Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God By Jonathan Edwards

My experience before reading this excerpt? I come from a religious background and I already have had this fear instilled into me. My uncle, who recently just became a pastor after his late father, told me that I should have more fear in God than having fear in the Devil. He told that God is in control of what happens to those who sin and this relates to an excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God that I pulled out of the Volume 1 Edition of The Bedford Anthology of American Literature.

The author of the sermon, Jonathan Edwards, was extremely passionate about the Bible and the interpretation of God. On July 8th, 1741, he published one of his many sermons onto paper and also added his interpretation of the Bible. Within his sermon he states the sinners will be given eternal damnation based on their actions. There are three main points that he makes within his sermon: sinners will face judgement, God’s wrath will come fast to those who sin, and that it is God’s own choice to allow a sinner to continue another day.

All throughout Edward’s sermon he uses a lot of metaphors and different types of imagery that supports his claims.

There were two metaphors that stood out to me. One was on page 353 and it stated, “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; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire;...” (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God). I can certainly picture myself being in that situation, being hoisted above a pit of molten lava and fire by a huge support and then at any moments notice the supporting hand can let me drop into the pit

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The other metaphor that puts an image into my mind was on page 355 and it states, “If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing the least regard or favor, that instead of that he’ll only tread you under foot: and though he will know that you can’t bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he won’t regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he’ll crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment” (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God). The one image that came to mind after reading that excerpt was picturing myself going to a parade and seeing all the people marching and watching confetti fly all around the festivities.