The damnation of Jonathan Edward’s sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God provoked the souls of Protestants like no other, but Gilbert Tennent’s message in The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry would send pastors in an uproar. Tennent was a New Light minister in New England who felt the only justification needed to preach God’s Word was His calling. He believed too many ministers were following in the steps of the Pharisee teachers and were not taking care of their flock. Tennent wrote his sermon to warn congregations about these false teachers and tell them to leave the church if their minister was not a converted minister.
From 1710 onward, established ministers had enormous control over their churches and stood largely unquestioned in their position till a new generation of ministers deemed many to be unconverted. These New Light minister, “like Gilbert Tennant infused evangelicals preaching with a radical egalitarianism that left many former supporters of Whitefield
…show more content…
sputtering. Tennant attacked the established clergy as unregenerate and encouraged people to forsake their ministers.” The sermon where this point was given the most attention was delivered in The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry, given in early 1740 at the height of the First Great Awakening. Tennent’s sermon, “set off a storm of protest from established ministers who were understandably insulted.” These Old Light minister did not like the radical teachings of men like Tennent and called it a dangerous movement. However, those who came to hear men like Tennent were called New Lights, and these wondering New Light preachers caused a lot of division among churches because of their emotional style of preaching. Tennent jumps right into his sermon and begins with how a “faithful Minister” is good and can nurture the congregation so that Tennent can contrast this with his main argument in saying how an unconverted minister is a curse. To further illustrate just how devastating an ungodly minister is, he compares them to caterpillars and how they, “labour to devour every green thing.” Caterpillars look nice and friendly, but Tennent knew his congregation would understand how destructive caterpillars can be to crops and leave them unfit to use. This he says is the saddest of sorrows that a church can be without a godly minister. He ends his opening remarks by saying how it is sad yes, but, “we have an Account of our LORD’s Grief with the Causes of it.” This “Cause,” Tennent explains, is compassion.
It is the compassion of seeing sheep without a shepherd, a church without a pastor, and pity for the wayward minister. In Mark chapter six, the passage from scripture to give biblical credited for his sermon, the Jewish people choose to hear Jesus Christ because they have no teachers of their own. The Pharisee-Teachers, as any good Protestant knew, were “crafty as Foxes,” who, “breathe forth the Cruelty of Wolves,” and were unconverted themselves and therefore could not lead others to God. “Letter-learned and regular Pharisees, our Lord laments the unhappy Case of that great Number of People, who, in the Days of his Flesh, had no better Guides: Because that those were as good as none…” The sermon Tennent is preaching from is in many ways like the caterpillar and the leaf in that he is not really talking about a caterpillar and a leaf. As was prevalent in Jesus day with bad teachers for the people, so are the ministers of 1740, bad for the
people. Tennent’s first major point in his sermon is to lay out an argument on why the old Pharisee-Teachers were unfit to teach. He describes their character as that of being prideful, full of malice, ignorant, and, “Bigotry to human inventions in religious Matters.” Pride is the first attribute Tennent discuss and he describes how the Pharisees were very prideful and loved the high places in the synagogue and adored being called Rabbi, yet, they were lost in knowing who God really is. Here Tennent is warning the people to watch out for ministers who love the title of being called a minister, but do not have the calling to preach God’s Word, “This and ministers who seek worldly possessions and desires are signs of an unconverted minister.” Furthermore, “The old Pharisees, for all their long Prayers and other pious Pretenses, had their Eyes, with Judas, fixed upon the bag.” This bag of silver to which the Pharisee’s eyes are fixed is yet another warning Tennent gives to his followers in looking out for ministers who concern themselves with salary or other worldly desires and not on matters of the spirit. Interestingly though, as much as Gilbert Tennent warned against ministers who concerned themselves with worldly possessions, he “accepted a position as minister to the Second Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia beginning in 1743. This particular opportunity was in no small part due to the fact that the membership of that church comprised several high-ranking city and colonial officials.” While he accepted a pastoral position at a church, for whatever reason, he never gave up his ties to revivalism in the frontier. The second argument Tennent gives is that the only thing you need in order to preach God’s word is His calling and not a degree from a college. He further states that if you do not have this calling, then you should not be allowed to preach, “Natural Men have no call of GOD to the Ministerial Work.” Natural men, he explains, are sinful men who do not hold the salvation of others as their central work and, “are not all unconverted Men wicked Men?” It is only through faith, Tennent continues, that God calls men to minister His sheep. Tennent’s sermon is a hammer pounding the recurrent statement that unconverted ministers are a danger to the church. For the first half of his sermon he has been saying how the Pharisees were not called by God to teach to the Jews. All along he has been hinting at the fact that the