How Did Jonathan Edwards Punish The Unjust?

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. Although he struggled with this for a very long period of time, eventually, he came to terms with God’s reasoning for punishing the unjust, due to their extreme lack of sovereignty. During the time of the Enlightenment, Edwards was a rather transitional figure and strongly felt as though the emotional experience of God was of utmost importance. In the Puritan minister Jonathan Edward’s sermons, “A Divine and Supernatural Light” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Edwards

He feels as though God is sovereign and reigning over the entire universe; His divinity supersedes all of His creation. It is made clear in “A Divine and Supernatural Light” that Edwards believes God is divine and holy due to references he makes to the light. Edwards says, “The divine light reaches to the bottom of the heart, and changes the nature… showing God as worthy to be obeyed and served” (429). He also asks the question, “Why have ye not that sense of true excellency, whereby ye may distinguish that which is holy and divine?” (425). Edwards feels that the divinity of Christ is so evident that he questions the audience on their sense of God and teaches them in a way that could be considered forceful. He feels as though God is not only someone who mankind has knowledge of, but is someone that can be felt and