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Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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Anyone who does not convert to the Puritan faith will go to Hell. This is the blatant message in Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The pastors preach to the congregation aimed to teach of the dangers of sin and the horrid views of fire and brimstone. The constant citations of the Bible, combined with the immense imagery, create a picture of the future of sinners. Edwards protrudes these ideas of eternal damnation using three keys strategies: invoking fear, quoting the Bible (biblical allusions), and defining God’s ultimate power. 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 …show more content…

He states, “Therefore, let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation: Let everyone fly out of Sodom” (Edwards 220). These lines refer to a Bible story about God condemning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because they have been filled with evil. God only promises them salvation if he can find only a few well-intentioned people left in the cities. God then sends angels to live among the people and find the good in them. Edwards, in his sermon, is doing what the angels were sent to do. He is warning the Puritans of their damnation, should they not change their sinful ways. By making this allusion to a piece the congregation will have already read, the argument being made is strengthened and seems much more realistic because it can be referenced to the Bible, which was the basis of Puritan

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