Jonathan Edwards was a great American theologian who was an eighteenth century Puritan preacher who delivered a six hour sermon in 1741, Connecticut to a congregation of Puritans. The purpose was to convince the congregation into seeking salvation by accepting God and to convince the unholy if they continued their ways they would end up in hell. To convince his audience Edwards uses rhetorical devices such as metaphor repetition and bandwagon to invoke fear into his audience. During Edwards Sermon he uses metaphor when describing God. In his sermon he states that God is a higher being who's hand is holding us, the sinners, above the fiery pits of hell.
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 '.
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by Jonathan Edwards about God. For most people back in the 1700’s, their whole life revolved around God. Edwards thought that the people just needed a wake up call to remind them of the consequences of acting against God. He pretty much said in his sermon that if we don't turn back to God, we’re going to hell, which definitely got many people’s attention. In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards uses several rhetorical devices and appeals that contribute to the effectiveness of his sermon and help achieve his purpose.
This sermon, delivered by Jonathon Edwards, is one of the most renowned throughout the time of the Great Awakening. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was effective and persuasive in nature, so much that it convinced several individuals to convert and repent for their sins. Although Edwards was a theologian and preached among several of his faith, it was not the main factor of the sermon’s appeal; however, the literary contents were and it contributed to the sermon’s credibility as well as its beauty. The main factors of this appeal are the styles in which he writes, the tone in which it was written in, and the content of the sermon.
Loyalty and the Punishment That Follows a Puritan When it comes to spreading religious beliefs you can always wonder how much is too much. In typical Puritan culture life is considered a temptation to sin and you must always be grateful for what god has given you. Writing is a way to connect to god and spread a direct, powerful message to the followers of Puritan life. In result of their religion, bible allusions are commonly used throughout their writings. When comparing the two authors, Bradstreet and Edwards, one must look at some of their most common works.
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. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was written with the sole purpose of scaring and intimidating the people that purtinans believed to be sinners. Edwards’s work contributed to a movement called “The Great Awakening”. It’s objective was to make the so-called ‘sinners’ aware of their wrongdoings and compel them to repent.
Two Writers, Similar, Yet Different It may be surprising to some, but the Puritan authors of Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are very impactful to those around them. Anne Bradstreet, an author of the early to mid 1600s wrote pieces including, To my Dear and Loving Husband as well as Upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666. Jonathan Edwards, on the other hand, brings his writings to the public in the early 1700s with his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. An example of what is to come is seen when Edwards describes that, “Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight”
Literary analysis of “The sinners in the hands of an angry god” 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.
The American Enlightenment and the Great Awakening were two very important motivators that changed the colonial society in America through religious beliefs, educational values, and the right to live one’s life according to each individual’s preference. The Great Awakening and the American Enlightenment movements were two events in history that signaled a grand distinction to the teachings among religious believers. New beliefs of how a person should worship in order to be considered in “God’s good graces” soon became an enormous discussion among colonists across the land. “Men of the cloth,” such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were well respected and closely followed when preaching about the love of God and damnation.
The Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is Edwards preaching to puritan people. The people are starting to not do what they are supposed to do, and Edwards knows that if they keep doing that it will sooner or later catch up to them and it won't end up good. Edwards uses strong tone and sounding mean so they would take him serious, ethos for credibility,logos to create an argument against theirs, imagery to create a better picture, and metaphors, to try to get the puritan people to change the way they are acting. Edwards uses ethos because he is a priest so people are going to listen to him. Priest are well educated about god and more, so they wouldn't be smart if they didn't listen to what he has to say.
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. Taylor portrays God as an understanding and forgiving worship spirit, while Edwards’ God is tyrannical and ruthless.
It was during the Great Awakening, when powerful preachers like Jonathan Edwards decided to intensify their ways of broadcasting their religious seriousness. The idea of secularism and religious neglect had been the cause for this religious movement. In his sermon, from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards used strategies to guilt, persuade, and redirect the “sinners” into conversion, and to give a wakeup call to those who overemphasize their own worthiness as holy citizens. Throughout his sermon, Edwards used a variety of figurative language like imagery, metaphors, personification, and allusions to reveal his attitude towards “sinners” as unworthy and insignificant in the eyes of God, and his attitude towards God as being enraged
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. Elemental imagery is used in the sermon to inspire fear in the audience.
Enlightenment was a time of embracing logic and reasoning whilst rejecting untested beliefs and superstition. This time period occurred from the year 1694 until 1795. During this time writers used their medium of the written word to express their beliefs based on logic while denouncing old-world ideologies . During Enlightenment human nature was often put under scrutiny as thinkers strived to find what qualities resulted in the best possible human. In this piece of writing, the reader will be able to see the opinions of human nature held by three great thinkers from this time period: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.
Rhetorical Analysis of Jonathan edwards’s Sinners in the hand of an angry god: jeremiad 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. Throughout Edwards’s sermon the use of turgid diction is exceedingly prevalent.
