John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards were two different authors, writing in two different time periods, but had a common goal. They were working bring people both to Christ and back to Christ. Winthrop was preaching his sermon called, “A Model of Christian Charity” on the ship to the “New World.” Winthrop preached about men giving gifts to other men so that God could give people who have gifts the satisfaction of helping someone in need. On the other hand, Edwards was writing, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in a time period called the Great Awakening, in an attempt to bring “corrupted people” back to the church with scare tactics. Winthrop and Edwards were both exceptional authors and preachers, but lived in different times with different …show more content…
Even though Winthrop and Edwards were two similar authors they were writing for two completely different reasons. Edwards was writing his sermon close to a hundred years after Winthrop, in a time called the Great Awakening. Edwards’s sermon was designed using scare tactics to bring people back to the church; while, Winthrop was working to keep everyone in a “group.” According to William Cain, Alice McDermott, Lance Newman, and Hilary Wyss, editors of “American Literature Volume One,” “he [Winthrop] believed that the English church could be reformed from within, cleansed of its “Catholic” doctrinal traces and elements of ritual” (102). Winthrop was giving his sermon aboard the ship to the new world and has belief that he can purify the English church. On the other side, Edwards is writing after the church has been “purified;” thus, a different means of communication is required to bring people back to the church. William Cain, Alice McDermott, Lance Newman, and Hilary Wyss, editors of “American Literature Volume One,” said, “Edwards witnessed a great revival of religion known as the “Great Awakening,” which he documented in several of his writings” (264). The quote says that Edwards is writing in a time period that required s method that would bring people back to the church. All in all, the time period of Winthrop and Edwards’s sermons play a major role in the content of the …show more content…
One instance that Winthrop uses brotherly love is: “[t]here is likewise a double lay by which we are regulated in out conversation one towards another in both the former respects: the Law of nature and the law of grace, or the moral law or the law of the Gospel, to omit the rule of justice as not properly belonging to this purpose otherwise than it may fall into consideration in some particular cases” (Winthrop 104). From this, Winthrop is saying that every man of God should treat another man of God the way they want to be treated. Edwards, on the other hand, says, “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” (Edwards 285). The comparison of “Pit of fire” and “Pit of hell,” are common themes in Edwards’s sermon. Some would argue that this is unnecessary and will only push people away from God and scare them, but Edwards has a different view on this. At the end of Edwards sermon he says, “[a]nd 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
Edwards does however lighten the tone at the conclusion of the sermon by explaining how the people c...
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.
...God”, by Jonathan Edwards successfully persuaded the Puritans to be converted back to Puritanism. Through Edwards’ sermon the Puritans were compelled to renew their faith back to God. Edwards gave the Puritans a sense of realization, which caused them to go back to their congregation. Edwards horrified the Puritans, with his use of vivid and descriptive imagery, which effectively persuaded them to return to the congregation. Through his utilization of numerous loaded and highly emotional diction, he petrified and convinced the Puritans to go back to the church of God. He also gloriously enhances his sermon with his utilization of threatening and fearful tone tormented the Puritans and convinces them to be pious once again. Jonathan Edwards’s utilization of numerous rhetorical strategies effectively persuaded the Puritans to convert back to their congregations.
Although they had much in common in terms of speaking they had even more differences. For example: King tried to motivate people, tried to make them feel good about equality. While Edwards hammered at his congregation using guilt and fear to get them to accept the Lord. Edwards portrayed God as being a less compassionate God than most people picture him as. "God has so many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell...""...natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell..." are vivid examples Edwards used to scare his congregation. Edwards described man as loathsome weak people and they owed a great deal of reverence to God. Edward's opinions about man were so straight forward and strong that he even included mere children in his views of pathetic and evil man: "...the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes and in their confidence and in their own strength and wisdom.
