British Colonial and Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards delivered a sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, to a congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts which was then published in 1741. This sermon was the trigger for the First Great Awakening through Britain and the 13 colonies. In his sermon, Edwards utilized a metaphor comparing his audience to an insect being held over a fire in order to instill guilt and fear because of their religious mistakes, ultimately moving them to repent their sins and practice true devotion to the Christian doctrine.
In his sermon, Edwards employs a hostile metaphor to invoke feelings of guilt and distress in his audience. He compares God holding those in the audience to how “one holds a spider or