Why Benjamin Franklin Printed the Sermons of a Man He Didn’t Believe

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the 1730s and 1740s, George Whitefield traveled through colonial America preaching revival sermons that drew enormous crowds. His voice became one of the defining forces of the First Great Awakening.

Among those who followed Whitefield’s rise was Benjamin Franklin. Working as a printer in Philadelphia, Franklin published many of Whitefield’s sermons and helped circulate them widely throughout colonial America. Although Franklin approached religion with skepticism and did not share Whitefield’s theology, the two men developed a lasting friendship built on mutual respect.

Randy Peterson, author of The Printer and the Preacher, shares the story of Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield and explains how their partnership connected the revival culture of the Great Awakening with the expanding world of the colonial printing press.

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