Comparison Of Plymouth Plantation And Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

542 Words3 Pages

Abby Christensen
Mr. Van Leeuwe
Honors English 10
31 January 2023
Creative title
The Puritan writings “Of Plymouth Plantation” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” depict god as all-powerful; However, “Of Plymouth Plantation” portrays God as a merciful great savior while “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” characterizes him as angry and wrathful. “Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathon Edwards express the common Puritan belief that God is all-powerful and has complete control over your life. In Edward’s sermon, he describes how God could send humans to hell instantly, and he shouts at the listeners that “there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into …show more content…

The Puritans believed that God defeated the Natives for the Puritans to save them from harm. Although both writings depict this all-powerful version of God, they characterize God vastly differently. In “Of Plymouth Plantation,” God is described as merciful and benevolent. The Puritans were convinced that their safe arrival in America was because of God: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof” (4) They immediately praised their kind god for protecting them from the sea. Furthermore, when the Puritans found seeds of beans and corn left by the Natives, they praised god for not letting them starve. (48) On the contrary, in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” God is described as angry and wrathful because of the way he looks upon humans. He sees them as nothing more than insects: “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire” (51) Edwards believes that all humans who have