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Did people once believe that churches could... | Almanac.com

Did people once believe that churches could...

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Did people once believe that churches could not be struck by lightning?
Answer
Yes. As a matter of fact, when Benjamin Franklin started showing off his new invention the lightning rod in 1760, some church folks were skeptical and claimed that God wouldn’t allow a church to be struck by lightning. In Europe, this belief was so strong that churches were often used to store explosives. Some people thought that a church would never be struck if its bells were ringing. In 1718, however, 24 churches in France were struck while their bells tolled. When Franklin proved the worth of his lightning rod, almost every church was soon sporting one.