Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GOD Analysis
“Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering.” Edward’s sermons were preached during the period of the Great Awakening, a time of religious revival. Edwards was a powerful preacher of his time, he wanted to change and persuade the mind of his audience. Jonathan Edward’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GOD” considered his listeners as sinners of their religion through the use of Diction, Figurative Language and Rhetorical Devices, making it one of history’s great works. Edwards uses diction, a writer’s choice of precise words, throughout his sermon to convey fear to his listeners. Edwards presage the listeners to take hold of the terrible risk they are getting themselves
The sketch that most exhibits the message and emotions that were delivered from Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” illustrates a man in a room, and the Virgin Mary outside the window. This sketch is a personal favorite of mine because the emotions and message were conveyed in a very powerful manner. This sketch made me stop and think and made me view it from a different perspective. It was abstractly painted, and the colors used accurately demonstrate the mood, environment, and time period in which this sermon was spoken. The audience that Edwards’ sermon was meant to be spoken to were those who were having second thoughts about the church and wanted to leave, it was his way of persuading them to join and remain
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 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards delivers his ideas about the God’s rage and human sinfulness to his audience by using strong diction, imagery, similes. Edwards uses strong dictions such as the repetition of the word “wrath,” to emphasize the exceeding anger of God to alert his listeners of the dangers of sin. Diction is the choice of words an author uses. Different dictions can have diverse effects on the
He plys many different rhetorical strategies to convince his listeners to follow his word. He uses strategies including, repetition, appeal to fear, appeal to urgency and problem solution. Johnathan Edwards uses many rhetorical strategies in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". He uses repetition throughout the sermon. The main idea that he repeats is that if you do not love and believe in God, then you are going to hell.
It is clear that Edwards chose this particular sermon because it was an effective and relative way to convey his message of condemnation. It was the easier way he could reach the audience that his message was targeting. It instilled the fear of what is to come and the unknown futures if they continue to remain stagnant. After the audience had been instilled with fear, he once again brings back the thought of repentance.
In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards persuades his audience by using rhetorical strategies and quotes from the Bible to validate the point he is attempting to convey (Belasco and Johnson 347). Edwards wants the readers to be persuaded with repetition of the different phrasings of “wicked Israelites” and to be impressed by the sophisticated tone within the passage (Belasco and Johnson 347). Edwards is also attempting to persuade and impress through his use of hasty generalization such as, “As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall; he can’t foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once, without warning.” (Belasco and Johnson 347). Pathos is
Edwards uses a condemnatory, accusing tone in most of the sermon. For instance, he mentions how many will end up in eternal wrath, “How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery!”(129). In other words he’s mentioning how everyone is at risk. He would condemn making a point that its “… [God’s] hand that holds [the congregation] from falling into the fire every moment. ”(127).
In the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards uses his opinions in a list to show emphases on the “Truth” he want’s these “wicked men” to observe. Thus we can argue that Edwards is giving them little faith in God verses the feeling of possible redemption. In his quote, “There is nothing that keeps wicked Men at any one moment, out of Hell, but the mere pleasure of GOD,” plays with these “wicked men’s” minds to believe his list to come will be of how they can redeem through God, but in realty Edwards gives a listing of ten “Considerations” of his “Truth” he wants us to observe and believe. His lists makes it seem like these “wicked men” don’t have a chance of redemption and he is only trying to speak of his opinions of their damnation.
Sinners in the hands of an angry God. In Jonathan Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he tries to tell the colonist of Massachusetts and the people in his congregation that they cannot take their life and success for granted but that each day they are fighting to keep their souls up from what he calls “hellfire”. This has a reaction to the people to a period known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening has been know as time where people gain religious interest and practice these interest by going to church and not believing in predestination .
Rhetorical Analysis of Jonathan edwards’s Sinners in the hand of an angry god: jeremiad Jonathan edwards, is known as one of the most important religious figures of the great awakening, edwards became known for his zealous sermon “sinners at the hand of an angry god”. During his sermon he implies that if his congregation does not repent to christ they are in “danger of great wrath and infinite misery”. Throughout this sermon edwards uses literary devices such as strong diction, powerful syntax and juxtaposition to save his congregation from eternal damnation. Throughout Edwards’s sermon the use of turgid diction is exceedingly prevalent.
In “sinners in the hands of an angry God”, Jonathan Edwards uses different types of literary techniques, such as, imagery, metaphor, similes, repetition, and rhetorical questions to emphasize his point. His point is to scare the people and make them want to repent, which is the theme of the sermon. In the sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry god,” Edwards uses different types of
Figurative language can be a compelling factor in literary works ranging from romantic poetry to political speeches. It forces the reader, or listener, to visualize and understand what the author is trying to say. Jonathan Edwards utilized this writing technique in his powerful sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards used imagery, metaphors, and personification to express his differentiating attitudes towards both sinners and God which consisted of complete disgust in regards to the former and unwavering respect for the latter. Jonathan Edwards relied more on the composition of his writing rather than the execution of it which is why figurative language is found so often in this sermon.
The most important feature of a sermon is the application of a scripture text to the personal experience of the listener. Especially this last part is what reduced many of Edwards’s listeners to tears. In Edwards’s sermon the scripture text is “Their foot shall slide in due time”. This meant that eventually, all sinners would be punished by God, which could be at any time. Edwards speaks of a wrathfull God, a God who by Puritan standards is considered forgiving for not letting all of humanity fall into the deepest pits of hell.
In crafting his highly effective sermon, Edwards utilizes his authority as a man of God and as an interpreter of the scriptures, a logical and direct organization of arguments, and violent imagery to convince his audience of the vengeance of God against man. Jonathan Edwards begins his sermon by quoting
Although these two different views created by Edwards’ are contrasting views because his sermon is pessimistic and his essay optimistic, they