Later on he became a priest, and this greatly impacted his life and writing. He went from writing poems which talked about sex, like The Flea, to writing poems strictly about his faith. Gerard Manley Hopkins also wrote about religion in his later poems. Hopkins was born into the Church of England, but in school he had a teacher and mentor named John Henry Newman, who influenced him to convert to Catholicism. After Hopkins’ conversion, his writing became all about his love for God, similar to Donne.
One of his most powerful sermons, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, used many rhetorical strategies to persuade his unsaved audience to become saved to avoid the torment of hell. One productive approach that was substantial in scaring the unsaved people in the audience is through the use of imagery. Imagery is the usage of words to make an image in the mind of the listener(s); with which Edwards uses adequately to defend his reason. In his case, he utilizes this technique to penetrate the hearts and minds to everyone present. This strategy terrifies his listeners into following his directions and method of redemption.
Early American Puritans were constantly reminded of repercussions of sinning. One pastor during this time period was Jonathan Edwards, whose goal was to convince and then convert his group of followers from sinners into puritans. One way of accomplishing such a feat was through his emotionally powerful sermons. In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards uses many tricks that lead to the effectiveness of his sermon. One of Edwards more effective strategies was to paint a picture through words of the horrific nature and eternal suffering for souls that went “unsaved”.
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.
A tragic hero is someone of noble birth with heroic qualities, but the hero struggles mightly against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our admiration. One of the qualities of John Proctor being a tragic hero include his strong conviction. “But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed" (Miller 163)! This quote proves that he is really a Christian because he confesses his sins to God.
It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Although both authors rely on fear and persuasion, Edwards depends more on imagery and figurative language while Miller utilizes allegory and dramatic techniques. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of the scripture. Edwards hoped that the imagery and message of his sermon would awaken his audience to the horrific reality that awaited them should they continue without Christ. “If it were not for God's restraints, there are, in the souls of wicked men, hellish principles reigning which, presently, would kindle and flame out into hellfire (Edwards 1).” "The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present.
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.
All people are born sinners. Natural men must be reborn to be saved; “…hell is waiting for them…” (Edwards 46). These views are that of Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Edwards belonged to a religion that was lingering and was close to disappearing due to the growing numbers of Christians, so he used figurative language and imagery in order to scare people back into the Puritan way of life. “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell.” (Edwards 47).
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 where a conversion is most likely to happen as the individual reaches a crisis, and may completely change their values, how they see life and the way they act. This is generally when an individual accepts the belief in God, and the feeling of crisis fades, replaced with love and happiness. William James’s work was primarily focused on conversion experiences. In his book The Variety of Religious Experience he records accounts of religious experiences. A prime example is of S. Hadley, who describes himself before his conversion as a “homeless, dying drunkard”.