The faith of the Puritan people was a huge part of many aspects of their daily lives. Their writing is no exception. While most Puritans had a strong faith, some viewed God in a different light than others. Reverend Jonathan Edwards was one of the most famous preachers of his time and was well-known throughout the Puritan faith. Many people attended his sermons, which were always read in a well-composed manner. His sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”, is his most famous work. He describes God as a vengeful figure who hates the sinners on his Earth. While Edwards had his way of looking at things and passed that on to others via worship, Anne Bradstreet, one of the first female poets in American history, had a more peaceful view of …show more content…
He believed that God was a vengeful being who casts sinners down to hell. “We find it easy to tread 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,” (lines 1-3). Edwards is explaining how people are nothing to God. He can cast them down to hell with no effort. Edwards is using emotional appeal to scare his listeners into behaving and avoiding sin. He also said “ 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 and is dreadfully provoked.” (Line 50-51) Once again, he is comparing God’s worshipers as spiders and loathsome insects. He is saying that God is angry and provoked by the sins of the people and is disgusted by this. On the other hand, Anne Bradstreet trusted God and used his love in her writing.She stated, “He might of all justly bereft, But yet sufficient for us left.” (Lines 19-20) She was saying that God took her physical objects, but because of her religion, she believes that she still has all she needs, which is her ticket to …show more content…
He wanted to let everyone know how brutal it could be if God decided to unleash his wrath on them. “It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell.” He is stating that hell is a horrible place full of fire and God’s anger. He also said that God is just as angry at the living than he is at those already damned in hell. Just as Edwards uses God’s wrath in his writing, Bradstreet uses God’s encouragement in her writing. “And to my God my heart did cry to, to strengthen me in my distress.” Despite her house burning down and all of the things she loved gone, She still had faith in God and knew that God was going to help her through her rough times. She also said “there’s wealth enough. I need no more” (Line 51) She is extremely grateful despite losing
In his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards he displays the Puritan belief that men are saved by grace. Edward, however, use rhetorical devices to make his sermon persuasive by using vibrant images and figure of speech to make these men repent.
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).
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, he preached about a stricter Calvinist theology of Puritanism. Edwards delivered it at the Massachusetts congregation on July 8, 1741. He blatantly uses rhetorical strategies to instill fear into his audience if they are to continue to not be active Puritans in religion. Edwards uses polysyndeton, harsh diction and tone, and the appeal to emotion along with the use of semicolons to develop his message.
Edwards applied masses of descriptive imagery in his sermon to persuade the Puritans back to their congregation. For example, he gave fear to the Puritans through this quote, “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth, so it is easy for us to cut a singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by, thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell…” (pg. 153) In this quotation, he utilized vivid imagery because he wanted the Puritans to visibly imagine what he was saying through his sermon, on how angry God is with them, which made them convert back to Puritanism. Through the use of vivid imagery such as “crush a w...
Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan and wrote her religious faith about God. When Bradstreet was used to the Puritan culture she felt like God didn’t guide her through her struggles and she started to questioned God existence and as a Puritan’s religious belief was to always accept God. The letter, “To My Dear Children” was from Bradstreet to her children about her relationship with God. The summary of the letter is Bradstreet accepted the Puritan culture when she was about sixteen years old coming to America. After she was married she started to observe God and questioned him because she felt sickness and pain and hoped God would lift her up the light on her. Bradstreet also questions her afterlife with a quote, “And could I have been in heaven without the love of God, it would had been hell to me, for in truth it is the absence and presence of God that makes heaven or hell.” This quote can be pertained in today’s world because it’s
The passages given from the Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'; and the opening sentence of the Declaration both include many points such as the tone, diction, and syntax. The points shown throughout each sentence aims for the intent of obtaining the attention of the audience. The way each sentence is arranged with its own syntax can very well appeal to listeners, depending on its structure and imagery.
