Benjamin Franklin and the parable of the unwanted guest

A college friend of mine found me by way of the blog some time back and we are in regular contact. He often sends me stories of queer stuff and really should have a blog of his own. (I had a tremendous crush on him, BTW. Or maybe just lust.)

So he sent me this story that I think is worth sharing:

[Someone] recently found a copy of a little American Institute of Graphics Arts keepsake booklet done in 1927 called- "The Parable Against Persecution. A Proposed New Chapter for the Bible. By Benjamin Franklin".

Why, you ask, was Ben Franklin writing Bible chapters? That's a perfectly reasonable question...

The parable itself can be traced back to ancient times (but it was never in the Bible)- it tells the tale of a visitor to Abraham who is at first welcomed, and then chased into the night when he admits that he does not worship God. God then rebukes Abraham- “Have I borne with him (the visitor) these hundred and ninety eight years, and nourished him, & cloathed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me; & couldst thou not, that art thyself a sinner, beare with him one night!”

So Ben Franklin rewrote the original parable in Biblical verse and committed it to memory. When he was in the company of a Bishop or other church figure Franklin would open a Bible and then recite the parable from memory, while pretending to read from the book. He'd then slam the book shut and demand of the churchman what chapter and verse he had just read.

Now was that really very nice?

The fun was ruined when a friend in England published the parable and attributed it to Franklin.  

I had heard a version of the parable before, attributed I think to a Hasidic rabbi. The story is cute and it's too bad more people don't know it and believe it is from the Bible. It strikes me as a message most religious types need to hear.