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
Invoking fear is Edwards most successful tactics in this piece. He depicts God as an angry being who will cast everyone into the pits of Hell whenever he pleases. One of the most powerful invocations is, “They are already under a sentence of condemnation to Hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentences of the law of God.. is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are
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.
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.
In Jonathan Edwards's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards, through his heavy use of similes and metaphors, thoroughly conveys to the audience that humanity's faith ultimately lies in the hands of an omnipotent, all-encompassing being. Written in this sermon is, "Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead...", and Edwards's intentions towards writing such a substantial line is most likely to emanate human wickedness, distinctly clarifying that the weight of our innate evilness is as heavy as lead is, thus concluding that it is outside of our nature to be able to support this great weight. This is why our wickedness must be carried by a being outside of us that is capable of bearing all of humanity's wickedness. Building onto
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.
Jonathan Edwards bases his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," on the words of Deuteronomy XXXII.35 when Moses is warning his people about the power of God. During the time period of Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, many people were abandoning the idea of God and church; as these people were leaving the faith, they did not understand the difficulty of life without the wisdom and strength of God. Humans lack a knowledge of God and are limited due to the fact in which they do not understand His full potential of power. Some have confidence in their own strength and wisdom and do not believe they need the guidance of Christ. The final reason humans are limited in their knowledge of God is they do not understand the reality of Hell.
The amount of imagery, personification, and similes’ makes his sermons energetic and impactful. Edwards compares the power of God over his followers to the power of a person over a spider: “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over a fire… he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast in the fire.” -Edwards (pg. 103) Edwards states that God's followers are not worthy of anything. In order to earn God’s trust and help, a person cannot fall away from a church or God will look at them like a spider, or a worthless item.
Sam Redinger Mr. Bertelsen English III 9 November 2016 Essays on the Computer of a Slightly-Miffed Teenager Fire, brimstone, and destruction, and no, I’m not talking about the election. While sermons are usually known for their happier nature, Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” will give you none of that. This sermon contains much figurative language, and that drives home the differences even more. Due to the nature of the sermon, it was most likely directed towards Puritans who lost their way. Edwards used many types of figurative language, including imagery and similes, to drive his point home.
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.
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.
The majority of this sermon is dedicated to the audience whom Edwards views with repulsion. He uses imagery to describe the awful Hell that he believes the people in the congregation will end up in and calls it a “great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath” (Paragraph 8). He illustrates the never ending state of Hell in order to frighten everyone in the audience. He sees each and every person as damned and honestly believes they deserve be sent to Hell to burn for all eternity. He feels no sympathy for them because they are completely free to do what they want and he knows that what they do with their free will is commit sin.
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.
This interpretation of God becomes the reference point for the rest of the sermon. All of the commands and accusations in the sermon rely on Edwards' portrait of God as an angry, all-powerful being that has no obligation to have mercy upon his creations. By convincing his congregation of God's wrathful character, Edwards is then able to convince the congregation that they are in danger of damnation and severe punishment at the hand of this wrathful God. Edwards characterizes God as a being that "abhors" mortal men and "looks upon [them] as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire" (200). Edwards then uses scriptural references to support his claims about the nature of God.
"This is the case that everyone one of you is out of Christ..." It is true, as according to the Puritan faith, that unconverted people will go to Hell." To further convince potential Puritans, he uses another logical appeal. Edwards points out something observable, that would seemingly contradict his assertion, and debunks it. “You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of Hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation.
