Many people have tried to claim that Benjamin Franklin wasn’t a Christian, that he believed in just some deist God that created the universe, and left the scene.
That is not the Benjamin Franklin who addressed George Washington, during the Constitutional Convention.
[link to source] Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.
A generic deist does not believe in a God that you can pray to, and a deist God doesn’t answer prayers either. Those words were said by no generic deist! He was speaking from a Christian perspective.
Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings
(Library of America) Hardcover
Smart Christian.net 