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Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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Jonathan Edwards wrote the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” with the purpose of persuading people to seek salvation by producing horror in the possibility of going to hell when he should have tried to inspire his congregation to try and get to heaven instead. He transmitted his message in an intense manner which consequently caused terror on the people that attended the church in which he preached. His pathos appeal on the sermon intended people to fear what awaits in hell if they are not born again. The author emphasized in the descriptions of the torments of hell and the punishments that the people who go there have to go through. He could have approached this topic by referring to the good things that are in heaven and the blessings that will come to your life once you accept God as your savior.
Edwards portrays God as a powerful being that despises humans, which moreover supports his intentions of terrorizing people to make them accept God into their lives. Contrary to what he says, God is affectionate, compassionate and forgiving according to the Psalms book. The “Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” Psalms 145: 8. …show more content…

The sermon implies that God thinks of humans as abominable individuals and compares us with insects, spiders, snakes, and other animals typically seen as unwanted. Edward describes humans as being “abominable” to God’s eyes. This contradicts completely what is stated on the book of Genesis, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1: 27. God would not see humans as ugly creatures if he created us to his image and resemblance. Edward should have transmitted a different message about the way he sees us so people would want to be saved by a loving and forgiving God rather than fearing the punishments of a sadist, evil being that thinks of them as something

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Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GOD Analysis “Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering.” Edward’s sermons were preached during the period of the Great Awakening, a time of religious revival. Edwards was a powerful preacher of his time, he wanted to change and persuade the mind of his audience. Jonathan Edward’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry GOD” considered his listeners as sinners of their religion through the use of Diction, Figurative Language and Rhetorical Devices, making it one of history’s great works.

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“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is known as the climax of The Great Awakening, which was the biggest religious movement in history. In 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, to his church, which left his listeners crying and even contemplating suicide. On the surface, “Sinners” has basic religious meaning but, deeper down, he is talking about more than just a religious conversion. Edward’s message to his audience was that there is a wrathful God who will punish all who have not had a change of heart. He portrays this through imagery, repetition, and figurative language.

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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.

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He testified that God’s anger is greater on those who are standing on earth, over the ones being tormented in hell, compelling his audience with fear. As he proceeded to develop his argument he compared humans with worms, snakes, and spiders, loathsome, abhorrent creatures. Verifying once more the Machiavellian maneuvers Edwards tried to impose on the evangelical church. Consequently he affirmed God’s will is the only reason sinners are not being tormented in hell, creating an

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In the story Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards would you different things such as thoughts or words in attempt to scare his congregation into obeying his word. First images of Hell would consist of the thought of fire, a burning room, fiery furnaces, and a gaping pit of flames. These thoughts alone would scare the people of his congregation but he also included the images of punishment or or the ways the God sees the people. These images would consist of God referring a human being to a spider that is being held over an open fire pit. This way of thinking did work in Edward’s time on his congregation but it did not last forever because his people became tired of hearing the same terrible thoughts every week.

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Even though they have broke away from God, He still loves them and keeps their heads from touching the fire in Hell (Lines 2-6). Edwards proves this point when he says, “You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn Rebel and his Prince: and yet ‘tis nothing but his Hand that holds you from falling into the Fire every moment” (Lines 4-5). Overall, Edwards focuses on the fact that God takes pity on His people, but He also has the power to determine where one’s faith lies. In the end, Edwards was addressing the sinners across the colonies and advising them to turn to God for guidance rather than the British

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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.

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Edwards wanted his audience to mentally understand his attitude towards God, and for them to not underestimate God’s Powers. He painted a mental picture of an enraged and angry God when Edwards preached that “There are black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm… and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you” (Paragraph 3). The black clouds and the description of the storm demonstrated God’s anger building up inside him waiting to unleash. God’s merciful act was the only reason he did not release his true wrath. There was no say when God will become completely fed up with his “sinner.”

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The majority of this sermon is dedicated to the audience whom Edwards views with repulsion. He uses imagery to describe the awful Hell that he believes the people in the congregation will end up in and calls it a “great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath” (Paragraph 8). He illustrates the never ending state of Hell in order to frighten everyone in the audience. He sees each and every person as damned and honestly believes they deserve be sent to Hell to burn for all eternity. He feels no sympathy for them because they are completely free to do what they want and he knows that what they do with their free will is commit sin.

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