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,
During the time both the poem and sermon were written people believed different things and lived differently. Jonathan Edwards and Phyllis Wheatley wrote with reference to the way people thought in their society, they wrote about what people believed, for example, Phyllis Wheatley rarely mentioned god but Jonathan Edwards only talked about God and the reason for that was because during Rationalism people believed god did not interfere with people through miracles, he created everything and everything in nature has the ability to be explained by natural laws; with Edwards people did everything for god, to basically please him due to the fact that during that time period God was involved in their daily lives. To them if you were a sinner you
The American political notions we practice today take root from early colonial times. Our political understanding had its genesis as early as the 17th century, which stemmed from the writings of intellectuals, such as John Winthrop and William Penn. Equipped with these convictions, both Winthrop and Penn brought about visions of how their respective colonies will be structured in the New World. John Winthrop wrote The Modell of Christian Charity as a platform to lead a group of Puritan refugees in the colony of Boston, Massachusetts. Also armed with his own political philosophies, William Penn’s Frame of Government of Pennsylvania constructed a settlement, which promoted religious liberty and individual conscience. Although the two founders wrote about varying principles, there were some parallels evident between their founding visions. Furthermore, by highlighting the outward distinctions and similarities of their visions, we can recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the two political structures. Ultimately, the explorations of these very elements aid in determining which community is more appealing to call home. In my case, the principle of individual
Through research it is evident that Edwards and Bradford are similar in more ways than one. For example, each individual dedicated their life to service. They both portrayed the qualities a true leader and successor should have. Bradford, leading his colony showed his dedication to improve what already had been done previously. Edwards, showing equal consideration lead the church in the best possible way by holding the title of the
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.
He speaks with some allusions and phrases that show the audience that he is well educated in the subject that he is speaking on. He says that, "Who knows the power of God 's anger" (Edwards 43)? This is an allusion from Psalm 90:11 in the bible and he just assumes that his readers are aware of what he is referring to when he says this. Since Edwards was a respected preacher of that time the sermon meant more to the people because of his qualifications and his experience ("Using" 14). Also throughout his sermon he refers to a happening of that time which was known as the great awakening. When speaking of this Edwards stated "Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south; many that were lately in the same condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them" (Edwards 44). He told them about the others who have already came and been converted to Christianity and hopes that showing them the others that have came they would also change their ways and be converted. Also, this being the time of the great awakening he wants the unconverted of his congregation to become a part of it and referencing to this event helps contribute to their
People of all groups, social status, and gender realized that they all had voice and they can speak out through their emotional feels of religion. Johnathan Edwards was the first one to initiate this new level of religion tolerance and he states that, “Our people do not so much need to have their heads filled than, as much as have their hearts touched.” Johnathan Edwards first preach led to more individuals to come together and listen. Than after that individual got a sense that you do not need to be a preacher to preach nor you do not need to preach in a church, you can preach wherever you want to. For the first time, you have different people coming together to preach the gospel. You had African American preaching on the roads, Indian preachers preaching and you had women who began to preach. The Great Awakening challenged individuals to find what church meets their needs spiritually and it also let them know about optional choices instead of one. The Great Awakening helped the American colonies come together in growth of a democratic
John Winthrop was a pioneer for religious freedom in America. As one of the early settlers sailing west on the Arbella, he composed a sermon called A Model for Christian Charity. Winthrop’s sermon is the framework for creating the spiritual colony that he envisioned and a way to unite the people coming to a new land. The people traveling west were not from one group but rather came from many groups and backgrounds. Winthrop knew that in order to succeed in the wilderness these individuals would have to give up some of their individuality for the greater good of the colony. Winthrop felt that religion was the ultimate way to accomplish this and that Christ was the perfect model to follow. In one passage he says:
...e, Edwards and Franklin had very different views in their writings that were very out spoken.
American literature in the early days talks a lot about spiritual beliefs and different ways of writing. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are both Puritan authors from the 1700’s. Anne and Jonathan have different views on God and their ways of life from each other. Bradstreet, a housewife and author shows some of her ways in her writings To my Dear and Loving Husband, and Upon the Burning of Our House. Edwards, a preacher and author shows some of his ways in his writing Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Both of their views on god and life completely vary. They provide interesting views on spiritual beliefs and different ways of writing.
Love is one of the most basic, fundamental yet complex aspects of humanity. It's so often sought after yet so often it goes on felt. In the 16th & 17 century the Puritans were a group of Christians who worked to rid the Church of England of the aftertaste left by the Roman Catholic Church. John Winthrop draws on the Puritans basic emotion and desire for love in his sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity". Winthrop delivers his sermon en route to the new colony, the physical transition taking place aids Winthrop's attempt to captivate and motivate the colonists for the spiritual transition that will need to take place in the new colony.