Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Preacher, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, promotes the acceptance of God and one’s participation in the spiritual event known as the Great Awakening, a time of renewed sense in religious piety. Edwards purpose is to impress upon others the need to repent their sins and accept God. He asserts himself in a passionate and zealous tone in order to convey the notion that non-believers and non-practitioners must learn to eradicate their sin and embrace God.

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”.

Imagine you are a Puritan, it is the Great Awakening, and one of the most well-known preachers of the time is telling you that there is a good chance you are going to hell. Without some serious skills in persuasion, this statement wouldn’t mean anything. Jonathan Edwards ' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" speech was extremely effective in persuading the Puritans to take their religious beliefs more seriously due to his use of many rhetorical devices such as: figures of speech, repetition and sound, syntax, and the triangle of rhetoric - ethos, pathos, and logos. The people were getting distracted by things other than religion

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.

In the works of Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” uses numerous persuasive techniques and biblical allusions. Edwards’ sermon lectures Puritans, people who strictly pursue to live by the bible, on how they are straying from the path of the bible. During his sermon, the Puritans were terrified of what he had said ,because every little sin each Puritan had committed they thought they were going to go to Hell. Edwards’ play on words, as well as his use of persuasive techniques, and biblical allusion convinced the Puritans that they were severely in trouble of going to Hell.

On July 8, 1741, in Enfield Connecticut, the speech Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was delivered. The sermon was given by British Colonial Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards. His goal and purpose was to teach and warn people of the dangers of sins and the horrors of the afterlife. The speech was given at his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts to an unknown effect. Edwards had started The Great Awakening from his preaching. He was also a descendant of four generations of Puritan ministers and the most renowned and influential of Puritan Leaders. Edward began his sermon by saying "In this verse is threatened the Vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, that were God's visible People, and lived under Means of Grace: and that, notwithstanding all" He also states "Gods wonderful Works that he had wrought towards that People, yet remained, as is expressed."(ver. 28. Void of Counsels)

Jonathan in his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (July 8, 1741), claims that the unconverted are hanging from the hands of God, and can be dropped off to the eternity of hell, his sermon is used to make the sinners be afraid and understand how the power of God is saving them, but it is only for his pleasure, unless if they return to Christianity. Edwards strengths his argument by using metaphors and imagery of a wrathful God to make the unconverted people afraid of being sinners and encourage them to have a relationship with Christ to be fully saved from falling to an eternity in the flames of hell. Edwards purpose is to start his sermon with such powerful use of visualization to provide fear to the sinners and give them a

Preacher Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God,” frightens the audience with vivid depictions of Hell and God’s wrath. Through the use of polysyndeton, asyndeton, and constant repetition, Edwards persuades the sinners in his congregation to turn towards God.

The priest of a Puritan church in 1744, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, motivates his congregation to fully convert to Puritanism through the use of fear. Edwards’s purpose is to persuade his audience to change their ways and to commit to the Puritan way of life in order to achieve salvation. He adopts an accusatory tone in order to forewarn his congregation of the wrath of God they will face for their sins if they do not repent. Edwards begins by establishing that “natural men,” or those who have not been reborn religiously, are no better in the eyes of God than those already in Hell, and have the same fate awaiting them (Edwards, 46).

Jonathan Edwards, the speaker in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, details God’s wrath and eternal damnation. Set in 1700s Enfield, Connecticut, in Puritan America during the beginnings of the Great Awakening, Edwards delivers a sermon to his audience of parishioners at his church as well as anybody in the future who would like to explore the Great Awakening. The speaker's’ tone is accusatory and condemning in nature in order to express the insignificance of mortals and the power of God. Thus, the rhetoric Jonathan Edwards utilizes conveys this attitude to his parishioners as well as instilling the fear of God and to not disobey him.

Throughout Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, he strategically utilizes an immense variety of different rhetorical and literary devices to not only bring his sermon to life, but also increase the persuasiveness of his message. For instance, in the fifth paragraph, he creates a simile illustrating that,“the wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given” (Edwards 2). The simile along with his use of descriptive language intensifies his message as well as emphasizes God’s omnipotence. By emphasizing the omnipotence of God, he instills fear within the audience hoping that they realize the importance of having a connection

In the famous speech, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards, he focuses on persuading his audience to be born again. He speaks in a calm, monotone voice and never makes direct contact with the audience. Isn’t a good speaker supposed to have qualities such as direct eye contact, hand gestures, and a variety of voice tones? So how did Jonathan have such a powerful and famous speech without using any of the listed qualities? He created a persuasive speech by threatening Hell, frightening the audience with multiple archetypes, and describing how massively their religion has changed.

In the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741), Congregational minister Jonathan Edwards asserts that people who do not believe in God will be miserable and have an unfortunate life after death. Edwards backs this claim up by depicting God’s wrath continuously throughout as well as giving a warning to those who disobey Him. Edwards’s purpose is to inform the people that God is responsible for their life and future in order to persuade the reader to believe and follow Him. Given the passionate and religious language used in the sermon, Edwards is writing to an audience of non-believers with the potential to become faithful followers.

One may be saved by God or sent down into the underworld. In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards attempts to persuade the audience to follow and obey God in everything they carry out. Edwards argues that a life of a person that does not have faith in God is demoralizing and melancholy by using the rhetorical device of repetition.

Jonathan Edwards effectively uses causal, inductive, and analogical logos to persuade his congregation through reasoning and logic, in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in which he wants them to realize that their God is, in fact, angry with them. His use of logos is apparent early when Edwards tells the “reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment,” followed by “because” which is causal logos and appeals to the logical side and sets up his concern and his argument. (lines 10-11; italics mine) Continuing the use of “because” and causal reasoning as well as refuting his congregation's argument that God is merciful, Edwards states “it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, … he does not let loose his hand and cut