Rhetorical Devices In Sinners

In “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God”, Johnathan Edwards uses fear to create images that help his audience experience the consequences of sinful behavior. He uses imagery and figurative language to persuade his readers. He wants us to get a mental picture of Hell in your head and he wants us to fear the wrath of God. One such image was when Edward wrote, “When men are on god’s hands and they could fall to Hell, natural men are held in the hands of God, over the pit of Hell.” God could let us fall into the eternity of burning flames anytime He wants to. Edward is trying to persuade people, especially sinners, to turn to God and to look to Him for Salvation. “The devil is waiting for them, Hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up”, in this quote, we can imagine the horrors of Hell and what’s waiting for us. The devil can make us do anything and make it seem like it’s blameless for us,

Jonathan Edwards, a preacher, wrote the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". In the sermon, Edwards argues that everyone was out of God's favor and they needed to return to a righteous path. The tone of the sermon is indignant and authoritative. Jonathan Edwards uses imagery, logos, and pathos to encourage the unconverted audience to turn to God in order to escape his wrath.

Well known reverend and writer, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, Sinners in the hands of an Angry God, describes the dramatic fate of those who haven 't accepted Jesus Christ. Edwards purpose is to persuade members of his congregation to be “born again”. To be born again means to accept Jesus Christ. He creates a frightening tone in order to frighten unconverted men to believe in Jesus. Throughout his sermon he continuously reminds the reader of hell. Using vivid imagery and morbid diction he scares them into becoming “born again”.

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.

The great awakening was a religious revival that occurred in the 1730s and 1740s. It started in England and then gradually made its way over to the American colonies. During this time, many different preachers and religious speakers went around and gave speeches to the people. Jonathan Edwards was one of Americas most important and original philosophical theologians who also went around and gave speeches about God and hell. 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. 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.

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.

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 '. 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.

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.

The sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was written with many purposes. The main concept that Jonathan Edwards, the minister who wrote the sermon, wanted to get across is that God does not give any pity to those who do not believe in him and his gospel. He casts all of the sinners into the pits of hell and lets those who have been good live for eternity. This sermon was written after many reports of witchcraft came about in the New England colonies. These reports caused the Salem Witch Trials to occur and many people to become non-believers. Since these things started to occur Puritan ministers, such as Jonathan Edwards, had to make a change.

this point Edwards has grasped the attention of his listeners by using pathos to pertain to their

"Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of all resolutions."- Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was a sermon written and delivered by American reverend Jonathan Edwards in 1741, and was an outstanding example of the potentially dominant convincing powers of the use of Rhetoric. The sermon, even when read silently, is effective in projecting a specific interpretation of the wrathful nature of God and the sinful nature of man. 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.

In colonial America, written documents were one of the few primary sources of this time. All the way back to John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity’’ in the 1630’s. Winthrop’s sermon shows how the only way their colony will succeed is through God. Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” shows people how powerful God is and what he capable of doing. George Washington shows that honesty, respect, and self-discipline are all values that colonial people live off of to survive in their new environment. The tombstone of Benjamin Franklin’s parents is a good example of how a life was in Colonial America. When reading these four primary sources, the values of each time period seem to differ but have a common similarity.

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.

Jonathan Edwards once said: “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” Since birth (October 5th, 1703), Jonathan has always been a devoted Puritan which explains why he began the Great Awakening, along with George Whitefield. Edwards started preaching and wanted people to reconvert to Puritanism. His work, “Sinners at the Angry Hands of God,” was written on July 8, 1741. Many of his works were directed to his movement, the Great Awakening. Unfortunately, Edwards died on March 22, 1758, due to smallpox, shortly after being nominated as president of Princeton University (Fickas). Born to a farming family, Edward Taylor was born in 1642 in Leicestershire, England (“Edward Taylor”). Taylor began preaching in 1671. He wrote one of the most popular works in Puritan literature, Huswifery. 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.

On July 8, 1741 Jonathan Edwards delivered the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” During this time many people were moving away from their Puritan beliefs and did not make God a priority. In the message he talked about how everyone was a sinner and how everyone belongs in hell. He also talked about how if God wanted to He would throw everyone in Hell, but since He gave us His Son we should take Him and repent. While delivering this message many people began to repent and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes it is easy to take the gift of salvation for granite, which is why we should review how and why it was given to us.