Edwards Primary Audience

In using these metaphors, Edwards is enabling the reader(s) to understand the tone by putting it in a situation and context, which is more easily correlated. Subsequently, he uses imagery in the opening paragraph stating that when men are on Gods’ hands and they could descend to hell. Natural men are held in the hands of God, over the pit of hell knowing that you might descend into the abyss at any moment should scare you. God chose to save you until he wants to let you slope into an eternity of sweltering flames.

Edwards use of repetition and diction to build up the concept that God is an angry one by mentioning, “Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation”. By choosing to repeat the word “yea” in the beginning of his statements, he is able to assure the audience that his perspective is right, which in turn influences them as his assertive tone establishes himself as a more credible character as he seems confident in his statements. Furthermore, the ambiguity when mentioning the sinners on earth, allows the audience to believe that they are not part of these statistics, in which he uses to make the people vulnerable as he references those in the sermon to be some of the many God is angry with. As a result of juxtaposing a much larger world to the people in the gathering, this enforces an idea that nobody is safe as even in their close proximity there are many who have earned God’s wrath. His use of repetition is also seen as he introduces “that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between

What does Edwards mean by “natural men”? How do you know? Describe his primary audience.

He mentions that “Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel… it is not so with God… they are easily broken in pieces”(1). The earthly prince represents Edwards and the rebel symbolizes his desire to transgress. He suggests that since he has been able to overcome the hardest obstacle- human desire- he is just like God. When he positions himself on the same level as God, he establishes his command and authority over the audience. Edwards energizes them too by exclaiming “What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day’s opportunity such as you now enjoy!”(12). Edwards draws his audience’s attention how fortunate they were to have someone as caring as him to keep them away from condemnation to eternal suffering. He compels them to appreciate what he is offering; what he wants from them in return is conversion to Christianity or renewing their relationship with God. With these modes of persuasion, Edwards is also able to convey his fervor with different forms of parallelism to bring ideas to

In his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741), Jonathan Edwards claims that anyone who is not “born again” is a sinner and is waiting to be thrust down to hell in a state of endless misery and the only way to be saved from this is to become a Puritan. Edwards supports his claim of the Puritan religion being the only saving thing from damnation by explaining how hell is being prepared for those who are not “born again,” that any unconverted are in the hands of an angry God, and then concluding by saying to the people that they have the chance to be saved and live in a happy state, of they are “born again.” His purpose is to illustrate the woe that awaits for those who are not “born again” in order to persuade them to want to be

He compares it to “great waters that are dammed for the present” and states that “the bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, justice bending the arrow at your heart… (Edwards, 47).” He also compares the sinner to “a spider, or some loathsome insect (Edwards, 48).” Likening God’s wrath to simple things that the audience can visualize allows Edwards to illustrate the intensity and magnitude of His anger to the congregation, instilling worry and fear, as he paints a picture of the fate that awaits

Throughout Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, he strategically utilizes an immense variety of different rhetorical and literary devices to not only bring his sermon to life, but also increase the persuasiveness of his message. For instance, in the fifth paragraph, he creates a simile illustrating that,“the wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given” (Edwards 2). The simile along with his use of descriptive language intensifies his message as well as emphasizes God’s omnipotence. By emphasizing the omnipotence of God, he instills fear within the audience hoping that they realize the importance of having a connection

He tries to explain his point of view of Hell so we can have an idea of what and how is the afterlife. Every bad decision or action will be paid up in hell. Everyone in hell is divided based on the relationship between the offense committed and the punishments deserved. He wants people to understand and identify themselves with the importance of life and a person’s relationship with God. Based on committing good actions and decisions, we must leave to look for salvation in the afterlife. The action of doing the right thing is what lead you to better outcomes and fewer punishments in the

Right in the beginning of the excerpt he commands us to “trust [your]self.” He even goes as far to say that “Great men have always done so...predominating in all their being.” Then in the second paragraph, he then ridicules conformists of society, saying, “Nonconformity...whips you with its displeasure. And therefore, a man must know how to estimate a sour face.” He praises those who choose not to conform to society. For, “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,...with consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” Then he goes back to commanding, telling us, “Speak what you think now in harsh words and tomorrow speak...in harsh words again though it contradict everything you said today.” And to finish this, coax us that his authority and ridiculing are in good faith, he tells us that although speaking in such a way may cause us to be misunderstood, he says, “To be great is to be misunderstood.” This last sentence completely shows us his command and ridicule, both in one well

Just as effective as language manipulation is Edwards's use of language transformation; indeed, his skillful employment of descriptive language adds a visual dimension to his message. Even if the foundation is misinterpreted, these transformations allow any listener to mentally "see" Edwards's overall direction. For instance, God's wrath is referred to as "great waters that are dammed", "a glittering sword", and a "drawn arrow". These terms indicate powerful and deadly forces. On the other hand, sinners are likened to "worms of the dust", "miserable creatures", and "loathsome insects"; consequently, these labels are receptors of God's wrath through the forces Edwards introduces. Although these conceptual images appear basic, Edwards's frequency and placement throughout his delivery produce a clear and precise overview to even

Edwards’ usage of similes in his poem is mostly used to show how mighty God’s wrath and power truly is. He compares God’s wrath to “great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose (Edwards).” The quote helps people to imagine God’s wrath in a physical sense as being held back by a dam on the verge of bursting. Similes allow Edwards to help his readers understand how angry God truly is and also God’s authority. Edwards’ simile is supposed to scare readers into becoming better Christians. To further make his point about how worthless humans are to

Edwards misused many texts and took a verse out of context. He used it to prove what context denied : God will not restore his people. He applied the imagery of fire to frighten unidentified listeners into repentance. He invoked God’s temporary negative corporate sanctions to scare men regarding permanent negative personal sanctions and invoked God’s wrath against public corporate apostasy top justify preaching against invisible personal

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”.

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), a theologian and philosopher in the British Colonies of America. He was raised as a puritan in Connecticut and grew up to be one of America’s most influential protestant revivalists of that time. He delivered many sermons, the most well-known being “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards gave this sermon on July 8, 1741 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The main purpose of this sermon was to convey to the audience the reality of hell, the need to change their wicked lives, and, ultimately, that they should fear the wrath of God. Edwards does this to motivate the audience to live their lives as perfectly as they can in order to not anger God and to avoid Hell.

An example of his use of similes is “...and his eyes have all the seeming, of a demon's that is dreaming…”.