In "Sinner's in the Hand of an Angry God" by Johnathan Edwards, to remind his audience that God is very powerful and in any moment he can drop you into the pit of hell he incorporates alliteration, imagery, and simile.
Edwards used more than one alliteration to empesize the idea that God is omnipitant. In varies paragraph, such as in 3,5, and 6 he repeats the words " God's wrath" through him repeating the same words the audience receive the message that God has the most powerful wrath. God's wrath can do all things so one should be careful for their actions. This alliteration also reminds the audience on what God's wrath can do.
With constantly stressing the idea to his audience that God is powerful he uses imagery to describe hell and the
In using these metaphors, Edwards is enabling the reader(s) to understand the tone by putting it in a situation and context, which is more easily correlated. Subsequently, he uses imagery in the opening paragraph stating that when men are on Gods’ hands and they could descend to hell. Natural men are held in the hands of God, over the pit of hell knowing that you might descend into the abyss at any moment should scare you. God chose to save you until he wants to let you slope into an eternity of sweltering flames.
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 fear of eternal damnation turns people against one another when in life-threatening trials. God’s wrath is being contained upon them as these test occur. In “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” and “The Crucible”, Edwards and Miller use metaphors, imagery, symbolism, and allegory to display how they unveil their message with fear and persuasion.
Disturbingly describing God’s abhorrence towards man and comparing it to a spider being held over a fire and claiming that is humanity in the hands of God, that they are nothing but to be cast away into a fire, his disdain towards the church congregation is displayed. Edwards forces the congregation to feel his dislike towards them by expressing God’s and it makes them aware of how angry God must be and the reality that to him, they are nothing worth looking at and are better off burning. Another example of imagery is God’s bow of wrath already bent with and arrow of justice ready to be shot at their hearts. Here he lets their minds wander by the thought of God shooting an arrow into their heart, having no reason not to shoot it because they are sinners and sinners will see justice when he finds fit. His tone is more cautious and informative but still menacing, he prepares them for the worse just to fling them further down into guilt and
Next, we see Edwards use of repetition and sound. He used polysyndetons - the use of coordinating conjunctions in a rapid succession. He uses the word “and” to keep the attention and focus on due to how many ands there are, there could be a multitude of outcomes that could result. “The waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back” (Edwards 6). He also uses anaphora – the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. “[N]othing to lay hold of to save [themselves], nothing to keep the flames of wrath, nothing of [their] own, nothing that [they] ever have done, nothing that [they] can do” to save them from anything God wants to happen to them (Edwards 6). His use of the word “nothing” burns into the Puritans’ brains that no matter what they do, they cannot change what God decides should happen. He also uses sound to his advantage. “[T]he fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God” focuses and highlights the meaning of what is being said (Edwards 6).
Alongside repetition, imagery is utilized by Jonathan Edwards to help his audience apprehend that God is preeminent. During the sermon, Jonathan Edwards affirms "There are black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm and big with thunder..." Through the
Simile is a figure of speech which shows a similarity between two apparently unlike things by using the words “like” or “as.” One example of simile is, “The god that holds you over the pit of Hell much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire…” In this sentence you are being compared to a spider, or a loathsome insect. This means that God is holding you out of hell like someone would hold a bug over the trash. A second example of simile is, “your wickedness makes you as if it were as heavy as lead.” Your wickedness is being compared to lead. It is saying that you have so much sin and wickedness in you, that it weighs you down because it’s so heavy. The more wicked you get, the lower God’s hand drops, and the sooner you fall into
Just as effective as language manipulation is Edwards's use of language transformation; indeed, his skillful employment of descriptive language adds a visual dimension to his message. Even if the foundation is misinterpreted, these transformations allow any listener to mentally "see" Edwards's overall direction. For instance, God's wrath is referred to as "great waters that are dammed", "a glittering sword", and a "drawn arrow". These terms indicate powerful and deadly forces. On the other hand, sinners are likened to "worms of the dust", "miserable creatures", and "loathsome insects"; consequently, these labels are receptors of God's wrath through the forces Edwards introduces. Although these conceptual images appear basic, Edwards's frequency and placement throughout his delivery produce a clear and precise overview to even
Edwards instills fear in his congregation by threatening the wrath of God and what will happen if one does not omit their lives to Him. “So that thus it is, that natural men’ are held in the hand god over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it;” (102). Here Edwards uses sharp descriptions to show his congregation that any wrong move can put one in Hell, promoting the practice of religion, more specifically; his church. Edwards also writes and speaks very poetically in such a way that his sermons are delivered with an intense amount of imagery that it seems as if those in attendance are watching a movie. Comparing the earth to God’s hand and the mention of God’s wrath being a loaded bow that is ready to rain down on sinners at any moment, helps add the the fear and the image. Another way Edwards creates his atmosphere is by referring to the mass in front of him as ‘you’. When spoken to in such a personal manner one is more likely to be afraid or concerned about the subject as opposed to the sermon being delivered with a more general
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”.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Jonathan Edwards is the author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. He speaks to sinners to scare them into repenting by using vivid imagery and logos. Persuasion is effective in this sermon because it allows the reader to side with the author’s point of view. When Jonathan Edwards uses vivid imagery in his sermon its effectiveness allows the reader to create a picture in their head of what he is trying to explain in his sermon. Vivid imagery is important in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God because it allows him to “scare” his audience back to the Christian ways.
Imagery is used by Edwards to induce terror onto the congregation by illustrating the power of God on “wicked men” (para. 10). In the beginning of the excerpt, Edwards paints a picture of sinners ready to fall into the pit of hell, with only God’s will keeping them up. He describes it as such,
You never know when youre going to fall in the pits of hell. The last example provided is the place of hell. dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God If he wanted to say hell, he wouldve say hell but he didnt. Instead, he described it even further but using adjectives and repeating the wrath of God to frighten us. Jonathan Edwards not only used imagery. He used figurative language.
Jonathan Edwards uses simile, Allusion, and rhetorical questions to express the wrath of God to the audience throughout his speech. In the forth paragraph, Edwards states that "your destruction would come like a whirlwind" which is an example of how strong God is. The statement is what the disbelief of God would lead up to, a strong storm to punish a person and his disbelief of God. They would be sent to Hell and the comparison to the downfall into Hell and the whirlwind is the proof of God's strength and why Edwards creates a connection to the rapid destruction.