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Rhetorical Devices On The Hands Of An Angry God

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In everyday life we apply rhetorical devices for many situations. We apply them most when trying to persuade others, such as advertisement on the television. Rhetorical devices have been used for a really long time. In fact, the Puritans in 1741 were persuaded through rhetorical devices. They were always told about the effects of sinning and were told what would happen after their life was over. Rhetorical devices helped persuade the Puritans into believing that all of the things mentioned to them were true. Around that time, a pastor—Jonathan Edwards—gave a sermon about what would happen if they did not covert into a child of God. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Edwards applies the rhetorical devices such as: ethos, pathos and logos to persuade his audience to be converted or born again as a child of Christ. The rhetorical device ethos refers to the audience’s ethics. According to the "Using the Persuasive Appeals" article ethos, “appeals to the audience’s trust by establishing his credibility or trustworthiness as a writer or speaker” (13). Edwards utilizes ethos throughout his whole sermon. The first way he applies ethos is by putting himself in his audience’s position. For example, “we find it easy to thread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth…thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell…” (Edwards 40). This allows Edwards to reassure his audience. This reveals to his audience that he understands that it is not

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