2) Edwards sermon was directed towards non believers and those have turned away from the light of god, and in his words “sinners.” And while describing the fiery wrath of the “Angry God,” Edwards states, “The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation.” By focusing
“Among all my experiences of God’s gracious dealings with me I have constantly observed this, that He hath never suffered me long to sit loose from him...” (Bradstreet 68). Anne Bradstreet is showing her devotion to God and is focusing on his love and mercy. Bradstreet found inspiration in William Shakespeare but more importantly what drove her poetry was religious beliefs. Being born into a Puritan family, Bradstreet became accustomed to Puritan behavior and had a strong belief in God. Jonathan Edwards, another strong believer in God, had the same Puritan beliefs but thought if a person shall sin they would be destined to end up in hell. Edwards is an extreme pastor and this is shown in the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The two being the ideal Puritan religion have strong opinions on viewing God
Edwards, who also had Puritan beliefs, was a philosopher and theologian and his way of thinking was more in-depth and complex. He used repetition to drive his sermons home and convinced his congregations of the evils and wickedness of hell through the use of intense analogies. His “fire and brimstone” way of preaching frightened people and made them feel a deep need for salvation. Edwards believed that all humans were natural sinners and God was eagerly awaiting to judge them. He wrote "their foot shall slide in due time" meaning that mankind was full of inevitable sinners.
John Edwards purpose in writing, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was to wipe out any doubts the Puritans had about the existence of hell. To give affirmation of the truth of hell he uses anaphora, drilling the presence of this fiery world into his audience’s mind. Edwards also uses metaphors and polysyndeton to turn the imaginary world into the earthly world which then instills fear into the colonist’s minds, therefore making his argument stronger and more
As many religious leaders before and after him, Edwards's source of inspiration and guidance is the Bible. His understanding of this cornerstone of New England society enables him to reinforce a persuasive dissertation with biblical quotes and passages; however, not all the quotes cited by Edwards support his interpretations exclusively. Often Edwards uses parts or sections of biblical verse rather than complete text because too much information might diminish the importance of his primary intent. These instances of manipulation occur in the doctrinal section where Edwards attempts to prove the basis of his application. "Cut it down, why cumbereth it in the ground?", Luke 13:7, is used by Edwards to illustrate God's justifiably immediate destruction of those guilty of sin. Absent from his selection is any mention of the moderation and patience that continues in Luke 13:8-9: "let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well." By omitting these verses of scripture, Edwards hopes to move his audience by his calling rather than at their own leisure. Another example of manipulation occurs as Edwards proposes that sinners are already Satan's property. In section five he states that Satan "stands ready to fall upon them and seize them...
He created fear by showing sinners their future if they were to continue to sin. Puritans were avid believers in the afterlife, and when Edwards explains a dreadful “long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all.” this exploits the Puritans worst fears of a bleak afterlife. Edwards 105. He also gave the “bandwagon effect” to Puritans, individually feeling that while everyone else they knew was rejoicing with God in Heaven, they would be perishing in Hell if they did not get rid of their sins.... ...
Bradstreet’s poetry is fully religious. Being a pious woman, as everyone was at that time period, she wrote poems claiming high morals and religious motifs. Her writings were very popular among puritans who started colonizing America. His Puritan belief was the reason of her special attitude to her life, soul and sufferings. “She thought that God was so hard on her because her soul was too in love with the world. She also wrote some poems where she asked God to watch over her children and husband” (Gonzalez, 2000).
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Rhetorical Analysis “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards uses imagery and symbolism to persuade the audience to become more devout Christians by channeling fear and emphasizing religious values. Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan minister who preached during the time of the Great Awakening in America. During this period of religious revival, Edwards wanted people to return to the devout ways of the early Puritans in America. The spirit of the revival led Edwards to believe that sinners would enter hell. Edwards’ sermon was primarily addressed to sinners for the purpose of alerting them about their sins and inspiring them to take action to become more devoted to God.
He chastised his congregation repeatedly in high hopes that they will turn away from their sinful ways. His Puritan beliefs were the impetus force behind his message. The Puritans emphasized the “covenant of works”, which was in the control of humans, and the “covenant of grace”, which was in God 's power to give. (Covenant of grace). Edwards believed that mankind could save itself from damnation depending on the way that they lived. Basically, it is man’s control to save himself of certain damnation. He believed God 's grace could possibly be limited. He proposed a belief that God is judgmental and angry. Edwards ' belief in God was that He was ready to throw people into hell because of all of their unrepentant sins. Edwards used his sermon to give proof to the people that they were only worthy of hell and God 's grace kept the people from being tossed into the Lake of fire. “There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently ignite and burst into flames of hell fire, if it were not for God 's restraints. “There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell”(Edwards 432). Edwards believed man was so dishonorable that hell was waiting for him. He preached that God was showing grace and mercy to people or otherwise mankind would be destroyed by hell 's