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Puritan affects on church
Puritan affects on church
Puritan affects on church
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Jonathan Edwards was a great American theologian who was an eighteenth century Puritan preacher who delivered a six hour sermon in 1741, Connecticut to a congregation of Puritans. The purpose was to convince the congregation into seeking salvation by accepting God and to convince the unholy if they continued their ways they would end up in hell. To convince his audience Edwards uses rhetorical devices such as metaphor repetition and bandwagon to invoke fear into his audience. During Edwards Sermon he uses metaphor when describing God. In his sermon he states that God is a higher being who's hand is holding us, the sinners, above the fiery pits of hell.
It is 1741. The Enlightenment is spreading worldwide. The puritan people are leaving God. Johnathan Edwards gives a sermon on July 8th , 1741, trying to convince his fellow Puritan people to come back to God. He is going to try and accomplish this by giving his famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God '.
In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards persuades his audience by using rhetorical strategies and quotes from the Bible to validate the point he is attempting to convey (Belasco and Johnson 347). Edwards wants the readers to be persuaded with repetition of the different phrasings of “wicked Israelites” and to be impressed by the sophisticated tone within the passage (Belasco and Johnson 347). Edwards is also attempting to persuade and impress through his use of hasty generalization such as, “As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall; he can’t foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once, without warning.” (Belasco and Johnson 347). Pathos is
At this point Edwards has grasped the attention of his listeners by using pathos to pertain to their emotions and feelings. Towards the end of the sermon his tone switches to one of reason in terms of not neglecting his words. He asks a series of rhetorical questions such as those who are unconverted and do not teach their children of Christ that they too will have to witness the wrath of God. As for literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and allegories, Edwards does not disappoint for his use of them most likely whipped a lot of Puritans back into their faith.
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.
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.
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.
Thesis: Jonathan Edwards in the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” compels his listeners to believe in God and reach salvation by creating the sense of fear among its listeners arguing that otherwise they would end up in Hell. Summary: In the sermon, Edwards explains in detail to his audience how Hell will feel like. He uses figurative language to simulate how they will be judged by God and sent to hell if they don’t believe.
In Jonathan Edwards’ excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards uses a variety of different figurative language techniques and impeccable word choice to make the church goers truly believe that they have sinned God and are damned to Hell, as well as enforcing them to change their ways
In crafting his highly effective sermon, Edwards utilizes his authority as a man of God and as an interpreter of the scriptures, a logical and direct organization of arguments, and violent imagery to convince his audience of the vengeance of God against man. Jonathan Edwards begins his sermon by quoting
His starting verse from Deuteronomy sets the tone of his sermon by putting the focus on God’s warning before his wrath. Since the colonies were riddled with American entitlement, they saw themselves as God’s divine people, so Edwards used this verse to parallel what happened to God’s first chosen people in Israel, showing that God would not hold back on his second chosen people either. Edward’s view of God aligns with his view of humankind. He sees humans one-way: evil. He says that the only reason, “they are not fallen already, and do not fall now, is only that God’s appointed time has not come” (319).
It was during the Great Awakening, when powerful preachers like Jonathan Edwards decided to intensify their ways of broadcasting their religious seriousness. The idea of secularism and religious neglect had been the cause for this religious movement. In his sermon, from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards used strategies to guilt, persuade, and redirect the “sinners” into conversion, and to give a wakeup call to those who overemphasize their own worthiness as holy citizens. Throughout his sermon, Edwards used a variety of figurative language like imagery, metaphors, personification, and allusions to reveal his attitude towards “sinners” as unworthy and insignificant in the eyes of God, and his attitude towards God as being enraged
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.
In the sermon "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God" Jonathon Edwards uses various rhetorical devices to persuade his audience. The sermon was made on July 8, 1741 at a time were everyone believed in God and everything revolved around the bible. In his sermon, Edwards used allusions, similes, and personification to show God's anger towards humans. In the 17th century people's beliefs were all based on the bible. Everyone could refer to the bible as one of the only books they knew.
Rhetorical Analysis of Jonathan edwards’s Sinners in the hand of an angry god: jeremiad Jonathan edwards, is known as one of the most important religious figures of the great awakening, edwards became known for his zealous sermon “sinners at the hand of an angry god”. During his sermon he implies that if his congregation does not repent to christ they are in “danger of great wrath and infinite misery”. Throughout this sermon edwards uses literary devices such as strong diction, powerful syntax and juxtaposition to save his congregation from eternal damnation. Throughout Edwards’s sermon the use of turgid diction is exceedingly prevalent.