Ben Franklin Virtues

Deism is the belief that God created the world and everything it it but after creating it he let nature take its course(What Is Deism). Ben Franklin was a deist in the way he thought about his virtues because he was the one taking control of his life and making his own decisions not having God controlling his every move. Ben Franklin believes in God and is a Christian, but is not a full deist just in his belief of virtues. The thirteen virtues that Ben Franklin created were designed for men but they were unrealistic in many ways just like deism. The virtues were designed to create perfect people who did not make any mistakes, which being human is impossible. No one is perfect except for God which is part of the thirteenth virtue, which states: "Humility- Imitate Jesus and Socrates" (Franklin 150). This imitation could possible set expectations to high and no one could follow all the virtues all the time. Deism allows the the people to determine morality from nature but everyone has a different sense of wrong and right and would have different standards for their virtues(What Is Deism).

Deism's faults lie in the people because that is deism there is a God but he stepped aside and decided to the let the people chose their own path that they believed would be right for them( What Is Deism). Ben Franklin chose to create his thirteen virtues and decided that that was how he was going to live. He still remained close to God using the words of the Lord to help him fulfill his task to be a man of virtue.

"O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices to Thy other children, as the only return in my power for Thy continual favours to me"(Franklin 155).

The quote that lies in his little book is one from God but the Deist do not believe that God has control in a persons live and that we live by our own choses and we determine what is right and wrong(What Is Deism). The virtues are from a deist point of view because they make a plan on how you should act without the influence of God. The virtues represent an outline of how Ben Franklin believed people should act and this similar to deism where it is up to the individual to decide how to live(What Is Deism). The way Ben Franklin used his virtues was a Christian way and this makes it seem like the virtues were more Christian but it is not God telling them or making them live this way. You could say that the virtues were based on the Ten Commandments and in a way they might have been but the Ten Commandments were created by God and they were how God wanted people to live and again this not how the deist see things(What Is Deism).

"What Is Deism? | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry." CARM - Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895. Print.