Summary Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

During the 18th century, many people started questioning religions and some even converted to different religions, this period of time is known as the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards was a preacher in this time and, due to many religious changes, he made his very famous six hour sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Within his speech, Edwards utilizes analogy, imagery, and repetition to frighten his listeners and tell them of God's anger towards sinners. Edwards' implementation of analogy made him sermon sound much more harsh by comparing God's wrath to horrible events. During his sermon, Edwards says, "the wrath of God is like great waters that are damned for the present...more rapid and mighty is its course, when once

Within his speech, Edwards says, "there is a dreadful pit of glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open...you have nothing to stand upon, nor...take a hold of." This statement gives a clear description of God's agitation, and that his anger is much like the fiery depths of hell. With this visualization, the sinners are able to imagine God's rage, which would scare them when thinking of what their punishment may be in return of their sinning. Lastly, Edwards also delivers his message through the use of repetition. Throughout his speech, he repeats, "God's hands," "pit of hell," and "wrath of God," plenty of times. The use of repetition is very clever because it makes the sinners have those specific phrases encrypted in their minds. When they think of the sermon, they will clearly remember about God's hands holding them up out of hell, God's anger towards his sinners, and how the pit of hell is waiting for them. In short, Edwards' intention of scaring sinners was supported by his use of his chosen figurative language which made his message clear and obvious to who his sermon is