and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf…” This immediately causes a sense of fear, making it seem as if the only thing keeping the people out of hell was God’s hand. The quote is using pathos to cause a sense of fear and repentance in the congregation. The use of imagery in this sermon is largely what causes the congregations reactions of horror to this. To get his point across even further, Jonathan Edwards uses strong tone in the sermon. The use of negative tone in this sermon is evident in the quote, “The God that holds you above the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked.” The tone in this quote is very negative saying how God abhors you.
Edwards uses a stricter and more straight up approach at speaking to his audience. He uses the word “You” a lot to show that it affects each and every one of them individually. This sermon in detail explains what happens to you with your sins and God. For example, using figurative language he says, “Your Wickedness makes you as it were heavy as Lead, ...”. This sentence shows how sins affect you in life.
Garrett Hall Ms. Roberts English 3 Honors February 1, 2013 Imagery in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Jonathan Edwards uses fear as his motivation in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by using gruesome imagery to elicit his audience to be born again. Edwards gives his audience two choices, God and to be reborn again or death and hell to follow. This feeling of hopelessness makes his audience scared of their choices, if they in fact do choose the wrong thing. In the excerpt, Edwards states “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell; and if god should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a fallen rock (Edwards 47)”. This is a metaphor to vividly depict the overall weakness and meagerness of humans.
This statement was not on an attention grabber, but evoked fear in the congregation, fear of hell and their own safety from Gods wrath, as well as fear and pity for those sitting around them. Another instance, are the strong emotional appeals used to influence his congregation, "So that, thus it is that natural men (unsaved) are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked," potentially evoking fear, pity and even guilt in the Colonists. Lastly Edwards uses common comparisons to appeal to the audience's fear, with a multitude
Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" The passages given from the Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'; and the opening sentence of the Declaration both include many points such as the tone, diction, and syntax. The points shown throughout each sentence aims for the intent of obtaining the attention of the audience. The way each sentence is arranged with its own syntax can very well appeal to listeners, depending on its structure and imagery. Within the given sentence excerpt from Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God'; you may perceive that the speaker is undoubtedly reaching for the audiences attention without sustaining his harsh yet fearful manner.... [tags: Edwards Sinners Angry God Essays] 483 words (1.4 pages) $9.95 [preview] The Rhetoric of Jonathan Edwards in his “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” - 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.
His puritan worldview led him to believe that “God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell” (Edwards 175). He thought that one should live his life fearing the Lord, and fearing hell even more. Edwards tries to convince his listeners of life's uncertainty: death is always but a breath away, and for the wicked that meant that perdition was always but a breath away. This sermon was intended as a wake-up call for those in the audience who underplayed the greatness of God and overemphasized their own worthiness. In opposition to Edwards beliefs, through his work Thanatopsis, Bryant portrays an acceptance of death.
Jonathan Edwards v. Anne Bradstreet In a number of his writings, specifically “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards preaches literal fear of an arbitrary, unpredictable and vengeful God. Anne Bradstreet, on the other hand, believed (with human error) in a loving, trustworthy God. It seems almost impossible that these two views trace their origins to a common source. I will seek in this piece to uncover the fundamental discrepancy in the works of Bradstreet and Edwards. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Edwards brings into question the salvation of anyone who has not been “born again.” He never directly questions his own salvation, but declares that many in the congregation to which he is speaking will soon find themselves burning in hell.
In bewilderment, they see the minister’s face covered with the black veil which creates commotion among them. There are speculations about the origin of the veil, nevertheless nobody dares to ask. Mr Hooper’s sermon is on secret sin, as the Puritans were obsessed with this theme. The veil induces in minister such emotions that the sermon is the greatest ever and causes in parishioners anxiety and at the same time disgust as it reminds and makes them aware of their own sins. The scene might be compared with that in the novel Scarlet Letter, where reverend Dimmesdale, suffering guilty conscience delivers the speech which makes all the people astonished.
Shane lives in poverty, chooses to spend his days with the poor, and ultimately serves his enemies. Whether Shane preaches that the Church has become apathetic and over politicized, he serves a purpose to change the way Christians think about their religion. Shane cannot be called a sideline spectator either, he walks the talk, Claiborne preaches in the city of Chicago, Philadelphia, in conventions, and in Iraq, risking his life. He absolutely has moral authority and credibility in his ideas and opinions. While I do not completely agree with his whole book, Shane Claiborne speaks some truths on many ugly topics of our society.
This quote proves that he is really a Christian because he confesses his sins to God. It shows that he has strong convictions of his religion and he really believes. “Mary, God dams all liars" (Miller 263)! This quote shows that Proctor tries to get Mary to confess her sins because of his beliefs in God. He was trying to scare her to get the truth out of her.