1741 Religious Allusion Essay

1027 Words3 Pages

God is the center of several existing religions, and non-existent in others. People look to God for comfort, guidance, as well as love. When someone feels the need to confess their sins they do so to God, without fear of hatred or judgement. While this is true for some religions, the Puritans in 1741, did not believe so. in 1741, God was a staple of anger for the puritans. He was the reason which men were damned to hell, even if they were good men. In 1741, the Puritans believed that God was angry with sinners, and that sinning, most definitely sentenced you to a lifetime in a fiery hell. One of the several literary devices used in this sermon is a metaphor, which supports the purpose of this sermon by providing a visual aid in the mind of the listener. Edwards goes into detail multiple times throughout the sermon to depict what hell looks like. “The Wrath of God burns against them, their Damnation don’t slumber, the Pit is prepared, the Fire is made ready, the Furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the Flames do now rage and glow.”(7) Edwards describes hell as a “Pit” of fire. He capitalizes several keywords …show more content…

A biblical allusion is a reference to the bible which helps the reader make connections and better understand the piece. “The Wrath of almighty GOD is now undoubtedly hanging over great Part of his congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: Haste and escape for your Lives, look not behind you, escape to the Mountain, least you be consumed.”(25) This biblical allusion is from Genesis 26:15-17. This is a scene in the bible in which God is promising to destroy two cities which have been taken over by evil. Edwards is using this example in order to try and warn the listeners or readers that if they commit any evil, God will come to destroy them. This promotes the effectiveness of the piece which is to scare the listener or reader into converting and becoming an exemplary

Show More
Related

  • Sinners And Minister's Black Veil

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonathan Edwards’ sermon was themed for this congregation to repent so they could make an attempt to save their souls, and it also expresses that you are the sinner. Questioning that now, his entire sermon screams at us that it is us that the sinners, ‘you are sinners,’ but it Edwards doesn’t express that it is we that are sinners so it seems that he was excluding himself. His sermon was also spoken in a quiet, leveled and emotionless voice, monotone even, but even through his sermon lacked any sort of emotion or life, it caused the people of the congregation to feel emotional and angry. It might be the fact it was six-hours of the same sayings of being told ‘you are a sinner,’ or it could be how explicit it was because Edwards did not sugarcoat his sermon in the slightest. "The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire abhors you..." is a quote by Edwards that portrays the power of God versus how weak and feeble humans are. Edwards portrays God in a menacing and relentless way so his congregation will fear God and the punishments of the sins they commit, which might be his way to help his

    Read More

  • Comparing Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Patrick Henry's Speech in the Virginia Convention: Who Made the Best Argument?

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Foreboding and dreadful describe the tone of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards makes the tone very clear by saying “The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire” (154). He tries to convey the wrath of god that will come upon them if they do not devoted themselves to Christ by saying “Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon souls, all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God.” (154).

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    He first uses this effect when he says, “ if God should let you go, you would sink… and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence and best contrivance, and all your righteousness,” (1). Edwards continuously uses the word “and” multiple times to emphasize to his audience that they will not only lose their health but everything else that they possess. This gives his listeners the sense of hopelessness by basically informing them that they will have absolutely nothing once they enter the depths of the agony inducing Hell. Not only does he say that they will have nothing in Hell but pain, he also says, “ The wrath of God is like great waters… they increase more and more and rise higher and higher… more and more mighty… the fiery floods of fierceness… would rush forth with inconceivable fury,” (2). The use of a continuously increase of water that would inevitably drown one’s self enforces the sense of powerlessness. This helplessness would then add more terror to Edwards’ message of how one must save themselves through active participation in faith in God otherwise they will fall into the a pit of Hell with no help or hope possible to

    Read More

  • Settling of America (1620's -1670's)

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Puritan lawyer, John Winthrop, immigrated to New England because his views on religion were different from those in England. Even though Puritans are Protestants, Puritans tried to purify the English Church. In 1630 on board of the Arabella on the Atlantic Ocean on way to Massachusetts, he wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” which gave his views on what a society should be. ‘…the condition of mankind, [that] in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection….[Yet] we must knit together in this work as one man.’ (Doc. A). In this he is saying that men may be different but to make a new world work, they must work together. All through his speech he mentions God. For example, he opens his sermon with ‘God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence…’. This shows that in New England, the people were very religious.

