Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Rhetorical Analysis

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.

On July 8th 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, Connecticut. Edwards states to his listeners that God does not lack in power, and that people have yet not fallen to destruction because his mercy. God is so forgiving that he gives his people an opportunity to repent and change their ways before it was too late. Edwards urges that the possibility of damnation is immanent. Also that it urgently requires the considerations of the sinner before time runs out. He does not only preach about the ways that make God so omnipotent, but the ways that he is more superior to us. In his sermon, Edwards uses strong, powerful, and influential words to clearly point out his message that we must amend

You never know when you’re 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 would’ve say hell but he didn’t. 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’ passionate sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” creates a state of fear to make “sinners” aware of their sinful state and the wrath of God that they will face sooner or later. In order to warn “sinners” of their future involving God, he approaches fear as a motivator by using metaphors to emphasize God’s disgust towards man, imagery to for the imagination to dwell upon and repetition to build guilt into his readers which helps him enforce his condemning tone.

Pathos is referred to as the literature’s emotional appeal to the audience’s senses or imagination. Edwards uses imagery to paint a horrifying picture of eternal damnation for unsaved souls. His use of detailed words describing the horrors and nuisance awaiting sinners has a significant effect on his audience. Hell may or may not be a real place and all of the suffering and pain described is a lie, Edwards' way of delivering his message is so effective that it puts fear into his listeners so that they believe and follow his suggested method of recovery. Moreover, he uses imagery to give his audience a mental picture of God holding sinners above the fiery pits of Hell. After filling their minds with fear, he uses this image to show them that there is a light at the end of the

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

Jonathan Edwards read a 6 hour long sermon talking about God’s wrath. Edwards is trying to emphasize how powerful God is and that people should fear him. The people listening to the sermon started to get emotional and frightened. They wanted to worship God and not provoke him in any way. Edwards tried to help people and give them advice on how not to go to Hell. People were fearful of the devil and did not want to feel the fiery gates of Hell. Edwards uses different types of language devices to help get his point across.

He strikes fear into the audience by verbally attacking the audience for their lack of faith. He utilizes metaphors as a form of imagery, explaining how the devils in hell “stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey.” He discusses hell and the devils in order to terrify the audience into repenting for their sins. These vivid descriptions convey an aggressive tone that scares the audience into believing that God is willing to cast them into

In the era that Jonathan Edwards wrote his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, things were much simpler. There was no Internet, cable television, or even electricity. To hear news and ideas, they had to be delivered on paper or by word of mouth. New news would be old news by the time it reached whoever wanted it, and it also meant that the story could be changed and only heard in one point of view. “Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God” was written to “awaken” colonists to their sins. Because the sermon is written with point of view of one preacher, many people heard it and took it upon themselves to make it their opinion too. Armed with his highly persuasive sermon, Jonathan Edwards shaped generations of religious lecturing traditions.

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Response Paper In the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edward attempts to give sinners a chance to recognize that they will be looked down upon by God. The sermon carries a negative connotation throughout the piece, stating that those who sin will be destructed by fearful judgement. The purpose of this piece is to frighten sinners that they will not be forgiven and will end up nowhere but in hell. Edward’s tone throughout the sermon is cautionary and unsympathetic. The cautionary tone is shown in multiple parts of the sermon, warning people on the possible outcomes of acting on a sin.

Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” persuades the unconverted Christians to rejoice with God and redeem themselves by juxtaposing threatening imagery and simile in his sermon.

Edwards’ message in, “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” was preached in a religious climate during the era of the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening preceded the American Revolution, an era when American’s fought against political issues such as high taxes, demanding their freedom and independence (Wikipedia, 2014) . The idea of an "awakening" implies a slumber or passivity during secular or less religious times. However, this can be applied to a non-religious context. I propose that “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” be examined from the perspective of compelling people to consider their weaknesses and insufficiencies (along with the insufficiencies of others) in order to encourage them to equality, and removing social hierarchy and fear. From that perspective, “Sinners in the Hands

Edwards is very good at using images in the Sinners in the hands of an angry

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous poet once quoted the following, “For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” Anger as we all know can be a very powerful emotion that can have many different effects, firstly on the person that is experiencing the emotion, secondly the person or persons who is around the said anger filled individual. However, the intention of this paper is not to focus on anger, but to focus on the persuasion that people can use when giving speeches or in this case, preaching. John Edwards, a preacher in the new world takes the time to diligently preach his congregation, this is now the writing we know as, Sinners in the hand of an Angry God. While exploring this piece of writing, it is important to note that John Edwards uses many ways to persuade his congregation to believe that God is angry. The keys to his persuasion are as following, the people are out of God’s grace, they are wicked, and everyone has committed a sin.