tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post6896545052210215420..comments2024-03-28T10:44:30.518-06:00Comments on American Creation: Franklin on Priestley and Vice-VersaBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-59096799614795657512010-03-11T11:15:55.247-07:002010-03-11T11:15:55.247-07:00Reading, and rereading, Franklin's comment:
&...Reading, and rereading, Franklin's comment:<br /><br />>>> all the heretics I have known have been virtuous men. They have the virtue of fortitude or they would not venture to own their heresy; and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues, as that would give advantage to their many enemies; and they have not like orthodox sinners, such a number of friends to excuse or justify them. Do not, however mistake me. It is not to my good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty. On the contrary, 'tis his honesty that has brought upon him the character of heretic. ...<br /><br />How true this is! Stay in the mainstream and the bad faith of your enemies is an unavoidable nuisance. Stake out new territory and it can destroy you. And yet it is often the honest and sincere truth seeker, not just the troublemaker, who finds himself in this dangerous position. This is a good admonition to have an open mind toward opinion with which we disagree.elinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-61086471457742753412010-03-10T00:45:48.131-07:002010-03-10T00:45:48.131-07:00I wonder a few things:
1.) Where did these views ...I wonder a few things:<br /><br />1.) Where did these views come from? Were they all natural extensions of Enlightenment rationalism, and so they all kind of just popped up as people started questioning Christianity? <br /><br />It seems like this was a way of saying "well we're still attached to the old system and we're not quite ready to ditch it yet, so let's see if it's even worth keeping after we cut out the parts we can't rationalize."<br /><br />2.) If these are corruptions, then it seems like they are pointing a finger at the Apostle Paul (in the case of incarnation and atonement anyway) and not the church. I think this is an interesting position they have taken, because in most cases when the Apostle Paul is questioned, all of Christianity gets dumped. Because they didn't do this, I speculate that they were probably deists who realized the value of keeping as much of the religious tradition as possible along with its personalized conception of God.elinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-48283453581446693102010-03-07T18:47:27.115-07:002010-03-07T18:47:27.115-07:00Thanks. And my pleasure. I hope to make the arti...Thanks. And my pleasure. I hope to make the article good (if not, perhaps they'll sit on the article).Jonathan Rowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079637406589278386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-10030509255642704912010-03-07T17:27:48.690-07:002010-03-07T17:27:48.690-07:00Congradulations, Jon! And thanks for the article.Congradulations, Jon! And thanks for the article.Angie Van De Merwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.com