Edwards negated the fact that salvation could be attained through good works, emphasizing that the only way to salvation was depending on God’s grace. In his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he vividly describes the tortures of hell. While describing hell, he said, “It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath that you are held over in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell”(handout). Edwards had a very strict preaching style, but it was his vivid imagery of hell that inspired many people to work their hardest to reach salvation. Several years after Edwards began preaching, George Whitefield started a different style of evangelical preaching.
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.
He’s trying to let them know that hell is a real place and they can end up there if they keep sinning so they need to be aware of what they’re doing. Figurative language is used to make Edwards’s point that he is trying to get across much stronger. In particular Edwards use of similes throughout the text strengthens his point and allows him to compare God’s anger to other things in this world that at times can also be very fearful and
For Edwards this included his view on religion. He believed that “There is nothing between you and Hell but the air; it is only the power and the mere pleasure of God that holds you up.” (41) He wanted to convince to repent, to be reborn in Christ. Last but not least, he wanted to save sinners from a decent into Hell’s fury. The moral of his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was therefore that if sin is committed, a persons tie with God is broken and they will fall into the hands of Hell. Edward’s diction and tone gives his listeners and readers an eerie feeling, a fear for sin, and an awakening for the wrath of God about to come.
This is visible in the book of Isaiah as he forcefully proclaimed the truth with skilful teaching and a writing style with a flexible manner. He recognized that he had to “prepare the way of the lord” and “make a highway for our God in the dessert”(Isaiah 40:3). History demonstrates that at the time people were full of fear, corruption, and distrust and lacked in social purpose. As an example, corrupt city officials and judges encouraged stealing of land. Isaiah’s purpose was to address the need of purification, using a message that met the needs of both rich and poor and by using examples and descriptions that made sense.
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.
His accusers are called “wicked” in the first line while they are known as “workers of evil” in the second. These synonyms reiterate his stance towards those who have sinned who speak peace with unfaithful hearts. The psalmist is saying that people can speak about peace and God but peoples intentions will not always coincide with what is right. The use of synonymous parallelism is used once again in the fourth verse. Both of the lines emphasize repayment, as the deeds of the wicked should receive punishment that is justly deserved.
Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography, and Patrick Henry’s “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” each portray and increasing role for man in his own life.’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, written by Jonathan Edwards, is a sermon about how God is angry with mankind. At the beginning Edwards explains how God has control over everything and how God is able to strike us down to hell in a blink of an eye. At the end, however, Edwards explains that man has the choice to commit themselves to God or be struck down to Hell. Edwards says, “And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners” (106). Edwards is trying to tell the people of his church that God has given them the choice to commit themselves to God and get away from God’s wrath that is coming for all the sinners of world.
He was killed for standing up for what he believed in, which was helping the poor and Jesus Christ. The speech really moved me and I would suggest for others to read this as well. It taught me how powerful God and the church is, and by believing in Him, you will be lead in the right direction. Work Cited Mills, Frederick B.. "Bishop Oscar Romero: the political dimension of opting for the poor." Spero News.
His confession and frequent fainting spells are emissions of guilt and guilt is only felt by those who know what they did was wrong, and if someone knows that the sin they committed was immoral, they must have morals to begin with. Moreover, in Christianity, the cross represents Christ’s death as propitiation