Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God By Jonathan Edwards

The Puritans were a religious group of people who helped in the colonization of America in the early 17th century. The Puritan’s beliefs consisted of things that made them fear their God. They believed in total depravity, the idea that everyone is born a sinner, and should be cast from God. They also believed that God chooses who He want’s to save, that Jesus Christ died only for God’s elect, and in the idea of predestination. By the 1700s, many of the church leaders and preachers believed that their society had fallen away from their original beliefs and had become self-satisfied and materialistic. Jonathan Edwards was a preacher who gave a sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to his congregation, trying to persuade them that

In most of the sermon, but specifically in the fourth paragraph, Edwards talks about how wicked the people are, and how the only thing that is keeping them from being cast into hell at that very moment is the grace and mercy of God. The imagery used is to help his congregation vividly imagine the metaphor and meaning he is trying to get across. In the beginning of the paragraph Edwards says that “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead… and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf [of hell].” (Paragraph 4) The words “Swiftly,” “Plunge,” and “Bottomless” (4) create an astounding image of how powerful God is and how quickly and harshly He could send them to hell. The use of imagery to convey meaning can have a profound impact on those that are

He used repetition in words, phrases, and the overall idea that “There is nothing between [them] and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds [them] up.” (2) Edwards reminds his congregation of this more than 15 times throughout the sermon. Repetition is applicable to anything in life. We use repetition to learn, study, and so much more in our day to day lives. In this circumstance, Edward’s used repetition to engrave the idea that they’re going to hell, and the only thing that is keeping them from being there now is God’s