Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God Summary

“Confession of sin shuts the mouth of Hell and Opens the gates of paradise.” These Wise words from Thomas watson embody the aims and beliefs of the puritans. The puritans expressed their beliefs and thoughts of the bible through their writing; be it poems, sermons, or stories. In the short story A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson, The sermon From Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, and the poem by Anne Bradstreet [Deliverance] From Another Sore Fit, there is a common theme of religion and the hardships these writers go through to produce such powerful works of literature. The puritan’s possessed a very unique style of writing which introduce many literary elements into all different types of

Unfortunately, for a person to behave morally some motivation might be necessary. Emotional appeals are used by authors to create strong feelings within the audience, some of which include fear, pity, and guilt. A documentary call Scared Straight attempted to use fear of prison life as a reason for the featured teens to alter their lives. However, author Kathy Feinstein disputed that idea in her article, stating that the “Change Within” program used in the video was not ultimately successful. In Jonathan Edward’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he too, uses the appeal to fear to persuade his audience of unbelievers to convert and accept Christ. With the evidence and effects of appealing to fear, along with the arguments made by Feinstein, this tactic is still the best motivational force for three reasons.

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”.

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.

American Literature, especially of the early settler and colonial period is marked by a deep sense of religion and a stress upon writing about matters related to religion. The development of early American literature thus can be seen to be a reflection of the religious ideals followed by the early settlers and colonists and it became a means of promoting a moral and ethical way of life.

Within the eighteenth century, Christians were going through the Great Awakening, a wave of religious enthusiasm that swept through the colonies in an effort to make an impact on the religion within the areas. In the sermon written by Jonathon Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he is trying to persuade nonbelievers into joining his religion in a way unused by many. To show nonbelievers the two altering sides of God based on what people believe and “they may imagine him to be so” (3), Jonathon Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” utilizes threatening tone, conveying repetition, and augmenting similes to express the fury and hopefulness of God.

“I’m a devil worshiper” is the very first line as Fetty Wap begins rapping in his song, “679.” In a way, this statement is very similar to Jonathan Edwards writings because both speakers had very unconventional views for their respective times. In today's world, Fetty Wap’s satanic beliefs aren’t generally accepted by other people; this is similar to Edwards views because he opposed the stereotypical loving image of God by warning others of his potential destruction and power. In, “Sinners of the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards makes it clearly known that he portrays God as dangerous and unafraid to take violent action through the use of imagery in nature by water, wind and insects.

Often in Sermans writers persuade their audience to behave in a spiritual or more fashion. Such is the case in Jonathan Edward’s “Sinner’s in the Hand of an Angry God” where he believes that sinners should change their ways and follow the Lord if they want happiness. Edwards wanted to impact his audience by appealing to their fears and pity. Edwards had a great impact on his Puritan audience because of his cautionary tone, dreadful imagery, and symbolic figurative language.

The American Revolution was the beginning of equality and freedom in America, whose biggest influence was the powerful speakers and political activists that stood for the Independence of America. The colonist in America were predisposed by individuals like Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry who through powerful writings, conveyed a since of patriotism and compelled the people to fight for their independence. These men used a combination of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos to achieve their purpose to show the people around them and the world the justice in their fight for freedom.

Edwards, Jonathan. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. In Literature of America, complied by Jan Anderson and Laurel Hicks, 19-25. Pensacola: A Beka Book, 2010.

On October 5, 1703, in East Windsor Connecticut, Timothy and Esther Edwards welcomed their new son, Jonathan Edwards, into the world. From a young age, Jonathan was provided with an excellent education from a highly qualified individual - his father was a minister and a college prepatory tutor. Jonathan Edwards was accepted at Yale college just before he turned thirteen. He was interested in a wide variety of studies including natural science, the mind, the scriptures, and theology. He graduated from Yale in four years as valedictorian and obtained his masters three years later. Unable to accept the “horrible doctrine” (Edwards), of predestination, Edwards finally found peace and accepted this controversial teaching in 1721. He went on to assistant pastor a large church in Northampton with his grandfather. The same year, he married Sarah Pierpont whose piety he had long admired (..). Two years later, when his grandfather passed away, Edwards became sole minister of the Northampton congregation. However, after many years of converting the lost and participation in the Great Awakening as a key preacher, his congregation began to weary of his intense sermons and his habit of calling out sinner by name from the pulpit. However, his most famous sermon was first delivered in Enfield, Connecticut on July 8th, 1741 and was entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards’ use of rhetoric in this message has been admired

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 Johnathan Edward's, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards has a particular style of writing that conveys an underlying purpose when delivering the sermon. Throughout the sermon, he uses multiple writing techniques and tools to engage the listener more, and to assure the listeners believe and trust him. Edwards purpose of writing and delivering the sermon, is to warn his people and to whomever else wants to agree, that they all must show their remorse of their sins to God before it is too late. Every sentence in the sermon, is based around scarring the people even more and more. Edwards accomplishes this by using certain diction and structure, a certain tone, and persuasive figurative language.

It is widely accepted that the American Revolution was quite different for its time. Some may argue the English revolution was similar in a sense of greatly reducing the power of monarchy, however at this time there had not been many quite like it in the sense of a revolution completely doing away with monarchy. In this revolution we saw a rising movement from the people to oppose monarchy and demand a rule by the people. In this revolution we saw average people rise to take arms against King George after being inspired by literary works of revolutionary figureheads. Most commonly in the form of pamphlets, these literary masterpieces demanded change and spurred others to become passionate revolutionaries hell-bent on liberty. Lines were drawn and this movement soon became in full swing thanks to revolutionaries such as: Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. Their literary propaganda constantly drew more supporters and sympathizers to the cause day after day. There is one thing however all their literary works have in common. They all are inspired by the same man. A common ancestor of a sorts, almost all of their literary works are heavily influenced by a British man named John Locke who died nearly a hundred years before the revolution began! Almost all of this revolution propaganda is Lockean,and derives from his principles and beliefs. In a sense he is in turn one of the most uncredited authors of his time

As early settlers built an infrastructure for economic prosperity, the outlet for the arts and literature began to form and increase in importance. The early American literature was influenced by Puritans, Age of Reason, and the smallpox plague. The Puritans' goal of purifying the Church of England had a profound effect on education. To start with, reading the Bible was a necessity for all Puritans because the Puritans believed that the Bible was the literal word of God.