all-powerful. Even though God gave humans reason, it does not denote or limit the power that He has. In...