On antor note, Edwards development in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has a frightful and archaic language usage which help his sermon develop. To explain, Edwards usage of imagery/symbolism help develop the mode. “... hell is gaping for them… ”(Edwards)
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.
Edwards was a preacher and when he gave the sermon, he gave it in complete monotone. People were even more frightened and scared because of his emotionless sermon and more people paid attention. Jonathan Edward’s sermon speaks of how sinners should be cast off and be destroyed by God because it is God who is everything and if someone were to turn against God why should he or she get another chance. Some values that Edward’s puts in his sermon are yet similar to John Winthrop’s sermon but Edward’s sermon is very negative and was made to scare people into changing their ways. God is almost everything to people of the colonial period because of their fight for survival and if someone is a sinner or goes against God then they will be punished.
That one man thing is to scare people so badly, to make them want to turn into Christians and accept God as their one and only Jesus Christ and Savior. Edwards did scare many people with all the things he mentioned about hell and the devil. No one wants to even think about being thrown into a pit of fire and being burned to death with the devil, Satan. Everyone thinks of going to heaven, where there are gates of pearls and angels. Edwards preaching of his sermon was a persuasive tactic.
Both Bradstreet and Edwards are puritan writers, they are both believe in a higher more powerful God. In their writings “Upon the Burning of Our House”, by Anne Bradstreet and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, by Jonathan Edwards they both talk about the higher being of God. They both are powerful writers and have a way of getting their points across, but they do it differently. They are both great writers and even though they have different religious views and different writing styles both of their poems, “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, have the same goal of converting people.
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.
Jonathan Edwards speech "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." is a speech that uses techniques to attract the puritans attention I found him using Personification, Metaphors and also Imagery. Jonathan Edwards incorporates personification in his speech. "And the world would spew you out." This gives the world personification by allowing the world to spew as a human would. This pursuades the puritans that they will be forgotten an be taken out from the world.
It is 1741. The Enlightenment is spreading worldwide. The puritan people are leaving God. Johnathan Edwards gives a sermon on July 8th , 1741, trying to convince his fellow Puritan people to come back to God. He is going to try and accomplish this by giving his famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God '.
Puritans are a people with a very strong belief in both God and the power of God. When people see power, they interpret it in different ways. Some know of power through anger and impulse, while others see power through the goodness the powerful one shows. Although Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are both puritan poets, their writings convey mainly different, though sometimes similar, views on God because they have different perceptions of His will and the use of His power. Anne Bradstreet listens to and accepts anything that God wishes, and that is shown through her poem Upon the Burning of my House.
In the poems “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of Our House” the author Anne Bradstreet allows the reader a glimpse of what she values. The two poems are alike because they both explore her religion and show her love for God. In these two poems they let you get a glimpse of the way she looked at things and saw the good side of everything. For example, in “ To My Dear and Loving Husband” it says “ if ever a man were loved by wife, then thee; if ever wife was happy in man,”.
In conclusion, Edwards was a powerful speaker and writer. His words could bring a room full of people to their knees. His use of strong imagery and diction persuades and shocks the congregation even more than just saying they were going to hell. If they didn 't already leave from fear they were crying from thinking they would go to hell. His speech will go down in history for one of the best fire and brimstone
Jonathan Edwards uses several types of writing skills to persuade his audience of God’s intentions. His use of figurative language, analogies, imagery, and repetition all emphasize Edwards’s views. He uses fear, anger, and apathy to appeal to the audience in attempt to warn his audience of God’s intentions. Jonathan Edwards uses fear in this sermon to terrorize his audience into thinking of God as someone to be feared, not someone to be loved. Throughout the sermon, Edwards uses figurative language along with imagery to frighten the audience.
Ann Woodlief, the author of the biography of “Anne Bradstreet” states “Anne was viewed as an intriguingly feminist writer, merging her sometimes overtly sexual imagery with the concepts of both her love for God and for her husband and family” (Woodlief 2015). This eventually led to a more in depth examination of her writings by feminist critics “in the mid-20th century” of her individualist take on more traditional
Regrettably, Edward died on June 24th 1729 (Schafer sec. 1). Despite Edward Taylor’s and Jonathan Edwards’ devotion for Puritanism, they differ in their perception of God, figurative language, and their incentive for writing. Taylor portrays God as an understanding and forgiving worship spirit, while Edwards’ God is tyrannical and ruthless.
At this point Edwards has grasped the attention of his listeners by using pathos to pertain to their emotions and feelings. Towards the end of the sermon his tone switches to one of reason in terms of not neglecting his words. He asks a series of rhetorical questions such as those who are unconverted and do not teach their children of Christ that they too will have to witness the wrath of God. As for literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and allegories, Edwards does not disappoint for his use of them most likely whipped a lot of Puritans back into their faith.