Winner of the 2017 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title
Benjamin Franklin by Thomas Kidd won the Guittard Book Award, an annual book award from Baylor University.
"Was Benjamin Franklin a Christian? A polytheist? A skeptic? A deist? This lucid, engaging book offers a compelling new interpretation of Franklin’s faith. A must read for anyone interested in the beliefs of the Founders."—Catherine A. Brekus, author of
Sarah Osborn’s World"Thomas Kidd has been quietly but impressively redrawing our map of early American intellectual and religious history. In this book, he turns to one of that history’s central, and yet most elusive, figures to demonstrate the underappreciated role religion played in Franklin’s thinking."—Wilfred M. McClay, University of Oklahoma
"Five weeks before his death, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter which seemingly answered questions about his religious faith. But his supposed openness was enigmatic. Thomas S. Kidd’s excellently written exploration of Franklin’s faith delves deeper into this mystery."—George Goodwin, author of
Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father"This important book tells the story of religion’s impact on Benjamin Franklin. As a fellow Philadelphian, I learned so much in Kidd's book that I never knew, including fascinating details of the relationship of this Founding Father and the great evangelist George Whitefield."—Former Congressman Frank Wolf
"A convincing portrait of Franklin’s religion as ambiguous, elusive, enigmatic, and whimsical. He appears in the pages of this welcome book as a forerunner of many later Americans who believe in God, trust in providence, but cannot embrace any particular Christian creed."—Mark A. Noll, author of In the Beginning Was the Word
Winner of the 2017 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title
Benjamin Franklin by Thomas Kidd won the Guittard Book Award, an annual book award from Baylor University.
"Was Benjamin Franklin a Christian? A polytheist? A skeptic? A deist? This lucid, engaging book offers a compelling new interpretation of Franklin’s faith. A must read for anyone interested in the beliefs of the Founders."—Catherine A. Brekus, author of
Sarah Osborn’s World"Thomas Kidd has been quietly but impressively redrawing our map of early American intellectual and religious history. In this book, he turns to one of that history’s central, and yet most elusive, figures to demonstrate the underappreciated role religion played in Franklin’s thinking."—Wilfred M. McClay, University of Oklahoma
"Five weeks before his death, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter which seemingly answered questions about his religious faith. But his supposed openness was enigmatic. Thomas S. Kidd’s excellently written exploration of Franklin’s faith delves deeper into this mystery."—George Goodwin, author of
Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father"This important book tells the story of religion’s impact on Benjamin Franklin. As a fellow Philadelphian, I learned so much in Kidd's book that I never knew, including fascinating details of the relationship of this Founding Father and the great evangelist George Whitefield."—Former Congressman Frank Wolf
"A convincing portrait of Franklin’s religion as ambiguous, elusive, enigmatic, and whimsical. He appears in the pages of this welcome book as a forerunner of many later Americans who believe in God, trust in providence, but cannot embrace any particular Christian creed."—Mark A. Noll, author of In the Beginning Was the Word
Thomas S. Kidd is distinguished professor of history and associate director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. His books include
American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths and
Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America.