In the 1730’s, there was a revitalizing movement that swept throughout the North American Colonies. This was because there was a notion of religion that emerged from the science-based times of the earlier 1700’s. The 1730’s started the time period known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening quickly spread through the Northern Colonies with it being most prominent with the Puritans. The Puritans had strict worshipping services in the church, and they prioritized the church and God. A great catalyst for the Great Awakening to the Puritans was Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was renowned for riveting, vivid, and horrifying speeches. He is most well known for his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” where he discusses the congregation’s …show more content…
Here, Edwards uses a simile to compare the wrath of God to an impending dam with paired with a futile flood. He makes sure to make it clear that the lives of the congregation are completely dependent on God. Edwards also uses both an oxymoron and alliteration when he states “fiery floods of fierceness” which would both captivate and scare an audience. Often in his sermon, Edwards mentions the misconception that people have about their souls and their afterlives. Edwards’ main mention of a hopeless soul is when he pleads to the congregation …show more content…
But once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare (Edwards 21). Here, Edwards expresses that they only have one chance to be saved by God’s grace. Previously in the sermon, Edwards told the congregation that there is no hope of being saved, but here, he tells them that they have one last chance to be saved. He also says that after that day, all hope will be lost and their welfare will be gone. Another time that Jonathan Edwards plays to the fears and hopes of the congregation is after he re-discusses what their fears are. Edwards implores to the congregation And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming… and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God (Edwards
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
In the 1700’s the Puritans left England for the fear of being persecuted. They moved to America for religious freedom. The Puritans lived from God’s laws. They did not depend as much on material things, and they had a simpler and conservative life. More than a hundred years later, the Puritan’s belief toward their church started to fade away. Some Puritans were not able to recognize their religion any longer, they felt that their congregations had grown too self-satisfied. They left their congregations, and their devotion to God gradually faded away. To rekindle the fervor that the early Puritans had, Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan ministers led a religious revival through New England. Edwards preached intense sermons that awakened his congregation to an awareness of their sins. With Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he persuades the Puritans to convert back to Puritanism, by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as, imagery, loaded diction, and a threatening and fearful tone.
Edwards died roughly 20 years before the American Revolution, which means he was a British subject at birth and death. Edwards believed that religion is tied to nations and empires, and that revivals were necessary in history. Edwards’ belief in revivals began what is known as The Great Awakening. Edwards’ purpose in ministry was the preaching that God is sovereign, but also loving towards his creation. Since God is sovereign, Edwards claimed that God worked through revolutions and wars to bring the message of the gospel (Marsden, Jonathon Edwards, 4, 9, 197). Edwards’ most known sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was preached to revive the demoralized congregations. The congregations of New England had low memberships within different churches, and competition from denominational pluralism was stagnant (Lukasik, 231). Getting the colonists to return back to God was the mission and purpose of The Great Awakening. Through this, Edwards hoped that this movement will foster a great increase in learning about God (Marsden, Jonathon Edwards,
1) Jonathan Edwards delivered this sermon during the first Great Awakening, a time of religious revival in Europe and America. During the Great Awakening, christianity shifted its focus from ceremonies and rituals, and began to realign itself with introspection to encourage fostering a deep sense of morality and redemption. Edwards was a key preacher and minister that delivered many sermons preaching about revival and reformed theology.
In these text, “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “The Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the preachers are teaching their congregations a lesson.
... and taught that mankind is not immortal but weak and in need of God’s sovereignty. Edwards wrote "the God that holds you over the pit of hell…” meaning God has the power to strike man down at any time. He stressed that mankind is small and God is much bigger. He thought that mankind must be submissive to God in order to please God.
Fear is one of the most powerful emotions, therefore by using fear as a rhetorical strategy it makes Edwards’s argument more memorable and more likely to be taken to heart due to the audience’s dreading eternity in a “lake of burning brimstone,” (2) and a “pit of glowing flames of the wrath of god” (2). Fear turns the imagined into something tangible and because the audience has no way of actually discovering heaven or hell until they die, they are more likely to accept his argument and accept god into their lives in order to avoid hell.
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.