    Read More

  • Religious Allusions in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Vonnegut’s novel, readers can notice that there are numerous religious references such as names and terms throughout it. In the opening of the novel it can already be seen. Vonnegut starts his novel off with the narrator introducing himself, “Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.” (Vonnegut 1). From this opening line you can already see a biblical reference, that reference being “Jonah”. The name Jonah derives from the Hebrew bible, it’s known to be the name of a prophet who disobeyed God. Already early on in the novel it can be seen that a parallel between religion and the post-war world which the story take place in are intertwining. It can be assumed that by the author uses of the reference Jonah, a disobedient prophet of god, that the novel also revolves around the theme of deception among people in society. Deception implicated among person to another can lead to creating destruction in society. If one such as a writ...

    Read More

  • Gender and Power in the Salem Witch Trials

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Puritans were mainly artisans and middling farmers by trade and in the wake of the reformation of the Church of England, left for the colonies to better devout themselves to God because they saw the Church of England as a corrupt institution where salvation was able to be bought and sold, and with absolutely no success in further reforming the Church, set off for the colonies. English Puritans believed in an all-powerful God who, at the moment of Creation, determined which humans would be saved and which would be damned (Goldfield 45).

    Read More

  • A Model of Christian Charity

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.

    Read More

  • Use Of Religious Imagery In Herman Melville's Benito Friars

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Herman Melville’s use of religious images not only demonstrates his genius as a romantic author, but also displays the human capacity for evil. Melville specifically chooses these religious images to make a powerful statement on how evil is used as a weapon against people. Melville’s use of religious imagery is deliberate and even on the verge of calculating. Melville uses religion multiple times to show how being ignorant of one’s surroundings can be incredibly damaging.

    Read More

  • Imagery in Edward's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Simile In Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    A simile is a rhetorical device that can be used to compare two unlike things and cleverly bring them together to give the audience something to relate to. In other words, a comparison of two seemingly different things. One particularly powerful simile is, “the wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and mores and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given (Edwards 97),” In this quote, Edwards compared God’s wrath to a raging body of water. He goes on to say that the longer the stream is stopped, the harsher it will be. The word choice, or syntax, Edwards had was simply spectacular. The comparison of His wrath to great waters gives the people an idea as to how ferocious the wrath of God is to Edwards. This word choice struck fear into the hearts of the audience and also shows that Edwards directed his anger at the audience. One can almost feel the passion and hatred within his

    Read More

  • Connotation In Sinners

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hell is what he is referring to when the author says firey pit. He describes hell as the lowest,

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God

    243 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, I found that there is a lot of figurative language. An example of a figurative language used in the sermon is, “The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire (Edwards 48).” That simile is comparing a sinner to an insect. When someone thinks of an insect people show a face of disgust, which shows how much disgust Edwards had towards sinners.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many of the symbols that represent Hell are things that are feared, such as spiders and snakes. Edwards declares the terror of the sinners: “That God holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider…over the fire” (26). The unnerving symbol of a spider relates to the religious idea that God is so powerful while the person is so insignificant, such as the spider. By making these connections, the audience can easily understand his point, making his sermon effective. It also provokes the audience, by relating the sinner to a spider and how angry God is, which causes the audience to think about their actions. Edwards speaks with credibility and poise when delivering his sermon, which makes him more effective. He uses logic that says, “If you are a sinner, then you are going to hell”, which makes a strong point. Whether the logic is true or false does not affect the effectiveness of his sermon, because he is able to shock the audience so much that they listen to him without question. This logic that sinners are condemned to hell is referenced in the imagery seen in the sermon. Through his logic and imagery, Edwards creates a very serious tone that makes the sermon very effective in persuading people to convert and become closer with

    Read More

  • Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Language Analysis

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    For instance, Edwards utilizes imagery when he mentions, “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide bottomless pit...with the flames of divine wrath”. In hope of instilling a vivid image of the underworld, Edwards uses repetition with the word “wrath” to put emphasis on the alarming situations that occur in hell, as well as showing God’s anger. Furthermore, Edwards uses diction when he states “you hang by a slender thread” to illustrate God’s ruthlessness to sinful behavior. With this in mind, it depicts God’s powerfulness and superiority, compared to man who is weak and powerless. In another example, Edwards states “the God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect...abhors you”. This simile is paramount because man is compared to a spider, portraying mankind to be disgusting and futile. Moreover, with the use of diction with the words “loathsome” and “abhors”, it emphasizes Edwards conception that God is outraged and heartless to the people that reject their faith.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Dante's Inferno

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    He gives reason to fear and respect the law of God, lest eternal punishment be your only promise in the afterlife. These punishments are as relevant as can be, so he offers a very vivid picture of hell. The men that he puts in hell give it a realistic twist, enhancing the fear that is felt upon reading this work.

    Read More

More about 1741 Religious Allusion Essay

Open Document