On April 19th 1995 the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. The event killed 168 people including 19 children and injured 100 of others. This act of violence devastated the community of Oklahoma City. April 23rd 1995 President Clinton attended a memorial service for the victims.
“The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn” -Luther This quote is the backbone of C.S. Lewis' epistolary novel The Screwtape Letters, which chronicles the letters of Screwtape, an experienced demon, to his demon nephew Wormwood, on how to best tempt a human toward unhappiness and moral failure. The story is written from a Christian perspective, but the topics addressed are largely drawn from real aspects of human nature, thus their validity is not demeaned by this presentation; rather The Screwtape Letters provides an accurate testimony on the subject from a universal point of view. Covering a broad spectrum of topics, The Screwtape Letters employs upside down, infernal logic as Screwtape's young nephew Wormwood fails or succeeds in corrupting certain areas of his “patient's” life after Screwtape advises him on how to push an advantage or withdraw from a failed area. Though Wormwood receives a myriad of lessons on the exploitable weaknesses of human nature,
What once was considered scandalous was now a normal activity. “C.S. Lewis was signally aware of spiritual warfare. He explored this in many of his writings, but it was especially The Screwtape Letters that fired the imagination of personal spiritual warfare” (Potgieter). How can mankind fight against the devil and his temptations? He cannot do it alone.
and eternal damnation. These perspectives recognize the animosity towards change and for others
Attack the weak points in people's lives or weak points in christianity. 4: The enemy is God and “our father” is Satan. 5: Keep them focused on worldly things not spiritual things. Focus them on what is going on around them.
He characterizes the devil in a sympathetic light to show how the world of sin will creep in unexpectedly and seize the formerly pious man. The devil uses pathos and logos to convince his audience of the world of sin. He emotionally relates to the audience to increase his credibility within the audience. He wants to show his relatability to his human followers. He wants them to see his regret and sorrow that this is the only way of life.
Through connecting psychological principles with accentuated rhetoric, Jonathan Edward’s delivers “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” initially stirring the First Great Awakening. The basis of his sermon relies on a mix of imagery and rhetoric with an impassive delivery to condemn those currently who do not have the spirit of God striving within them. He further sentences those who resist and sin, by speaking of God’s sovereignty with severity, using graphic metaphoric language, thus hyperboles descriptions of God and the fate of the congregation. On his pulpit, Edwards portrays a God himself, who harshly opposes all human order for holding a sense of security, for these efforts inspire rebellion and self-reliance, which leads to blind
In Jonathan Edwards's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards, through his heavy use of similes and metaphors, thoroughly conveys to the audience that humanity's faith ultimately lies in the hands of an omnipotent, all-encompassing being. Written in this sermon is, "Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead...", and Edwards's intentions towards writing such a substantial line is most likely to emanate human wickedness, distinctly clarifying that the weight of our innate evilness is as heavy as lead is, thus concluding that it is outside of our nature to be able to support this great weight. This is why our wickedness must be carried by a being outside of us that is capable of bearing all of humanity's wickedness. Building onto
The Real Enemy: Oneself Every Christian will face temptation at some point in their life. The devil wants their soul and tempts them according to their sin nature. Each human is created differently and with that, each person has been given their own set of obstacles which can benefit God, or the devil. Although everyone has different battles, there is one shared by all: choosing God or the devil. This internal struggle is known as psychomachia and is analyzed by C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters.
He repeats the idea that God’s everlasting wrath is continuously omitted onto his people, bringing them to their knees. This anger is thrown onto the people without pity everyday, and Edwards knows that bringing it to the attention of the people will keep them close to God. While they are damning themselves to Hell, God is continuously disciplining his people under his wrath. He inflicts pain on the people, and with Edwards’ constant reminders, these are enough to scare them into repentance and good deeds. The people are afraid of pain and suffering, and God’s wrath is the essence of their pain, but Edwards convinces the congregation that they deserve what they are put under if they do not repent.
“I have trouble enough without I come five miles to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from the church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.” (The Crucible, 29) He wants his firewood and more addition to his salary.
The problem of evil takes into account three defining features of God: all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful and questions whether such a God would permit evil and not interfere. Sinnott-Armstrong discusses his stance by countering responses he coins as the Glorious Response, the Modest Response, and the Overriding Response. Whereas, Craig counters the arguments made by Sinnott-Armstrong. The Glorious Response Thus response suggests evil is
The victimization of fears and securities is a main weapon in the belt of those who wish to lead and conquer. This is proved when in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Edwards uses dark imagery and tone, telling the congregation, “O, Sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in... You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it” (156).
This is why Satan is in trouble, this is also why he is causing problems for us, Revelation 12:12 and why he will be thrown into the lake of fire or
It is appalling how much an undocumented person from another country can benefit from the United States government programs at the expense of tax paying citizens. We should be taking care of our own legal, tax paying citizens first and foremost. We already have a law in place for immigrants. It should be mandatory that anyone entering the U.S. must follow the law to the letter. They should become legal citizens before they reap the benefits of any government funded program.
