Ben Franklin on morality

Originally posted by whodey
"We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. We chose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we have selected to govern our lives. in selecting that value system, we are, in ...[text shortened]... se who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many different choices from those who do not."

The wikipedia entry on BF appears to contain a contradiction.

"Franklin formulated a presentation of his beliefs and published it in 1728.[111] It did not mention many of the Puritan ideas as regards belief in salvation, the divinity of Jesus, and indeed most religious dogma. He clarified himself as a deist in his 1771 autobiography,[112] although he still considered himself a Christian.[113] He retained a strong faith in a God as the wellspring of morality and goodness in man, and as a Providential actor in history responsible for American independence."

Deism generally posits a divine creator that does not, after creation, intervene in the world, but BF believed in divine providence, which theologically includes divine intervention.