Literature
In this essay, we will analyze the life and views of two prominent American figures Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin. Despite the fact that they live in the same time period they have completely different lifestyles and views. They both tried to come up to perfection and did it in their own particular way. This is the main question of the essay. The comparison of two views will be presented with the help of the analysis of Jonathan Edwards’ works ‘Resolutions’, ‘Personal Narrative’ and Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Poor Richard’s Almanacks’. In the analysis, the comparison of their views on the beliefs of the American Puritans and the American Enlightenment will be presented.
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards was born in the family of clergymen. His father was a pastor as was his grandfather. It is not unusual that under the influence of such a parentage he became a clergyman and dedicated his life to God. He was the fifth of eleven children and the only boy. From the early childhood, he began to write works about the importance of his exception. In his ‘Personal Narrative’ he described his first experience with God. He told us that in his childhood he secretly pray 5 times a day. Also, he met other boys and they prayed together. He had his own secret place for praying in the woods (Edwards and Faust, 1935). From this, we can see that even as a boy he was ready to spend all his life speaking to God. He started his education in a bastion of Christian education then he entered Yale University where he received a master degree and became a senior pastor. He took his education very seriously. From the early ages, he began his way to perfection. He got up early every day in order to spend all possible time for studying. Also, he had some time for walking as he needed some rest. This was his daily routine while he was studying at Yale. After graduation and the death of his grandfather, he succeeded him in the church. In 1727 he married Sarah Pierrepont who was also from Puritan family and had 11 children (Baym and Levine, 2012).
Jonathan Edwards’ views and beliefs
His life was fully dedicated to religion and enlightenment of people. Puritans came to America from England in order to enjoy their religion in a new world. At that time Puritanism controlled the theological, social, and political life of the colonial America. Due to Puritanism, Edwards became famous because of his Reformed distinctive. The first one is Sovereignty of God. From the early childhood, Edwards had some objections against this doctrine. But then came the time of his full conviction and he proclaimed God as the only creator and Ruler. Also, only God can control all the things in the world. He described this in his ‘Personal Narrative’ (Edwards and Faust, 1935). The second distinctive is Original Sin. Edwards has really pessimistic thoughts due to this because he was sure that the entire human race is responsible for Adam’s sin. And due to the thirds distinctive ‘Salvation by Grace’ we can see that Edwards didn’t believe in the salvation of human soul without God’s grace.
Also his strong beliefs we can see described in his Resolutions which he wrote both for himself and for all the people I order to reread them every week to avoid forgetting. Edwards himself said that it is hard to follow all the points of Resolutions without God’s help. Their content is the following – they touched every aspect of human life. It begins with the glorification of the Creator (1, 2, 4) and touches even food (20), sleep (40), and preparation for death (7, 19, 51) ("The Resolutions Of Jonathan Edwards"). These Resolutions are really intimate and we can see that he wrote them more for himself as there are some similar ones in order to emphasize the hardest cases for Jonathan Edwards.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment - one of the key periods in the history of European and American culture, associated with the development of scientific, philosophical and social thought. The heart of this intellectual movement was rationalism and freedom of thought.
It began in England under the influence of the scientific revolution of the XVII century, the movement spread to France, Germany, and America. The principles of the Enlightenment formed the basis for the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man.
The intellectual movement of this era had a great influence on the subsequent changes in ethics and social life of Europe and America, the struggle for the national independence of the American colonies of European countries, the abolition of slavery, the formulation of human rights. In addition, it shook the credibility of the aristocracy and the influence of the church on the social, intellectual and cultural life.
It was a hard period for the church and the Bible. Under the influence of the enlightenment standards, people did not trust the authorities in eyes closed manner. The first place was taken by a human mind and conscience. The superiority of human reason over religion was proclaimed. Of course, Edwards took the negative position. He wrote many works denying new standards and morality of the Enlightenment trying to prove that everything in life and people themselves depend on upon God.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin - US statesman and political figure, enlightener diplomat, scholar, publisher, journalist, one of the founders of the United States, where he was the only one whose signature stood at all three historical documents directly related to the formation of a sovereign state.
Benjamin, born January 17, 1706, was the 15th child in the family (after his family had two more). His father, an English immigrant, worked as a craftsman, a family living in Boston. His father wanted to give him an education, but funds were enough only for two years of schooling. The 12-year old boy began to work with his brother in a printing apprentice, although he had been already helping his father in the workshop for 10 years. Printing was his main occupation during many years. Franklin left a memory of a person extremely versatile; in his biography, you can find a lot of interesting facts. For example, he learned French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish by himself. His last years he spent by the democratic tables. He was a really gifted diplomat and this really made a lot for him during his life journey (Baym and Levine, 2012).
The main difference we can distinguish between Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin was their attitude towards perfection. They both tried to reach it but the first one did everything under the Grace of God and the second one was sure that a person by his or herself is a creator of his or her own future.
Benjamin Franklin believed in God but he as well believed in hard work and perfection. He was not really obeying Puritans beliefs he did not believe that Adam and Eve’s sin punished all the humanity. He believed in the power of a human. He thought that religion is to do good for people around you while Puritans believed that religion is something personal and intimate. That is why we cannot say that he stick to Puritanism.
Still, we cannot but mention that there are many similar ideas in his ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’ with Jonathan Edwards’ ‘Resolutions’. They both wrote about the changing of life for better. But Franklin concentrated his attention on the actions of a person that can change his or her life and not omnipotent God. Franklin’s views were more close to the period of Enlightenment.
While contrasting these two personalities we should mention that they both were good educated. They both were religious but they believed in different standards. And what is the main difference between them is the vision of the role of the God in human life (Oberg and Stout, 1993). They shared the same intellectual and moral values still divided by the religion.
Conclusion
Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards both were prominent representatives of their time. Both of them were well-bred and good educated. Both of them dedicated their lives for the good of people. Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan clerk man who was against the standards of the Enlightenment and believed that only with the help of God a person can reach perfection. On the other hand, we have Benjamin Franklin who was a diverse personality who unlike Jonathan Edwards was sure that only education, hard work, and the human mind can help on the road to self-knowledge.
Works Cited
"The Resolutions Of Jonathan Edwards". Desiring God. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 June 2016.
Baym, Nina and Robert S Levine. The Norton Anthology Of American Literature. New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Edwards, Jonathan and Clarence H Faust. Jonathan Edwards: Representative Selections, With Introductions, Bibliography, And Notes. New York: American Book, 1935. Print.
Oberg, Barbara and Harry S Stout. Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, And The Representation Of American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.
