Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Held in lore of American protestantism, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” preached by Jonathan Edwards, is often considered the epitome of a fire and brimstone sermon. Using the thematic elements of eloquence and precisely created rhetorical devices, Edwards uses these resources to connect his audience to the pretentious, Puritan ordinances of “high church.” First, Edwards was cognizant of his surrounds and what his audience was familiar with in terms of setting. As a preacher on the Eastern seaboard, Edwards knew his audience understood the refuge of the mountains and the serenity in which they encapsulated. At the conclusion of his sermon, Edwards urges his audience to, “haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be

Next, Edwards personifies grace to, again, be a haven of safety and security. Edwards began his sermon by drawing comparison between the actions of his audience to the actions of the Israelites. While the Israelites often strayed from the direction of God, when condemnation fell upon them, the grace of God was offered as a means of recitation for their wrongdoings. In this situation, there is a torrential storm, but “under the means of grace” (209) there is a place of safety in which the audience can reside. Progressing through his sermon, Edwards drew upon his own scientific knowledge to further deepen his rhetorical expanse. In addition to speaking and preaching, Edwards was a scientist and researcher; his favorite vocation of study was spiders. By simply drawing reference to spiders throughout the various sermons which Edwards preaching, he was merely drawing upon knowledge already possessed. As Edwards invokes the fatalities of man’s pride into his sermon, the use of a spider becomes