Puritan people wanted to establish a city of god in the wilderness. People like Anne Hutchinson, an antinominalist, and Roger Williams – founder of Rhode Island – were banished by puritans because they wanted to separate the church and the state or did not follow the rules of the Puritan leaders. Because of the first amendment, no one is forced to practice a religion. Everyone has different opinion about god and what they believe in; they have their own way of showing. John Winthrop (the first governor of Massachusetts Bay), Anne Bradstreet (first noteworthy American poet), and Jonathan Edwards (last American Puritan defender of New England Calvinism) have their own way of showing what they believe in and how they see God.
Winthrop thought that the power should be kept “in the hands of those whose Christian calling is to govern and that their number should remain as small as possible.”
It is expected that we have only discussed men writings except Anne Bradstreet because of the era.
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In the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards talks about how God is the one who is holding Israelites up from falling down. He believes that if a person was to fell, it would be because God wanted him or her to may be because of their wickedness. Moreover, Bradstreet would agree with him that “time brings down what is both strong and tall” (78). According to Edwards, God is ‘sovereign” and no one is above Him (171). Every wicked man “contrives well for himself, and that his schemes won’t fail,” but God knows it well and does not let them escape from the Hell (173). Although they had everything planned out, the unexpected can barge in anytime in any form: God’s wrath in a form of the person’s own destruction or death. The wickedness inside a man is what making them lean towards Hell. If “spider’s web… [cannot] stop a falling rock,” then god cannot stop someone from going into Hell because of the wickedness of the person weighs more than the stopper (Edwards
Why did Winthrop think that the Puritans were a special people? And why did he believe they had to be especially careful in their new endeavor? Puritan wanted to reform their church and opposed to the corruption of the Church of England so they moved to the New World. John Winthrop wanted to show England that their way was wrong; therefore he wanted to prove it to them by presenting that the Puritans have a successful colony.
In 1634, a woman that would play one of the biggest roles in the development of early America came to Massachusetts from England. Before immigrating to the New World though, Anne Hutchinson lived in London with her husband William Hutchinson. There, a minister, John Cotton, who believed you didn’t need to follow the laws and rules of society to connect with God, resonated greatly with Anne. The idea that religion is based on personal views would be taken with her to the New World, where she would become an icon for conservative Puritanism and steadfast determination.
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 New Englanders took religion seriously, making unitary laws according to Puritan standards. John Winthrop, later chosen as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor, was seeking religious freedom. Wishing to inspire the colonists to dwell in brotherly unity, he summoned them together to remind them “that if we [colonists] shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” On the other hand, those in the Chesapeake region came for the wealth that America promised. They were there to become prosperous or die trying.
Jonathan Edwards argues to the sinning members of the congregation who have not yet accepted Christ that God’s penalties for their iniquities and lack of faith are ineludible to any mortal, and that no attempt to overthrow Him exists that is capable enough. To deliver his point to his audience, Edwards employs multiple rhetorical devices such as simile, polysyndeton, imagery, metaphor, and hyperbole. A simile is present at the beginning of his speech, when he tells the sinners that their “wickedness make[s] [them] as it were heavy as lead.” This connection magnifies how sin poisons one’s soul and causes them to sink into the depths of Hell.
It is explained that God is the only one who is able to save people from going to Hell. Edwards wants people to imagine how evil and distressed life would be without Gods love and mercy. He explains that to not burn in Hell people need to ask for forgiveness from God, experience Gods mercy, and continuously practice the Lords word. Edwards really lets the message of “Gods wrath” sink into our minds to show how mighty, powerful, and capable the Lord is. The Lord gives us many opportunities to rely on Him and when we need his love and mercy the most.
Jonathan Edward was a religious man and believed in Christianity; he used the way of salvation of the people by preaching. He recalled people of the hereafter world that all people are responsible for their actions and behaviors in this world otherwise God will punish them in the eternal world. According to Jonathan Edwards in “sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” that describes the wrath of God toward sinners, “o sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell” (436). Here he implies, if you people do not avoid bad behaviors and actions, you will count as sinners and will be going in
The New England colonies were first founded in the last 16th to 17th century as a sanctuary for differing religious groups. New England was made up of the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. New Hampshire, however, was formed for economic reasons instead of religious ones. The Chesapeake region, which is made up of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia, was founded by the British colonies for the purpose of farming. However, by the 1700’s, despite both being settled by Englishmen, New England and the Chesapeake region had developed differently.
Edwards wanted his audience to mentally understand his attitude towards God, and for them to not underestimate God’s Powers. He painted a mental picture of an enraged and angry God when Edwards preached that “There are black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm… and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you” (Paragraph 3). The black clouds and the description of the storm demonstrated God’s anger building up inside him waiting to unleash. God’s merciful act was the only reason he did not release his true wrath. There was no say when God will become completely fed up with his “sinner.”
Finding Justification for Injustice What politician hasn’t used religion as an unwavering piece of justification in an argument? All throughout history, politicians have used religion countless times to justify behavior or simply to avoid unflattering questions. Authors and characters are guilty of this as well. “The Crucible” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” include evidence that individuals use religion as justification to prey on other’s fears and insecurities, to use as evidence to explain an occurrence or phenomenon, or to pass judgement on another person because Miller wishes to shed light on the manipulation of ideas and religion, and Edwards wishes to persuade his audience through these tactics.
The most important feature of a sermon is the application of a scripture text to the personal experience of the listener. Especially this last part is what reduced many of Edwards’s listeners to tears. In Edwards’s sermon the scripture text is “Their foot shall slide in due time”. This meant that eventually, all sinners would be punished by God, which could be at any time. Edwards speaks of a wrathfull God, a God who by Puritan standards is considered forgiving for not letting all of humanity fall into the deepest pits of hell.
.are in the hands of and angry God” (Edwards 42). This quote from “Sinners” appeals to the sense of logic because it is cause and effect which makes the reader think of what will happen if they do not choose to follow Christ. Edwards says that it is “nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment” (Edwards 43).
Rhetorical Analysis "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 1655, founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams documented his views on politics and religious affairs to make them clear to the public. This documentation of his morals and principals was called Letter to the Town of Providence. In his letter he addresses the people and tells them that he is making no mistake by voicing his opinion. Williams takes his position with an analogy. He describes society as a boat.
Puritans are Europeans who escaped religious persecution from the Church of England. The Puritans age likely varies from children to adults. However, it’s apparent that Winthrop is appealing more towards Puritan males to create their ideal utopia. Winthrop evokes God to entice the colonist to fruitfully colonize the land. He uses nationalism, religion, and imagery to entice the colonist into creating a bountiful colony.