Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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. He even goes so far as to compare God’s wrath to “great waters that are dammed for the present… the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty its course, when once it is let loose” (20). By creating this comparison, Edwards instills fear into the hearts of his followers, and creates the imagery of a terrifying God.

Puritans believed that they could escape the wrath of God, but Edwards informs them that “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” (19). In another part of his sermon, Edwards again says that there is “nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment” (21). By repeating the word “nothing,” Edwards instills a sense of worthlessness in his listeners. Thus, in insisting their healthy lives now have no effect on their escape from Hell and God’s wrath, Edwards encourages his followers to repent and return to the