ministers of his day were the Pharisees and he openly declares this the case when he says, “God Almighty does not send Pharisees and natural Men into the Ministry: For how can these Men be faithful, that have no Faith.” The reasons for these unsaved ministers to preach in churches is no mystery. Some seek money or the good name, but it is ultimately men who have put them in these positions, though college degrees Tennent hints at, and not Christ. After Tennent has felt he has proven that an unsaved minister is no better than the Pharisee of old, he tells of the dangers of their lifeless sermons. He claims these false teachers mishandle their congregations by giving general sermons and not tailoring them to the needs the church, “They carelessly offer a common Mess to their People, and leave it to them, to divide it among themselves, as they see fit.” Through these short, meatless, discourses, Tennent goes on to say, they ignorantly leave their parishioners stale or worse, “They often strengthen the Hands of the Wicked, by promising him Life.” These false ministers, Tennent continues, lack the courage to tell the people they are going to hell unless they turn from their wicked ways. It is only when righteous men begin to question the validity of their ministers do they impose fear into their flock. Tennent has warned the church in other messages of the danger of false clergy in the pulpit and he reminds them that unconverted ministers who give communion, “to the unwitting cast not only themselves into hell, but those hapless communicants as well, and so with the stakes so high, the people have an obligation to seek out truly ‘Godly Persons’ to be their spiritual guides.” This was a powerful force in leading people out of Old Light ministers and into the arms of New Light preachers as being cast into hell weight heavily on the minds of 1740s Protestant Calvinists. Towards the end of his sermon, he switches from speaking to the people about unconverted ministers, to talking about the souls who listen to these ministers and ignore the signs of an unconverted pastor. Tennent tells how it is foolish for people to say, “…our Minister is a prudent charitable Man, he is not always harping upon Terror, and sounding Damnation in our Ears…” This Tennent says is thoughtless and cites Jerimiah 5: 31-32 which states, “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?” This passage is calling out the people who are hearing unsaved minister and stay instead of moving on to a minister who is saved. Everything Tennent has been preaching has been leading up to this climax and it is that if one has an unconverted minister presiding over the church, then the congregation has a right to leave and find a faithful minister, “The Ministry of natural Men be as it has been represented; Then it is both lawful and expedient to go from them to hear Godly Persons.” Tennent went so far as to say congregations have the right to leave a church if they doubt the minister’s theology or even his own conversion. He also said that those who opposed the awakening, “betrayed a lack of conversion, and thus The Danger of an Unconverted Minister ‘was like a dry wind to a smoldering fire.’” What Tennent is clearly saying is, these ministers are not from God and all haste must be made to leave their unrighteous words and seek the man of God called by God. This sermon no doubt sent an uproar among Old Light pastors who couldn’t help, but feel Tennent was pointing the finger at them and shouting flee from the Pharisees. Gilbert Tennent’s emotionally based faith style of preaching rallied the souls of New England and points in his theology directly opposed the Old Light ministers. Tennent’s commanding sermon The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry held back no thrust in calling out the unconverted minister as sharing the character of a Pharisee and has no business in preaching. The mishandling of a church congregation by faithless minister is a distress to Tennent and tells the people to flee from any minister who is suspect to false teachers or conversion. What truly sets this sermon apart from others is not the language or enthusiasm it stirs, but the challenge of the minister. The power of the pulpit in 1740 is called into question and Tennent is challenging the people to leave if God’s Word is not being preached by a follower of Christ. This is why The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry caused such a division among churches as both Old Light and New Light ministers battled for the souls of the people. Reference Page Gary B. Nash, Red, White, & Black: The Peoples of Earth North America (London, England 2015), 171. Gilbert, Tennent, The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry, 1740 (Boston, Massachusetts) 87-92 John H. Smith, The First Great Awakening: Redefining Religion in British America, 1725-1775 (Lanham, Maryland, 2015) 79-140. T. H. Breen, Timothy D. Hall, Colonial America in an Atlantic World: From Colonies to Revolution (London, England, 2017) 240.
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
Jonathan Edwards creates a more effective argument for the intended audience in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” than “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” written by Patrick Henry, by utilizing various techniques. Patrick Henry makes a strong argument however in the end, Edwards’ sermon grows to be more effective. Edwards creates the argument by strengthening the writing through tone, structure, fallacies and knowledge of the congregation that became his audience. Henry’s piece uses methods of oratory persuasion but the actual topic of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has an advantage from the start by appealing to fear, a fallacy of logic. Even with the strong basis “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry, Edwards’ “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” proves the more effective piece in the end.
