ipl-logo

Compare And Contrast Edwards And John Winthrop

1490 Words6 Pages

The world contains a massive variety of different religions with different branching denominations, within the U.S. and without. This can be due to minor differences such as an alternate view on the importance of rituals, or it can be due to something major like clashing views on God. Sometimes, even within one religious group, there are views that butt heads and challenge each other. In terms of Puritanism, specifically centered around the Calvinist ideology, there were two men whose ideas on God differed greatly. These men were John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards, who wrote A Modell of Christian Charity and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God respectively. Winthrop sees God as a being that inherently focuses on love, while Edwards sees Him …show more content…

A Modell of Christian Charity is a speech he made before the group was about to head out to sea together, and it was necessary that they maintain good relations. He even explains this towards the end when, to avoid God’s wrath, he says “…wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion…allwayes having before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke…” (388). To keep his fellow Puritans in line, he describes God as loving, kind, and just, at least when His will obeyed. Winthrop’s listeners were given significantly more hope than Edwards’ listeners, who he claims were doomed to eternal suffering by an ultimately unforgiving …show more content…

He claims that the sinners within his congregation “…have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners” (734). Throughout Edwards’ speech, he has described God as this amazingly cruel being who relishes in the idea of dropping sinners into Hell, be it man, woman, or child, and yet here is a sign of some compassion. If they convert over to God’s side, He will welcome them with open arms and they will be allowed to join the others “…with their hearts filled with love to Him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in His own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God” (734). There is a duality within Winthrop’s and Edwards’ view in this area, as one of the main focuses of God seems to be expanding His reach. Winthrop’s God looked to expand his body to spread more love, and Edwards’ God wants to expand to add more “elect” to his side. Edwards gives his audience a depiction of God that is so terrifying that it scares some of the unconverted members of his congregation into converting over. By emphasizing the wrathful side of God more than the loving side, he uses God’s easily manipulated nature to suit his

Show More
Related
294 Words | 2 Pages

John Winthrop book “A Model of Christian Charity” was a very interesting piece to read. This was one of his most famous pieces of work by Winthrop and I like that he wrote this and his journal on the ship he was on in 1630. I admired this piece because it was well thought out, and is respected by many people for centuries. His goal was to help past and future people for a better strong, new society in which he hopes will succeed. Also, he would combine pieces from the bible into his work that would help show them what he was trying to say, and Winthrop gave people with reading his book, answers to their questions.

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

Edwards' distinct diction is put to work to descriptively describe the power of the Lord and the unpleasant Hellfire that awaits the sinners. Such words efficiently infiltrate into the minds of his audience and scare them greatly. Edwards held his congregation locked up with his assurance of eternal damnation if the correct course of action was not taken. The church assembly felt the great impact of his rhetorical tactics and had the fear of the power of God on their minds.

Read More
1430 Words | 6 Pages

Winthrop approached his audience with the idea that we should show love and affection towards our brothers. According to Winthrop: We must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of other’s necessities. We must delight in each other, make other’s conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body.

Read More
1454 Words | 6 Pages

The Puritans were a religious group who believed in total depravity and an unconditional election. This meant that mankind was solely dependent on God for salvation, and believed that there was absolutely no good within the world except through Him. Those who were of “the chosen people” were predestined to go to heaven and only had a glimpse of their faith through God’s signs and wonders. Jonathan Edwards, however, struggled with this idea. Throughout his childhood, he could not perceive how a loving and just God could send only a certain select to Heaven and the rest to Hell.

Read More
511 Words | 3 Pages

Jonathan Edwards depicts God as a wrathful, harsh and aggressive deity. His sermon emphasizes on the importance of salvation and remorse. Reflecting Puritan ideals, he expresses Gods vision of humans. How people are instinctive sinners and God is the only one able to determine those worthy of salvation. His stated principles construe the main pillar of their religion, predestination.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1763 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
1029 Words | 5 Pages

The Mayflower Compact and the Arbella Covenant. During the 1600’s many people had standards of how one should act to be seen as godly. Both the Pilgrims and Puritans had their own set of ideologies of what was seen as good and what was seen as bad. The New World was a chance for spiritual freedom and new opportunities.

Read More
1394 Words | 6 Pages

He and John Winthrop were much alike through in their preachings, sharing similar goals. In fact, Cotton even aided Winthrop in the banishment of many opposers to their way of life, such as Anne Hutchinson. Cotton’s written legacy includes a body of correspondence, numerous sermons, a catechism, and in 1646 a shorter catechism for children titled Milk for Babes Cotton too has a sermon that is well known, and it is called “God’s Promises to His Plantation”. It is essentially a pep-rally. He begins with a lovely sermon and goes on to explain that the soon-to-be-American’s are people of destiny, people who are important and remembered in history.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

This interpretation of God becomes the reference point for the rest of the sermon. All of the commands and accusations in the sermon rely on Edwards' portrait of God as an angry, all-powerful being that has no obligation to have mercy upon his creations. By convincing his congregation of God's wrathful character, Edwards is then able to convince the congregation that they are in danger of damnation and severe punishment at the hand of this wrathful God. Edwards characterizes God as a being that "abhors" mortal men and "looks upon [them] as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire" (200). Edwards then uses scriptural references to support his claims about the nature of God.

Read More
1050 Words | 5 Pages

Similarly, while aboard the Arbella, William Bradford gives an astounding sermon called A Model of Christian Charity to his fellow travelers. In this message, he points to the direction and sovereignty of God. He begins with, “God Almighty in His most holy and wise providence, hath disposed of the condition of mankind…” (Baym 91). In addition, his sermon continues to point back to God as the source of provision, whether it is plenty or lack.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

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.”

Read More
817 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

The majority of this sermon is dedicated to the audience whom Edwards views with repulsion. He uses imagery to describe the awful Hell that he believes the people in the congregation will end up in and calls it a “great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath” (Paragraph 8). He illustrates the never ending state of Hell in order to frighten everyone in the audience. He sees each and every person as damned and honestly believes they deserve be sent to Hell to burn for all eternity. He feels no sympathy for them because they are completely free to do what they want and he knows that what they do with their free will is commit sin.

Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Edwards And John Winthrop

Related Topics

Open Document