He was a man whose very words struck fear into the hearts of his listeners. Acknowledged as one of the most powerful religious speakers of the era, he spearheaded the Great Awakening. “This was a time when the intense fervor of the first Puritans had subsided somewhat” (Heyrmen 1) due to a resurgence of religious zeal (Stein 1) in colonists through faith rather than predestination. Jonathan Edwards however sought to arouse the religious intensity of the colonists (Edwards 1) through his preaching. But how and why was Edwards so successful? What influenced him? How did he use diction and symbolism to persuade his listener, and what was the reaction to his teachings? In order to understand these questions one must look at his life and works to understand how he was successful. In his most influential sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards’ persuasive language awakened the religious fervor that lay dormant in colonial Americans and made him the most famous puritan minister of the Great Awakening in North America.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Jonathan Edwards was a man who could petrify any eighteenth century Puritan. He was born in East Windsor, Connecticut and was raised in a household with strict religious beliefs. In 1727 he began his preaching career as an assistant to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, the pastor at the church at Northampton, Massachusetts. When his grandfather died two years later, Edwards became the pastor of the Church at Northampton and began preaching all over New England. He then emerged as one of the leaders of the Great Awakening with his determination to return to the orthodoxy of the Puritan faith. That is when he adopted his “fire and brimstone” emotional style of sermon. Although people often ran out of the church in hysterics, most stayed in the church captivated by his speeches. He had always purposely chose to address his congregation with a sermon, using all of the elements of an oratory. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards displays all elements of an oratory by appealing to emotions, including expressive and rhythmic language, addressing the needs and concerns of his audience, and inspiring others to take action.
When Hughes was thirteen he attended a revival with his Aunt it was his turn to "see Jesus," his entire community and church all waiting expectantly for the moment when he was finally saved from sin. Unfortunately for Hughes, salvation did not occur. His fellow peers that he would be delivered, to Jesus convinced him. He was so caught up in the idea that when it did not happen, and when it did not, he felt like an outcast amongst his religious community. People crying, and praying for him at his feet, Hughes did not want to be the reason for all the madness happening around him. He stood up and acted as if his salvation had come to him, although deep within he knew it had not. "My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices” (Hughes 111-112). Influenced by the wales and the cries, Hughes started to feel as if he was the problem, that something was wrong and it was up to him to fix it. As the congregation prayed for him alone, and his aunt cried and prayed by his feet, a wave of social pressure came to him at once. To stop the crying, and the constant praying there was only one thing to be done, although he knew he was never actually saved, he stood to his feet, and the religious community and church all rejoiced as they
The themes present throughout the sermon are interconnected and intertwined to create a more convincing sermon. Edwards links the themes of God’s grace and strength with the theme of inevitable death to evoke fear in the audience. He tells the audience that only God’s grace can save believers, showing that death is inevitable. These themes are seen throughout the sermon to evoke fear and keep the audience attentive to his sermon. By being connected, the themes create a more persuasive piece of work, because they are able to link together throughout the sermon so that Edwards remains on topic and the audience continues to listen.
For example, he quotes 1Timothy 1:17 and then declares “As I read the words, there came into my soul . . . a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from anything I ever experienced before.” (313-314). This declaration shows that as he becomes more familiar with scripture, he is able to open his heart and grow more in love with God. Edwards later states how upset he is that he had not sought out a close relationship with God sooner because he deeply wishes he would have had more time to “grow in grace”(315); this statement comes after he quotes Psalms 119:28 “My soul breaketh for the longing it hath.” (315). It’s evident through the use of this verse how strongly he longs for a fuller and closer bond with God and Christ. Furthermore, he expresses that same sense of yearning when he states “I very often think . . . of being a little child, taking hold of Christ, to be led by him through the wilderness of this world.” (316) and follows it with the verse Matthew 18:3. Through quoting this verse, he once again reinforces how greatly affected by scripture his bond with God is, and how it leaves him seeking to be led even more by
He was completely oblivious to the true loving nature of God stated in John 3:16-17 “That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son for us and whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Bible Hub, 1 John 3:16-17) He used a monotone when he gave his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” but he preached as if he was angry with the people as well. Edwards insisted that God was so angry that they were closer than they could have imagined from being thrown into the pits of Hell. The sermon may have been successful to some people, for those who imagined God dangling people over the fires of hell in no doubt ran to the altar to seek repentance. However, some may have even lost their faith altogether because they felt they stood no chance in the eye in such a wrathful God.