Jonathan Edward's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," was an example of a persuasive speech in which Edwards used scare tactics to persuade his audience. Jonathan Edwards' purpose was simply to convey a message to the people of the church with intentions of changing their moral and religious views. Edwards often appealed to reason and logic and highly emotional "fire and brimstone" techniques to convey his point.
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.
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.
On July 8th 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, Connecticut. Edwards states to his listeners that God does not lack in power, and that people have yet not fallen to destruction because his mercy. God is so forgiving that he gives his people an opportunity to repent and change their ways before it was too late. Edwards urges that the possibility of damnation is immanent. Also that it urgently requires the considerations of the sinner before time runs out. He does not only preach about the ways that make God so omnipotent, but the ways that he is more superior to us. In his sermon, Edwards uses strong, powerful, and influential words to clearly point out his message that we must amend our ways or else destruction invincible. Edwards appeals to the spectators though the various usages of rhetorical devices. This includes diction, imagery, language/tone and syntax. Through the use of these rhetoric devices, Edwards‘s purpose is to remind the speculators that life is given by God and so they must live according to him. This include...
Throughout Hawthorne’s short stories which examine secret sin based in Puritan societies, the protagonist, Mr. Hooper, a preacher in Milford, describes to his wife “Do not desert me though this veil must be between us here on earth” (32). Hooper who has arrived at a point where his community and wife have abandoned him while on his deathbed realizes that he is deserted because of his secret sin. This description of utter loneliness is in contrast with Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hooper, who once was a prominent priest in the Milford area. Hawthorne’s depiction of Mr. Hooper’s secret sin, taking form in the black veil alters his life indefinetely. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, the author identifies secret sin as the cause of isolation, relationship struggles, and the community’s behavior.
Plans are revealed to, “hold a separate service on Sundays for [the slaves’] benefit,” in which pointed sermons were to be delivered to the slaves (Jacobs 57-58). One such sermon is inherently accusatory and meant to instill fear in its slave audience. Statements such as “God is angry with you,” “You tell lies”. God hears you,” and “God sees you and will punish you” serve to foster a sense of guilt and fear within the slaves, casting disobedience in any form as an affront against God, one that merits divine punishment (Jacobs 58). The sermon creates an emotional tie to profitable slave behavior – obedience stemming from fear – which it goes on to enforce as the will of God: “If you disobey your earthly Master,” the preacher claims, “you offend your heavenly Master” (Jacobs 58).
The Second Great Awaking consisted of new applications of religion that deviated from rationalism, which sparked promotion of democracy and freedom. The message of salvation rather than condemnation was evident in this movement as spoken by Charles G. Finney. He sought to remove sin from reformed churches and organize sinners to unity and freedom (Doc B). This practice showed the crucial democrati...
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan preacher of that time, had one thing on his mind: to convert sinners, on the road to hell, to salvation. It just so happened to be, that his way of doing that was to preach the reality to them and scare them to the point of conversion. Sermons of this time were preached to persuade people to be converted and to me it seemed that Edwards just had a special way of doing it. Just as people are being influenced by rhetoric appeals today Edwards used the same method on his congregation. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards positively affected his readers using pathos, logos, and ethos, while trying to convince the unconverted members of his sermon to be born again.
To begin, Edwards utilizes variation in tone to provoke fear and guilt among his congregation. For example, Edwards claims “all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you
The thesis of this book is that George Whitefield (1714-1770) changed the nature of Christianity by promoting and conducting mass revivals that exploited the weaknesses of institutional Christianity.
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.
In order to understand the ramifications of Matthias's formation of his kingdom, the social,financial, ethnic, and sexual conditions of the times must be realized as the catalysts that cause the cults to form. A whole series of evangelic congregations appeared in the early decades of the nineteenth century in order to serve the poor, the emotionally needy, those barred from the new prosperousness, hopefulness, forbearance, personal freedom and sensible thought of the business classes. Combining good narrative skills,excellent characterization, and historic detail, Johnson and Wilentz recreate the engaging tale of a hypocritical prophet and his erroneous followers in New York during the eighteen twenties and thirties. The main motif that dominated Matthias's and Elijah Pierson's actions involves the beliefs that were instilled in them when they were young,about the natural order of men and women. The patriarchy that ruled Matthias's kingdom originated in both men's thoughts from the Calvinism that was their first doctrine as youths around eighteen hundred. Elijah's Morristown First Presbyterian Church and Mathews Coila Anti-Burhgers church enforced the dominance of men through incorporating their domestic authority into church ritual. With Elijah men sat at the head of the pew and his father and uncles were church trustees. Even though Robert Matthew's church had an egalitarian dissolution of power and wealth , patriarchal roles were reinforced by men leading their families into church and
Meister, Chad, and Stump. Christian Thought a Historical Introduction. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.