本傑明·富蘭克林是資本主義精神最完美的代表，十八世紀美國最偉大的科學家和發明家，著名的政治家、外交家、哲學家、文學家和航海家以及美國獨立戰爭的偉大領袖;更是傑出的外交家及發明家。下面，我們通過這篇英語聽力文摘來了解一下這位偉大的人物吧。
Franklin's parents were both pious Puritans. The family attended the old South Church, the most liberal Puritan congregation in Boston, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706.
富蘭克林的雙親皆為虔誠的清教徒，他們加入了波士頓最自由的清教徒們所參加的古老的南方教堂，富蘭克林也於1706年在那裡受洗禮。
Franklin's father, a poor chandler, owned a copy of a book, Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good, by the Puritan preacher and family friend Cotton Mather, which Franklin often cited as a key influence on his life. The book preached the importance of forming voluntary associations to benefit society. Franklin learned about forming do-good associations from Cotton Mather, but his organizational skills made him the most influential force in making voluntarism an enduring part of the American ethos.
他的父親是位貧困的雜貨商，擁有一本Bonifacius的書，書名為:行善箴言，這本書是一個清教傳教士也是富蘭克林家族的朋友Cotton Mather寫的。此人對富蘭克林的人生產生了關鍵性的影響。書中亦提及:成立志願協會對社會的好處。從Cotton Mather身上，富蘭克林得知成立行善協會將會對社會產生貢獻，但富蘭克林的組織才能使其成為影響形成美國人堅忍個性的最主要力量。
Franklin formulated a presentation of his beliefs and published it in 1728. 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, although he still considered himself a Christian. 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.
富蘭克林在1728年公開了他的信仰並出版了一本書，書中並未提及諸多清教徒們的思想，像救世、地獄、耶穌的神威等等。他也在1776年的`自傳中澄清，自己身為一位自然神論者，雖然他仍保有著對上帝的堅強的信念:道德善良的人們及清教徒對美國獨立的責任。
When he stopped attending church, Franklin wrote in his autobiography: "Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles.I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal;and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter."
當富蘭克林停止去教會後，他在他的自傳中寫道，“星期天是我學習的日子，我堅守信仰且從未懷疑過，比如我相信:神的存在;他創造了這個世界，並以他的遠見來治理，最令人接受的服務，便是對人類做些有益的事;我們的靈魂是不朽的，不論現在或未來，所有的罪犯都將受到懲處，而堅貞的美德都將受到讚賞。”
