Jonathan Edwards's Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Jonathan Edwards wrote and preached the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in the year 1741(Edwards 40). His sermon made many people in his congregation believe they were headed to hell unless they turned to God. As Pastor Jonathan preached this sermon to his congregation, he presented it in a monotonous voice so that people there just payed attention to the words that were said. Edwards did this by using different types of persuasion. The sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards made people turn to God because it showed just how terrifying of a place hell is. He made it known that unless someone is “born again” then that person will one day end up with eternal damnation in hell. Edwards argued that people should

Edwards said, “God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment…”(41).If God was such a powerful God as to have been able “to destroy any wicked man, at any moment,” then that would mean that He is someone that doesn’t want to be played around with. Edwards also said in his sermon, “So that thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God; over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit and are already sentenced to it(41).” Rev. Edwards was saying that if members of the congregation are “natural men,” then they are unconverted. They are headed straight for

Ethos was used sparingly throughout his sermon, but it was still used. In one instance, Edwards said, “Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition you are in, are now in a happy state, with their lives filled with love to him, who has loved him and washed them from their sins in his own blood(44).” Edward’s used this ethical appeal to give hope to his congregation. He described the former sinners as “flocking” to be converted in order to show how a good Christian is supposed to act when he is saved. Sinners in the hands of an Angry God was an argument by a Christian evangelist who wanted to make sure non-Christians were so terrified of hell that they would immediately turn to God. In order for Edwards to accomplish his mission that he had to give several appeals to the people listening. Edwards successfully did this and many people ended up becoming “born again