The Philosopher Who Admired the Preacher but Missed the Point

In the autumn of 1739, Benjamin Franklin walked through the streets of Philadelphia to hear George Whitefield preach. Franklin was arguably the most brilliant mind in the American colonies — inventor, diplomat, scientist, philosopher. He came to analyze. He counted the crowd, estimated how far Whitefield's voice could carry, and calculated the acoustics with mathematical precision.

Franklin admired Whitefield enormously. He published Whitefield's journals, donated generously to his orphanage, and called him a man of genuine integrity. In his autobiography, Franklin described emptying his pockets into the collection plate despite resolving beforehand not to give a penny.

Yet for all his admiration, Franklin never crossed from observation to transformation. He could measure the preacher's vocal range but not the reach of the Holy Spirit. He could appreciate the oratory but not apprehend the gospel. The most penetrating intellect in colonial America stood inches from the fire and felt only the heat, never the light.

This is precisely what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2. The wisdom of God is not accessed through superior intelligence or analytical brilliance. "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." The deepest truths of God bypass the lecture hall and land in the surrendered heart. What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, the Spirit reveals — not to the cleverest, but to the willing.