Analysis Of Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Well respected puritan minister Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741), establishes the consequences of unrepentant sinners. Edwards’s purpose is to impress upon the puritan congregation the repercussions of refusing to repent to God. He establishes a bold tone in order to petrify the members of the puritan congregation with the thought of going to hell. Edwards most powerful rhetorical strategy is his use of pathos along with his development of a strong ethical and logical foundation.

Respected Puritan minister, Jonathan Edwards in his Sermon, “Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God (1781), Elaborates on the negatives of being a repentant sinner. Edward’s goal is to inform people that sinning can be dangerous. He adopts a serious tone in order to establish a constant fear within Sinners and Non Sinners reading. Using the heavy caution within his readers let him establish a successful Sermon with the help of examples.

Often in sermons, minister pastors persuade their audience to behave in a spiritual or moral fashion. Such in the case in Jonathan Edwards, sinners in the hands of an angry god where he feels sinners should repent for the sins they committed. Edwards wanted to impact his audience by appealing to their fears, pity, and vanity. Edwards had an influential impact on his puritan because of his use of cautionary tone, complex imagery, and constructive figurative language.

In his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741), Jonathan Edwards claims that anyone who is not “born again” is a sinner and is waiting to be thrust down to hell in a state of endless misery and the only way to be saved from this is to become a Puritan. Edwards supports his claim of the Puritan religion being the only saving thing from damnation by explaining how hell is being prepared for those who are not “born again,” that any unconverted are in the hands of an angry God, and then concluding by saying to the people that they have the chance to be saved and live in a happy state, of they are “born again.” His purpose is to illustrate the woe that awaits for those who are not “born again” in order to persuade them to want to be

Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was a persuasive speech during the Great Awakening. His sermons persuaded people to convert to the church immediately to avoid damnation of a wrathful God. Fearful of Hell, Edwards managed to save the Puritan church and those who strayed

One can hear a sermon any day of the week, because there are many preachers out there in the world. Many sermons are retold Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments that tell how our ancestors lived, and teach us life applications of how to glorify God while we are living our lives. For over a thousand years God’s word has been preached by many faithful men who follow Him. However, there were some of those faithful men who used God’s Word and their own improvisation to convict sinners and to put their trust in God. Those times resulted in an era called the Great Awakening of the 18th century and they also put an end to the segregation era of the 20th century. Two of the faithful men during those eras were

In the 1600’s the Puritans were the main religious group of that time period and they had very strong ideals on how religion and government should go together. Jonathan Edwards, who shared many of their ideals, preached a sermon called, “ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and it had a very big impact on the congregation. Nathaniel Hawthorne, although he was a writer in the 1800’s, he was fascinated with the Puritans and their lifestyles and wrote a short story called, “ The Minister’s Black Veil.” Both authors use specific details, tone, and imagery to convey their meaning and style, Edwards harsh and accusatory style was more effective than Hawthorne’s melancholy and mysterious style because Edwards helps the reader understand the effects sin can have in one’s life.

Jonathan Edwards, a famous preacher in pre-colonial times, composed a sermon that was driven to alert and inject neo Puritanical fear into an eighteenth century congregation. This Bible based and serious audience sought after religious instruction and enlightenment. Through the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards offers a very harsh interpretation to humankind. Edwards utilizes various rhetorical techniques to evoke an emotional response in his audience and to persuade the members of his congregation that their wicked actions will awaken a very ruthless and merciless God.

On July 8th, 1741, a well-known preacher, Jonathan Edwards, delivered an inspiring sermon describing the horrible afterlife the unconverted would have. In 1741, the American colonies were undergoing a period of religious revival which played a large role in the presentation of Edwards’ sermon. Throughout the speech, Edwards’ purpose was to motivate the “natural men” in his congregation to wake up and make a change in their lives. He adopts a blunt and urgent tone in order to convey to his audience the life they are living now is going to result in Hell for their afterlife. Edwards’ use of negative diction, figurative language, and understanding of syntax to imbue the minds of his people with fear and tries to persuade them to convert to Puritanism.

This sermon was a radical departure in comparison to the other traditional Puritan texts. When Edwards was writing his sermon he was beginning to witness deterioration in the original puritan communities. He felt that the religious ideals first established by his predecessor Winthrop were slipping among the puritans. Edwards wanted to have an impact on his readers. To him it was more effective using scare tactics over positive encouragement to discuss proper conduct and God’s wrath. Edwards wanted to make sure the members of puritan society understood just how important their behavior and conduct while on earth was. He wrote about the certain punishments that awaited in hell for those who did not properly adhere to the puritan religious values. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is full of strong and vivid images of hell, comparing hell to a pit of fire and depicts how “Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering” (Edwards). He crafted this imagery as a deterrent example specifically to awaken the readers, and to remind them of the power of God and his harshness when it comes to doing away with sinners. This gave the puritans encouragement to try and build a perfect

Jonathan Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is moving and powerful. His effectiveness as an eighteenth century New England religious leader is rooted in his expansive knowledge of the Bible and human nature, as well as a genuine desire to "awaken" and save as many souls as possible. This sermon, delivered in 1741, exhibits Edwards's skillful use of these tools to persuade his congregation to join him in his Christian beliefs.

Edwards' creative choice of words that he uses describes the power of God and the terrible Hell awaiting sinners. These words easily infiltrate into the minds of his congregation and frighten them beyond belief. These choices of words and his use of such vivid images are mostly successful in their intent, to scare and put fear into his audience. Edwards held his audience locked up with his promises of eternal damnation if proper steps were not taken. The congregation felt the intense impact of his rhetorical strategies and lived on the fear of the power of God. In this way, he was able to keep his followers from sin and away from the fiery pits of Hell.

In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Edwards displays controversial viewpoints and ideas concerning heaven and hell. As Edwards speaks to the congregation he warns them of the misery and suffering they will face if they do not repent of certain sins. He also describes God as angry which probably struck fear into the hearts on many. To illustrate his own point that hell is unenviable without repentance Jonathan Edwards creates the idea of an angry God using intense similes, a harsh tone, and strong emotional appeal in “Sinners in the hand of an Angry God”.

In addition to direct addressing, Edwards also uses fear in his sermon. He talks about how “It is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction.”(Edwards 7). By using an angry tone, Edwards scares them into becoming fully devoted to Puritanism. He also uses the example of the purest person you know. In the example he explains how even the purest person you know still sins. This causes them to become a full Puritan. This scares the audience into thinking that if that pure person sins, then they definitely are and have to convert to full Puritanism as soon as possible.

According to the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards ', main purpose was to scare the audience and tell them that they are doomed to spend their lives suffering from God 's wrath in hell. His sermons were intended as a wake-up call for those who underplayed the majesty of a holy God and overemphasized their own worthiness as a decent, hard-working, successful citizens. Edwards believed strongly that only a genuine conversion experience should qualify a person for church membership. Jonathan Edwards did a good job of persuading sinners to renounce their sins and reconcile with themselves with God and their neighbor. For me the importance of the sermon was that the tragedy of the natural man 's rejection of God is to fall into "The Hands of an Angry God." He fiercely targets the “natural men” who are people who live their lives according to strictly natural impulses, desires and plans. Edwards tells his parishioners that they only reason they are alive and the only reason they woke up this morning is because God allowed them to.