Rhetorical Analysis Of Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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 immediately begins with a harsh, almost cruel, tone with the use of abrasive diction. His first moments of preaching the sermon had the use of words such as, “over the pit of hell;..deserved the fiery pit… wrath in hell… devil is waiting for them,” (1). Edwards

acts condescending towards his audience with the use of images of hell thus building his tone of ferocity through his sermon. With the use of this tone, Edwards makes it crystal clear to his listeners that he is completely and utterly serious about the dangers and reality of hell. This tone continues on throughout the sermon with the continuation of diction such as, “world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone… glowing flames of the wrath… hell’s gaping mouth,” (1). Such harsh diction used by Edwards would continue to add onto his message that Hell was a real place and that those who continue to just flow through life without the active participation in religion would surely fall into the fiery pits of Hell.
To further add upon his message to his audience, Edwards uses the effect of polysyndeton to give a sense of helplessness to his listeners who have done nothing to save themselves.

He first uses this effect when he says, “ if God should let you go, you would sink… and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence and best contrivance, and all your righteousness,” (1). Edwards continuously uses the word “and” multiple times to emphasize to his audience that they will not only lose their health but everything else that they possess. This gives his listeners the sense of hopelessness by basically informing them that they will have absolutely nothing once they enter the depths of the agony inducing Hell. Not only does he say that they will have nothing in Hell but pain, he also says, “ The wrath of God is like great waters… they increase more and more and rise higher and higher… more and more mighty… the fiery floods of fierceness… would rush forth with inconceivable fury,” (2). The use of a continuously increase of water that would inevitably drown one’s self enforces the sense of powerlessness. This helplessness would then add more terror to Edwards’ message of how one must save themselves through active participation in faith in God otherwise they will fall into the a pit of Hell with no help or hope possible to

them.
Afterwards, Edwards groups series of ideas to create an appeal to his audience’s horror and sense of helplessness which would further convey his message. He preaches, “Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you…; for the destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it,”(2). Edwards connects these independent clauses to place emphasis on how anyone in his audience could be dropped by God at any moment and be sent to Hell. With the use of this emphasis, Edwards further incorporates the feeling of helplessness to display the gravity of his message. To further impel his message into his audience of Puritans, Edwards then lists, “his wrath towards you burn like fire; …you as worthy of nothing else but to cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable,” (2). He indicates that God would condemn everyone who do nothing to save themselves. With this assertion that one would be dispelled into Hell by God’s wrath, the people of the Massachusetts congregation would experience the sense of powerlessness and dread for their faith after their death. This sentiment in mind, Edwards’ audience would come to terms with his claim of Hell being a reality that they must save themselves from via active practice of Christianity.