This is a review of the book The Printer and the Preacher. It is a biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Whitfield. Benjamin Franklin is a well-known figure from American History and George Whitfield a lesser known preacher during Franklin’s time.
The author Randy Petersen tells about the friendship that developed between these two. Benjamin Franklin got to know George Whitfield as he printed Whitfield’s sermons. Whitfield preached in public spaces across the colonies. Whitfield in turn defended Franklin’s diplomacy.
I just wasn’t inspired by this account. Maybe it’s because I didn’t find his writing of Benjamin Franklin or George Whitfield to be all that interesting. You will get historical facts along with the story of their friendship. Some of the conversations between the two men are what Petersen imagines them to say. If you want more history and less entertainment this book might be for you.
Petersen does show that the two men with very different beliefs could get along, work together and sustain a life-long friendship. So it serves as a model that shows a friendship between two people of very different outlooks and disagreements can survive as long as there is mutual respect.
(I was given this book to review by HarperCollins Christian Publishing. All opinions are my own.)
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