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Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God By Jonathan Edwards

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Jonathan Edwards’s sermons, “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” describes a vivid imagery of a powerful God to be feared. His way of teaching Gods word while providing graphic images of hell and a fiery death that follow if not obeyed. Manipulation got others to follow him without a question. Mostly followed and believed without a doubt, for the fear of God and eternal damnation seemed to real and had no other options, because we are all naturally sinners and belong in Hell. Being raised as Christian we were not given terrifying images of Hell. I was raised to believe God was loving and caring. It was our choice to accept his love and Holy Spirit, and to follow the Ten Commandments. In return we will be rewarded in heaven. The image of god …show more content…

In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he talk about Hell a lot. He describes Hell as a place “gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out, in short they have no refuge.” The imagery of Hell as a fiery pit with no escape would put the fear of a God with the powers to do such thing make anyone want to believe, so they could be saved from such a horrific place with endless pain …show more content…

Because we are naturally sinner and it is our destiny to be sent straight to Hell, the anticipation of this makes people nervous with fear. Edwards uses fear and is able to convince people they have no choice but to believe in God for he is the only one able to change our fate. “So that thus it is, that men are held in the hands of God over the pit of Hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked.” He describes God as the one in charge and since we are already destine to Hell it’s in their best interest to obey, because our only other option is a fiery

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In Jonathan Edwards’s famous work, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards’s attitude appeared to be an extreme Christian. At the start of this work, he wrote, “So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the

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He describes heaven as a magnificently holy place filled with love, celebration, and all the holy Puritans who worked, endured, and face the challenges that came to fully embracing God. On the other hand Edwards goes on to explain how pitiful it would be for the sinners to miss out on the glorious celebrations up in heaven and spend the rest of eternity in the fiery vortex of pain and suffering that is hell. All because they did not repent their misdeeds while refusing to follow the holy ways of God. This form of persuasion is meant to strike fear into the Puritans hearts because this means that there is a great possibility that each individual is not worthy of God's love and that they will miss out on the glorious reservation in heaven because they are not good enough for God's

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Both Patrick Henry used rhetoric to influence people. They both gave speeches that resembled a form of rhetoric. Jonathan edwards used fear in his form of rhetoric. Patrick henry used his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” as rhetoric. He influenced his audience with his speech.

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“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by Jonathan Edwards about God. For most people back in the 1700’s, their whole life revolved around God. Edwards thought that the people just needed a wake up call to remind them of the consequences of acting against God. He pretty much said in his sermon that if we don't turn back to God, we’re going to hell, which definitely got many people’s attention. In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards uses several rhetorical devices and appeals that contribute to the effectiveness of his sermon and help achieve his purpose.

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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.

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Jonathan Edwards bases his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," on the words of Deuteronomy XXXII.35 when Moses is warning his people about the power of God. During the time period of Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, many people were abandoning the idea of God and church; as these people were leaving the faith, they did not understand the difficulty of life without the wisdom and strength of God. Humans lack a knowledge of God and are limited due to the fact in which they do not understand His full potential of power. Some have confidence in their own strength and wisdom and do not believe they need the guidance of Christ. The final reason humans are limited in their knowledge of God is they do not understand the reality of Hell.

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The idea is that God can and will forgive them if they give themselves over. In Jonathan Edwards sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," the tone is very fearing and threatening. Edward's is very resentful towards the actions done by the congregation. In lines 59-61 it states that, "And there is no other reason to be

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He even goes so far as to compare God’s wrath to “great waters that are dammed for the present… the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty its course, when once it is let loose” (20). By creating this comparison, Edwards instills fear into the hearts of his followers, and creates the imagery of a terrifying God.

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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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It is explained that God is the only one who is able to save people from going to Hell. Edwards wants people to imagine how evil and distressed life would be without Gods love and mercy. He explains that to not burn in Hell people need to ask for forgiveness from God, experience Gods mercy, and continuously practice the Lords word. Edwards really lets the message of “Gods wrath” sink into our minds to show how mighty, powerful, and capable the Lord is. The Lord gives us many opportunities to rely on Him and when we need his love and mercy the most.

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Consider the fearful danger you are in...". This method is making other fill with scariness. Being in serious danger is a position no one wants to be in. This makes his audience change there way of thinking, instead of thinking there just going to hell, he gives them details he goes in depth of just non-stop burning. One detail is "...a wide and bottomless pit full of fire of wrath".

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In “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God”, Johnathan Edwards uses fear to create images that help his audience experience the consequences of sinful behavior. He uses imagery and figurative language to persuade his readers. He wants us to get a mental picture of Hell in your head and he wants us to fear the wrath of God. One such image was when Edward wrote, “When men are on god’s hands and they could fall to Hell, natural men are held in the hands of God, over the pit of Hell.” God could let us fall into the eternity of burning flames anytime He wants to.

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Rhetorical Analysis "Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of all resolutions. "- Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was a sermon written and delivered by American reverend Jonathan Edwards in 1741, and was an outstanding example of the potentially dominant convincing powers of the use of Rhetoric. The sermon, even when read silently, is effective in projecting a specific interpretation of the wrathful nature of God and the sinful nature of man.

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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.

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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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