Two of the strangest bedfellows in human history, I call them the first American "odd couple," was George Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin. One was a preacher, the other a philosopher; one was a Christian, the other a deist; one loved the church, the other laughed at the church; one was a loving father and a faithful husband, the other was an adulterer who fathered a child out of wedlock. Yet, they were fast and close friends who corresponded frequently. On one occasion George Whitfield wrote this letter to Benjamin Franklin:

As I find you growing more and more famous in the learned world, I would recommend to your diligent and unprejudiced study, the mystery of the new birth. It is a most important study, and, when mastered, will richly answer all your pains. I bid you, my friend, remembe…