After reading "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," the major features I saw were related to wrath of God, hell, and evil. I saw the sermons main focus being projected towards people that did not take Gods word or the commandments into consideration when living their lifestyle, these people would be sentenced to the wrath of God which resulted in God sending them into hell. I had a hard time grasping this concept because I don’t see as God sending one to hell as being angry or having a wrath as the text supposed. I see one being descended into hell by God as a punishment for not following Gods word not out of anger as I cant see one being as holy and calm as God becoming angry. The text states in the beginning “Surly thou didst set them in slippery places thou castedst them down into destruction” I …show more content…
People of this nature were considered wicked and evil, people of this nature committed sin without any doubt of their own afterlife security. The statement “ So that every uncovered man properly belongs to Hell; that is his place, from thence he is.” And also verse 9 on page 173 gave evidence that one that denies God will be sentences to hell as he will deny them in heaven. A verse that really stood out to me was “There are black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God it would immediately burst forth upon you.” When reading this verse the thought of what comes around goes around came into my head as I felt that if you sin it will come back to bite you in some shape or form. The sermon took place on July 8, 1741 during the Great Awakening, I got the sense that during this time the main focus was religion and getting people saved into the church as a member of Christ, I felt that was the thinking the preacher was attempting to get a crossed In the
Foreboding and dreadful describe the tone of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards makes the tone very clear by saying “The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire” (154). He tries to convey the wrath of god that will come upon them if they do not devoted themselves to Christ by saying “Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon souls, all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God.” (154).
1) Jonathan Edwards delivered this sermon during the first Great Awakening, a time of religious revival in Europe and America. During the Great Awakening, Christianity shifted its focus from ceremonies and rituals, and began to realign itself with introspection to foster a deep sense of morality and redemption. Edwards was a key preacher and minister that delivered many sermons preaching about revival and reformed theology. 2) Edwards sermon was directed towards non believers and those who have turned away from the light of God, and in his words “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
This portion of the text begins in the seventh canto and in it the punishment of those who lived in wrath are discussed, when Dante and Virgil first enter the circle they see a marsh containing people who endlessly beat upon each other the idea being that because they lived their lives in wrath they will live out their eternity with pure hatred for any soul they may encounter. Also addressed in this circle is the punishment for those who lived their life in a sullen manner, ignoring the goodness that the world around them contained. “‘Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the sun; in the glory or his shinning our hearts poured a bitter smoke. Sullen we begun; sullen we lie forever i... ... middle of paper ... ...
The Bible was a large part of the lives of these people. With that, as many religious leaders before and after him, Edwards's source of inspiration and guidance was the Bible. He often used parts or sections of biblical verse rather than complete text because too much information might diminish the importance of his primary intent. An example of how he preached to the people can be seen in Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." In this sermon he addressed the issues of man as a sinner, God's hate of sinners - wrath of God. Throughout the sermon he addressed the damnation of man, the process of salvation and redemption. He hammered at his congregation using guilt and fear for their souls. It is a moving and powerful sermon that would have put fear in my head if I was in attedance during this time. This sermon, delivered in 1741, persuaded his congregation to join him in his Christian beliefs. In the sermon he portrays God as an all powerful and all knowing being. He depicts Him with the ability to both crush and save a soul.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is an eye-opening sermon to many and an even greater eye opener to the unbelieving. Not only is it seen as controversial for the time, but many people disagreed with it. The entire sermon seemed to be based on one or two verses from the Bible, and many thought they were not used in the proper context. There were many emotions during the sermon that need to be explored further.
First, Edwards' sermon is filled with graphic images of the fury of divine wrath and the horror of the unmerciful punishment of the wicked in hell. If one were to continue in their sin, according to Edwards, not only would a person be tormented in the presence of holy angels, but God’s terribleness would be magnified upon his/her life and forced to suffer through God’s wrath for all eternity (74). “Although it conveys the reek of brimstone, the sermon does not say that God will hurl man into everlasting fires--on the contrary, doom will come from God’s indifference...” (Thompson 71). Edwards had little need to justify his scare tactics and theology. His consuming obligation was to preach it; to preach it fiercely, purposely, persuasively, and firmly.
...cape her judgment nor argument with her edicts will sway her. Hell is an absolute, and all the more forbidding because of it. Though the violence depicted in these myths varies, the overall story remains unchanged. Disobeying the laws and strictures set forth by the government and religious doctrines will exact a hefty price, perhaps eternally.
They do not deserve the very air they breathe. When he paints the picture of them in God’s hands hanging over the burning pit and hell waiting to swallow them up, they could imagine the extraordinary pain involved in going to the pit of
“How stern the power of Almighty God who crushes sinners with such righteous blows(Canto XXIV lines 109-110)!” In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri describes a trip through Hell, visiting the various sinners and circles of Hell. Dante also uses many experiences and beliefs from his real life to enrich his views of Hell and his idea of Divine Punishment. Dante’s perception of Divine Justice includes sinners whom he places in Hell for committing crimes without regret, they are placed lower in Hell according to the severity of their sins. Dante is not always just in his placement of sinners, his personal grudges and archaic Catholic beliefs get in the way of true Divine Justice.
It is only after the development of Plato’s hell does the Christian Hell change. This is because the hell does not invoke the same amount of fear that the hell of Plato does – one of punishment. The New Testament’s version of Hell follows the Platonist theory. This Hell is a punishment for the souls of the corrupt who did not adhere to God’s teachings. This punishment is severe for the sinner – far more so than what Plato’s version of hell dictated.
Edwards first portrays this message in his sermon when he writes “The bow of god’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow of your heart, and strains the bow [. . .]” (99). Edwards compares God's wrath to a bow to show how much God’s wrath can do. God’s target is the human race’s sin and selfishness, and the target is a big target that would be hard to miss. What can the human race do to make this target smaller? The only thing they have to do is repent and purify their lives through the Puritan faith. Edwards continues with this message when he writes “That world of misery, that lake of brimstone, is extended abroad under you” (100).Edwards emphasizes that at any moment drop the human race into hell like stone into a lake. This lake of hell forever changes and grows larger and larger around the human race’s sin. Finally, Edwards shows his theme when he writes, “You are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours,” (100). Edwards explains that the reason that the human race walk down the road to hell is because of their time. To see the theme of sinners and their wrathful god fully one had to look at all three literary devices not just
He gives reason to fear and respect the law of God, lest eternal punishment be your only promise in the afterlife. These punishments are as relevant as can be, so he offers a very vivid picture of hell. The men that he puts in hell give it a realistic twist, enhancing the fear that is felt upon reading this work.
"God hath promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the rejecters of Faith, the fire of Hell; therein shall they dwell; sufficient is it for them: for them is the curse of God, and an enduring punishment." (9:68)