Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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Jonathan Edwards achieves the tone of his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by using imagery. Edwards explains to his audience that unless they find salvation, God is the only one keeping them out of “the pit.” He succeeds in making his audience want to find salvation by planting images in their heads such as, “the bow of God’s wrath is bent, and injustice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow.” By saying this to the audience, he has strengthened the fear of God that is already prevalent in the Puritan religion. God’s disappointment in humans is expressed when he says, “you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.” The intention of this sermon is to persuade