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Summary Of Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God By Jonathan Edwards

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Jonathan Edwards delivered his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, in Enfield Connecticut on July 8, 1764. This was the period of the “Great Awakening.” Like other works by Edwards, this sermon combines powerful imagery of Hell with explanations of the underworld and continuous reference of the Bible. He goes into vivid details to try and scare the congregation to worship God. His tact is not the best but it did get his point across. In this essay I will be talking about how Edwards’s uses use these details as a scare tact for the congregation.
The reasoning behind this sermon was because of the Great Awakening. During era period, the church had less of an influence of the Great Awakening. The church’s pastor invites Edwards to preach to the congregations. Edwards teaches the congregation about how horrible hell is by using vivid details, the dangers of having sinful behavior, and the risk of losing yourself in the world of sin. Edwards describes the risky position of the people who does not attempt to honor Christ’s call for repentance. In the final section of the sermon, Edwards points out …show more content…

The sermon was meant to make the congregation be mindful that their behavior and while on earth was more vital than anything else. It also seeks out for that specific punishment that looks for sinners in hell because they fail to obey the proper religious qualities as provided by the Holy Scriptures. Edward influences the congregation action; he thought it would be a good idea to discuss God’s anger with different levels of sinning and greed instead of going forth with the cliché warnings about sinning. To attain this objective of guaranteeing that the congregants are aware of their wrong doings in the world, Edward guaranteed that they knew God has the authority to wipe them all

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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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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.

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Often in Sermon writers persuade their audience to behave in a spiritual or more fashion. Such in the case in the Johnathan Edwards "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" where he sinners Edward wanted to affect his audience by appealing to their fears pity and vanity. Edwards had a(n) powerful impact on his Puritian audience because tone encouraging, imagery and visual and symbolic figurative language. Foremost, Edward had an powerful impact on his Puritian audience.

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In sinners in the hands of an angry God Jonathan Edward’s most effectively appeals to the people who have yet to convert to a puritan's by using rhetorical analysis. One of the first metaphors he uses was when he was describing the fire that God holds you over and if provoked (when you sin) he will drop you down to hell. He uses a great analogy when he talks about it because he says”The God that holds you over the pit of hell much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire”, and that is a real interpretation of what we are to God in Edward’s eyes. All these metaphors can also be used as imagery too because the author uses such good words and phrases it good that you can imagine what he is saying.

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The most important feature of a sermon is the application of a scripture text to the personal experience of the listener. Especially this last part is what reduced many of Edwards’s listeners to tears. In Edwards’s sermon the scripture text is “Their foot shall slide in due time”. This meant that eventually, all sinners would be punished by God, which could be at any time. Edwards speaks of a wrathfull God, a God who by Puritan standards is considered forgiving for not letting all of humanity fall into the deepest pits of hell.

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In “sinners in the hands of an angry God”, Jonathan Edwards uses different types of literary techniques, such as, imagery, metaphor, similes, repetition, and rhetorical questions to emphasize his point. His point is to scare the people and make them want to repent, which is the theme of the sermon. In the sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry god,” Edwards uses different types of

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Invoking fear is Edwards most successful tactics in this piece. He depicts God as an angry being who will cast everyone into the pits of Hell whenever he pleases. One of the most powerful invocations is, “They are already under a sentence of condemnation to Hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentences of the law of God.. is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are

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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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Edwards first points out his audience's sins by saying “as the good state of your bodily constitution,your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But these things mean nothing; if God should withdraw his hand”(Edwards 87). This shows Edwards pointing out the people's sins by saying that their good works or all the good stuff that they have done in their life means nothing if not with God. Agin, Edwards points out the people's sins “your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure wards hell”(Edwards 88). This also shows Edwards not only pointing out their sins but also using imagery to say that the people are so wicked and the evil things they do make them as if they were heavy as lead as they fall to hell.

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Jonathan Edwards had a certain way of influencing society. He Preached in a common style ,but this style was used to preach to prisoners and Edwards used it on church goers. He didn’t stand up on stage and say, ask forgiveness and you'll be answered. No, Edwards says what will happen to you if you don’t, and explained it in details. This preaching method changed people's perspective to seek forgiveness, and make a choice to except God.

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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

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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

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He also describes the plights of those who didn't listen to their fear of God, but lived otherwise unobjectionable lives. The audience is meant to feel sympathy for them. "What would not these poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you know enjoy!" The audience is meant to want to convert for themselves, but also their lost loved ones who did not get the same chance. Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" argues that everyone was out of God's favor and they needed to return to a righteous path.

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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.

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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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