“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” John Edwards was a radical speaker during the The Great Awakening, who gave one of the most famous sermons, known as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” This sermon was given to provoke people to turn from secular things, and come back to God, lest they burn in hell. John Edwards uses very strong imagery, tone, and details to get his point across while frightening the congregation. John Edwards strong use of imagery ignites fear into the people to help get his point across. He starts off his sermon with, “ Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead. 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.
Also he says “you hang by a thread with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and it and ready every moment to singe it” meaning that if sinners keep sinning the flames of hell will burn the only string they have to righteousness. He also tells them that if they keep disobeying God that he would “withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you falling than the thin air” and at any moment that God feels as though you do not deserve to be in heaven he will drop you to the pits of hell. In addition, Edward also uses powerful diction that emphasizes God’s power. For example, he is a “sovereign” and has complete control over mankind. God is also very “discontent” he sees that mankind is not following the puritan community and feels as though they shall be punished by not being accepted into heaven but sent to hell, lastly God was “inconceivable”.
Ileah Glenn ENG 2110 M&W 3pm Dr. Voss Dante's Inferno chronicles a strange journey through hell, seeming familiar at times but shocking at others. As an American and a Christian, I think that my opinion on this could be crafted from my religion and our society, particularly its media. In my mind I’ve depicted hell as this place of immense torment bestowed on all sinners. My faith has taught me that those who sin go to hell to be punished. Dante's adventure clearly shows that the souls of hell are punished, as I thought.
Compare and Contrast Essay In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” Mr. Hooper states, ‘... this veil is a type and a symbol...’and he also says, ‘and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?’. In the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” it says that “There is the dreadful Pit of the glowing Flames of the Wrath of God; there is Hell’s wide gaping Mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, not any Thing to take hold of: there is nothing between you and Hell but the Air…”. Both Jonathan Edwards in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Nathaniel Hawthorne in his short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” deal with how sins affect you in life by using imagery, descriptive language, and symbols, but they do so in different ways. In Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, He uses imagery and descriptive and fierce language to explain the effects of sin. Edwards uses a stricter and more straight up approach at speaking to his audience.
They both believe in the power of God and that he wants them to have generous and good lives. Jonathan Edwards approaches his congregations with what he feels to be the rage of God. The sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was meant to make Edward’s listeners aware of the fact that their behavior and conduct on earth was far more important than the wrath of the devil in hell which was the faith of those who did not adhere to proper religious values as expressed in the Bible. He tried to make an avid impact on the colony in this way but was more effective to discuss God’s wrath, maybe to instill fear into the minds of his followers, because many of them were taught you do bad you go to hell. To achieve his end of making his congregants aware of their dangerous positions on earth, in which he states “as they could be cast into hell at any time” he reminded them of the power of God and his capacity for doing away with sinners.
Although Job is described by Satan as “You will find no one like him on earth, a man of blameless and upright life, who fears God and sets his face against wrongdoing.” (p.511), he is still reluctant to believe that Job will remain sinless “in the face of disaster”, and suggests they eradicate his material possessions, including his children, to test his faith. Through a great amount of self control and confidence in God, Job remains calm and sin-free. Satan then manipulates God into allowing another set of tests in which Job himself is physically harmed by ragingly painful sores, but once again Job maintained strong and faithful, without cursing once. The book then centers on Job’s interpretation of God’s actions. He curses the day of his birth as well as the night of his conception, stating “Why is life given to those who find it so bitter?” (p.512).
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. The only hope he offers for escaping from the fiery pits of eternal damnation is a metaphorical call to flock to the open arms of Jesus. Considering that he was speaking to a congregation of Puritans, such an ultimatum would seem superfluous: were they not all there for the purpose of seeking God’s mercy? Or perhaps Edwards was speaking to those Puritans like Anne Bradstreet in all their human imperfection. Unlike Edwards, Bradstreet’s writings reveal belief in a loving and forgiving God, one in whom her salvation need not be questioned despite her acknowledged failings and occasional doubt that we saw in “To My Dear Children.” Bradstreet’s imagery of God in “Some Verses upon the Burning” stands in potent juxtaposition to Edwards’ claims: Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by that might Architect, With glory richly furnished, Stands permanent though this be fled.
Jonathan Edwards' purpose for writing Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is to explain how people need to be aware that God is the only person savying them from hell. People don't recognize this and feel that God is soley protecting them from sickness and danger. In effect, God is building a warath of madness that can become loose at any moment. Edwards' use of metaphors in the passage was to portray the power that God has. These mataphors sent a message to his audience back then, and convey a powerful meaning to society today.
In life, they were committed to self-destruction, so in death they are forced to face the destruction of their new form. So, assuming that destruction of self was Wilson’s greatest sin, he would end up condemned to the second ring of the seventh layer of Hell. Also
God eventually talks to Job making it clear that his actions need no explanation. The book of Job brings up the ever-present question of why bad things happen to good people and answers that question by saying God is above justice. When Job’s friends — Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar — hear of his calamity, they come to visit him and begin to argue their “theology” to him. Their theology is that a man’s suffering is always the result of his personal sin. Further, the more one has sinned, the greater one will suffer.