Examples Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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, a famous preacher in pre-colonial times, composed a sermon that was driven to alert and inject neo Puritanical fear into an eighteenth century congregation. This Bible based and serious audience sought after religious instruction and enlightenment. Through the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards offers a very harsh interpretation to humankind. Edwards utilizes various rhetorical techniques to evoke an emotional response in his audience and to persuade the members of his congregation that their wicked actions will awaken a very ruthless and merciless 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.

Jonathan Edwards write a famous sermon titles “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. In this sermon, sinners all over the world are targeted. They are being warned that god will stand sternly judging their actions. It is also seen in the sermon that the sinners’ punishments will be much harsher than they would think. In order to deliver these messages, Edwards uses three different tones; threatening, cautionary, and unsympathetic. These tones are formed when he uses specific words and phrases that represent those tones.

Edwards’s uses strong, powerful diction to clearly get his across to the spectators. Jonathan Edwards repetitively uses the word “omnipotent” to visibly tell his audience how powerful God is. Along with that, he repetitively uses the phrase “God’s wrath” along with words such as “fury, despair and destruction”. Edwards actually describes God’s wrath by commonly using words as dreadful, glowing, wickedness, black and vengeance. By the usage of these words and phrases, Edwards indicates that God is angered and furious of our actions. However to point out God’s generosity, Jonathan Edwards commonly uses the word “mercy”. By using the word “mercy”, Edwards indicates that since God made his worshipers, he is giving them an opportunity to repent and amend their ways or destruction is unpreventable. Mr. Edwards also uses words as “mourn, howl, hopeless and sober,” to specify the listeners reactions upon hearing Edwards’s sermon. Edwards use of influential words leave the spectators mourning and groaning in great despair. Edwards employs all these words through the emotional appeal of ethos. This is what causes a great impact upon the listeners at the church.

In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards created the emotion of fear by using imagery and figurative language to persuade his audience. He used imagery and figurative language so the wrath of God is more fearsome and gave you a mental picture of hell in your head.

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.

In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, fear is being used in order to try and scare the reader into becoming a better person and religious.

Jonathan Edward’s use of imagery, metaphors, and symbolism in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in order to instill fear in his congregation and reveal the message that, aside from faith and

Edwards' creative choice of words that he uses describes the power of God and the terrible Hell awaiting sinners. These words easily infiltrate into the minds of his congregation and frighten them beyond belief. These choices of words and his use of such vivid images are mostly successful in their intent, to scare and put fear into his audience. Edwards held his audience locked up with his promises of eternal damnation if proper steps were not taken. The congregation felt the intense impact of his rhetorical strategies and lived on the fear of the power of God. In this way, he was able to keep his followers from sin and away from the fiery pits of Hell.

The tone throughout the sermon indicates that Edwards is extremely angry toward the congregation, who is in turn very fearful of Edwards and the idea he is preaching. This fear is developed from Edwards tactics of repetition used in his sermon. As listeners hear the same information over and over again that information begins to sink into their minds subconsciously.

Jonathan in his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (July 8, 1741), claims that the unconverted are hanging from the hands of God, and can be dropped off to the eternity of hell, his sermon is used to make the sinners be afraid and understand how the power of God is saving them, but it is only for his pleasure, unless if they return to Christianity. Edwards strengths his argument by using metaphors and imagery of a wrathful God to make the unconverted people afraid of being sinners and encourage them to have a relationship with Christ to be fully saved from falling to an eternity in the flames of hell. Edwards purpose is to start his sermon with such powerful use of visualization to provide fear to the sinners and give them a

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is the sermon that Jonathan Edwards is remembered most for; a sermon in which one is fearfully reminded of the scorching tortures of hell that awaits the unrepentant sinner. Within his sermon, Edwards preaches that those sinners plagued by corruption face a malicious judgment; it was the choice made freely by God alone that an imminent wrath had not yet befallen them. The time for one to repent held no guarantee; if God chose to unleash his hellfire at that very moment, the unrepentant would face an eternity of anguish. Edwards lashes out against the concept of sin in his sermon, stating, “Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable.”

Jonathan Edwards piece, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, serves as a purpose to tell the sinners during the Great Awakening period that they need to turn back to God. It is not only a work in which tells those who did not worship God, that they should, it was also expressing how God was angry with the way people were acting. Edwards was a minister who delivered this sermon in order to inform the people on the sins they were committing and they should change their behavior so God wouldn’t punish them. Now, although this sermon was directed to the sinners in the world that didn’t stop others from hearing the message so that they wouldn’t sin and be punished. Throughout this piece rhetoric is heavily used in order to scare the people in multiple ways. Edwards uses his words and rhetoric in order to “scare” the people to wanting to follow the teachings of God.

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was a sermon that was preached by John Edwards to his congregation, but was also published on July 8th of 1741. This sermon was focused on arousing fear into those who did not believe in God, or have God as a part of their lives. To prompt that fear into people, especially those in his congregation, he used many forms of imagery to warn them to repent their sinful ways and turn to God for forgiveness before it was too late and they would not be able to escape their fate of hell. The sermon was directed to those who did not believe in God, those who were considered natural men, or those who were Puritans that needed to be warned. We are able to tell who John Edwards audience was for the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” because when John Edwards is describing all of these horrific events that occur when you sin, he continuously refers to wicked men or natural men. These two types of people are those who this sermon is directed to, and this is shown through his various examples.