Spirit of '76 (06/28/25)
There is always the
temptation to over-emphasize the influence Swedenborg had on some of the notable figures of history…[however] we can turn to Benjamin Franklin who, as we stated earlier, was one of the subscribers to the first American edition of True Christian Religion. When President Styles of Yale College wrote to Franklin in 1789, asking for statement of his religious faith, the venerable Philadelphian replied, "You desire to know something of my religion. It is the first time I have been questioned upon it.
But I cannot take your curiosity amiss, and shall endeavor in a few words to gratify it. Here is my creed:
I believe in one God, the creator of the universe. That he governs by his providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is to do good to his other children. That the soul is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them."
[Although doubtful he read Swedenborg’s work] most of the particulars of his
creed someone [familiar with the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg] could readily and enthusiastically embrace. As an additional testimony of the truly remarkable intuitive insights Franklin had into spiritual truth, we quote a few sentences from a letter he wrote to his niece in 1756 on the death of her young brother: "I condole with you. We have lost a most dear and valuable relation; but it is the will of God and nature that these wasted bodies be laid aside when the soul is to enter into real
life. Existing here on earth is scarcely to be called life. It is rather an embryo state-a preparation for living; and man is not completely born until he is dead. Why, then, should we grieve that a new child is born among the immortals, a new member added to their society? We are spirits. That bodies should be lent to us while they can afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge, and in doing good to our fellow-creatures, is a kind and benevolent act of God." Few [believers in the
Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg] could express this view of death with comparable compassion, reassurance and strong faith.
The same year Jesper recrossed the Atlantic homeward bound in 1724, young Benjamin Franklin sailed for England where he found employment in printing establishments and thereby broadened his knowledge of that trade. This was over a decade after Swedenborg first visited London to pursue his scientific studies. Franklin, too, had a talent for inventing mechanical devices and sought out, as Swedenborg did, those prominent in the realm of the natural sciences. It
is interesting to observe that on this initial visit Franklin met Sir Hans Sloane, President of the Royal College of Physicians. Sir Hans and his successor as head of the College, Martin Folkes, were the central figures in a memorable relation.* Franklin was invited to the home of Sir Hans, which was located on Bloomsbury Square. The Swedenborg Society has had its headquarters for a long time on this same Square in London.
At this point let us indulge in a bit of fanciful speculation. From 1757 to 1775 Benjamin Franklin was in London as an unofficial ambassador and spokesman for the American
Colonies. So eminent had he become, especially in exploring the nature of electricity, that in 1756 he was elected a member of London's prestigious Royal Society. A year after Franklin arrived in the British Capitol, Swedenborg made a return visit to that city to supervise the publication of five of his theological works. It could have been that Swedenborg and Franklin passed each other many times on the street, or brushed against each other while browsing in a bookstall. Did they have mutual
friends? Maybe.
If Swedenborg had not relinquished his scientific pursuits to give full attention to an
exposition of the Scriptures and the recounting of other-world experiences, it is quite likely a shared interest in mechanical devices and scientific theories would have brought them together. Although Swedenborg was by no means a recluse, no doubt his total preoccupation with his labors as "a servant of the Lord" limited somewhat his social contacts. Franklin was conspicuously gregarious and constantly attended social and public events.
The American did not leave London until three years after Swedenborg's death. Such was
Swedenborg's fame as a seer that Franklin must have heard the accounts of the Stockholm fire, the lost receipt, and the encounter with the queen of Sweden. We wonder whether what he heard prompted him to subscribe to the first American edition of True Christian Religion. These speculations regarding possibilities and probabilities could open up a new and interesting field for historical research. Did Franklin in his voluminous correspondence from England ever mention the name of Swedenborg? The
large collection of Franklin's letters now in the archives of Yale University could give us the answer.
Even though there exists up to the present time, at least to my knowledge, no evidence that the architects of the New World were familiar with the theology of Swedenborg, he cannot be entirely disassociated from the Spirit of 1776. (NCL, Priestnal, 1976)
