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Wrath Of God In The Great Awakening

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Religion has always been one of the most prominent values in American history. In the early 1600s, one group known as the Puritans first sailed to America seeking religious freedom and a way to purify the church. Puritans believed that all people were sinners, but that God was working in their lives, and a lucky few were predestined to go to Heaven. Their religious practices strictly limited them. Eventually, the Age of Enlightenment emerged and drew people away from the church, causing the movement of religious revival known as the Great Awakening. During this time, impassioned preachers such as Jonathan Edwards gave fiery sermons in attempt to reinforce piety and scare people back into the church. Throughout his sermon, “Sinners …show more content…

He claims, “You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it...you have...nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing too keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment” (21). Through the use of repetition, the preacher emphasizes his belief that there is nothing man can do to avoid the wrath of God. However, he believes there is a way to lessen that wrath. Edwards advises his audience, “God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may now cry with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But once this day is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain…” (21). Throughout his sermon, Edwards provides fearful imagery to frighten the people, but now he gives them hope of lessening God’s wrath. He wisely chooses to contradict himself because he knows that people will not come back to the church without an incentive. The preacher startles people enough so they believe they are doomed outside of the church, and think that returning to the church is their only hope of salvation. Edwards’ clever contradiction helps to scare people back into the church by instructing them to repent immediately or face God’s full wrath upon their

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