Jonathan Edwards chose very proper word choice for “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It thoroughly explains relations to Puritan beliefs, practices, unrepentance, consequences, and punishment. It gives examples of what you will be faced with or what will happen if you do not follow the beliefs. Jonathan Edwards’ words in relation to the Puritan beliefs are accurate. He chose metaphors, but kept the message very clear so everyone could understand. He used passages from the bible to further support his religious standpoint, which was very logical. The structure and thought put into this sermon was made prominent to the Puritans, stirring up religious seriousness and creating action to be done within their beliefs. The well execution and …show more content…
Puritans believed God will send the people to hell who do not believe or who do not repent, and people with strong belief and faith would be saved. Everyone sins in the world and it is inevitable, whoever does not repent will suffer eternal damnation. Consequences are made very obvious and without hesitation or reluctance; consequences are described in metaphors which can be similar to how the bible uses metaphors, but they are extremely vivid, providing obvious points to what happens to people who fall under the category of sinners. For punishment, it will be eternal suffering in hell, with no second chances. Once it is too late to repent or believe, that is final. This example of punishment is very well related to Puritans beliefs. There is no second chance when it comes to your fate, it will be too late to believe or repent then. Good works, faith, and repentance can provide you with safety from being sent to hell eternally. Puritans apply these three things to their life. The overall relationship between Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Puritan beliefs and practices is highly accurate and
In Jonathan Edwards’s famous work, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards’s attitude appeared to be an extreme Christian. At the start of this work, he wrote, “So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God transforms how the congregation sees their relationship with God. Edwardss purpose is to show the sinners an opportunity to obtain salvation (104). He adopts a cynical tone in order to save the otherwise damned and helpless souls (104).Edwards immediately starts his sermon by evoking fear and solicitousness into the congregation. He achieves this by appealing to ethos, presenting God and himself as an authority figure. Edwardss purpose by doing this is to help the sinners in the congregation come to realization that they are held in the hand of God (102) and it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds them
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by Jonathan Edwards about God. For most people back in the 1700’s, their whole life revolved around God. Edwards thought that the people just needed a wake up call to remind them of the consequences of acting against God. He pretty much said in his sermon that if we don't turn back to God, we’re going to hell, which definitely got many people’s attention. In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards uses several rhetorical devices and appeals that contribute to the effectiveness of his sermon and help achieve his purpose.
Well respected preacher and philosopher, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741), enhances the remarkable consequences of remorseless sinners. Edwards’s purpose is to impress upon the Puritan Congregation an abhorrent idea stating that if a sinner does not feel guilt and attempt to correct it, they will anger God and burn in hell. He establishes an audacious tone in order to initiate the fear of going to hell within his religious listeners. Edwards’s most powerful rhetorical strategy is expressed through his noticeable manipulation of pathos, found along with his mentions of logical and ethical foundations.
Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth” while having a drastically different topic had similar subtopic and rhetoric language. While Jonathan Edwards warned his congregation of the eternal damnation that will be faced if they did not change their ways, Benjamin Franklin warned and gave advice on financial arrangements. Edwards communicates to his audience how their behavior has consequences, in this case, eternal damnation. Throughout his sermon, his use of pathos is overwhelming. Edwards uses confrontational language, descriptive images, strong fierce language to ingrain his warning into the hearts of his congregation.
Braylen Murth Mrs. Martin English 3 - Period 2 18 January 2023 Rhetoric in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” In 1741, in Connecticut, Johnathan Edwards delivered a powerful and terrifying, yet effective sermon directed at those that are “…out of Christ,” (87). Edwards’ sermon lasted nearly 6 hours and persisted the idea that God is all powerful and wrathful. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards uses repetition, imagery, and personification in order to scare and threaten people to conform to a life with Christ.
