Against the religious backdrop of pre- and postcolonial America standsthe towering figure--and mind--of Benjamin Franklin. A Renaissance manin a Revolutionary time, Franklin had interests and knowledge not onlyin religion but in literature, philosophy, politics, publishing, history,and scientific inquiry, among many other disciplines.Kerry S. Walters examines Franklin's search for the Divine using a similar,multifaceted approach--and in so doing has created the first extendedtreatment of Franklin's religious thought in thirty years. Walters bringsthe same intellectual range and depth to the understanding of Franklin'sbeliefs that Franklin brought to his own quest. What emerges from thispilgrimage into the soul of one of America's greatest figures is a veryhuman Benjamin Franklin who grew with the accumulation of knowledge toarrive at a "theistic perspectivism," which provided him witha philosophical explanation for the diversity of religious faiths--anda justification for the liberty of conscience he advocated throughouthis life.Benjamin Franklin and His Gods is an original and beautifullychallenging spiritual and intellectual biography. Destined to be a classic.
