Part one of term paper
Although in his Autobiography Benjamin Franklin claims that at a young age he "became a thorough Deist" (1359), Franklin saw God as much more than a blind watchmaker. Among his frequent references to practicality, reason, and the value of experimental science, Franklin's metaphysical beliefs [2] easily get lost, especially as he distances him ...

Part two of term paper
... who could and would suspend deterministic natural laws at will. Deism, "tho' it might be true, was not very useful" to the young Franklin (1359). Specifically, a purely deterministic view of a God-created universe was absurd and useless precisely because it would require God to blind himself ("On the Providence of God in the Government of the World," 166). Franklin's God is useful first because he chooses "to help and favour us" via divine intervention (168). [5] Franklin's God is useful, second, b ...