In the story Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards would you different things such as thoughts or words in attempt to scare his congregation into obeying his word. First images of Hell would consist of the thought of fire, a burning room, fiery furnaces, and a gaping pit of flames. These thoughts alone would scare the people of his congregation but he also included the images of punishment or or the ways the God sees the people. These images would consist of God referring a human being to a spider that is being held over an open fire pit. This way of thinking did work in Edward’s time on his congregation but it did not last forever because his people became tired of hearing the same terrible thoughts every week.
Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a reflection of the Puritan society and their beliefs. In seventeenth-century Massachusetts, the Puritan theocracy that reigned over the new settlers believed in the idea of predestination and in a God that was angry and wrathful. Jonathan Edwards, a beloved preacher, depicted God as a terrifyingly powerful entity that would punish any who did not vehemently worship God. Edwards’ teachings fall in line with the period of his preaching, known as the Great Awakening- a fervent religious revitalization in the New World created to leash in settlers who began leaving the church in favor of The Great Awakening’s philosophical advancements. First and foremost, Jonathan Edwards portrays his God as angry and wrathful.
“...You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels…,” Jonathan Edwards wrote in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” This quote shows pathos, a tool he used to stir up emotion to show that if you’re a sinner God will come for. Edward also shows many other tools as he tries to convince others to exit the sinner life into the Puritan Life. Edward uses ethos when he says, “The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present.”
Sin in the Eyes of God In order to successfully portray ideas regarding God’s wrath and power, Jonathan Edwards utilizes images such as a spider web paired with a rock and a storm, in the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. The analogy describing a spider web and rock not only shows how the rock can be equated to the amount a person sins and the magnitude of sins, but also how the web can be seen as a person’s righteousness and the rarity it is in having righteousness. “…if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a fallen rock.” The rock is seen as a person’s sin because of
For instance, Edwards wrote about God and the bow of justice in the line stating “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it nothing more than the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood” (Edwards). This line is used to give his congregation a vivid image of how close to death they are. It is full of rich details that serve to bring congregation back in line with his version of Christianity. It would certainly scare any Puritan at the time, and make them reevaluate their
In his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards attempted to convince his congregation that they must repent of their sins and return to religion. Around the time this sermon was made was the period of the “Great Awakening” where people in Western Europe, England, and America were going back to their religious ways. The people were getting too caught up in worldly matters like working on their farms and they needed a reminder to get back on the path of worshipping God. This is where itinerant preachers, like Jonathan Edwards, came in and traveled around to try and persuade people to focus more on god than on their own personal interests. A few of the persuasive techniques that Edwards used were hyperboles, repetition, similes, and emotional appeal.
One of his well-known sermon is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” preached at the meeting house in the village of Enfield, Connecticut, on Sunday, July 8, 1741, at the height of the great awakening. In this sermon, Edwards focused on the consequences of leading a sinful life, the power of God and repenting of ones sins, in order to be saved from hell. The purpose behind this piece of writing was not to terrorize or dismay the hearers, but to make them repent and believe in God again. This piece was aimed at those who lacked belief in God as well as churches.
Behind every act of kindness lurks a selfish motivation. The Puritans were a religious sect in 17th century New England who believed in predestination or the belief that God had prior knowledge about each person’s fate in the afterlife. A core ideal of the Puritan religion was the principle of humanity being essentially evil and only doing good for others out of fear for God’s wrath or for selfish benefit. On the other end of the spectrum, is the humanists of the 18th century, many of which were America’s founding fathers. The humanists believed in the good of humanity and the concept of a loving, non-interfering God, a concept called Deism.
Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House” seem at first glance quite similar to one another regarding context, however, after taking a closer look, it becomes apparent that there are some substantial differences. These differences cannot be understood without the knowledge of cultural context concerning the Puritan belief system and their lifestyle. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was written with the sole purpose of scaring and intimidating the people that purtinans believed to be sinners. Edwards’s work contributed to a movement called “The Great Awakening”. It’s objective was to make the so-called ‘sinners’ aware of their wrongdoings and compel them to repent.