Sinners In The Hands Of Angry God Analysis

Repentance or Damnation

Is God wrathful or forgiving? Is the human race prepared for the Judgement day? Jonathan Edwards addresses these questions in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of Angry Gods. Edwards explains that at any moment this wrathful God above could drop the whole entire human race into the fiery pits of hell. Repentance and change of heart is the only way that they can save themselves. This means that they have to realize that their hands hold their faith and Puritanism explains this to its followers in away that will save them. The human race has to realize the power of this angry God, and he has the power to just give up on the human race and drop them into hell for their selfishness. Edwards shows the theme of accepting

God’s mercy through the literary devices personification, simile, and metaphor. Personification is the first device that Edwards uses in his piece to convey this message.
Edwards uses personification to portray the heme that sinners must repent or suffer the wrath of God. Ge starts out right away in the opening paragraph to draw in his audience when he writes, “There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth; and [. . .] there is nothing between you and hell but the air” (98). He explains that hell's pit lies right below the human race and this wrathful god’s patience is the only thing keeping them from falling, and the only thing they can do to stop themselves from falling is to repent. He continues to personify flame when he says, ““The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up [. . .]” (98). Edward explains that the devil knows that God’s patience is running out and he prepares himself for new incomers and nothing can stop him from letting the human race plop right into his fiery pit. The concept of no turning back continues to be explained when Edwards writes, “Your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability; very swiftly” (101). He explains that people need to ask for forgiveness before their last moments. It can not be something that the human race and just put off until their last days. They don’t understand that their judgement day is not a planned and dated occasion, it can happen at any moment. Edwards also conveys this message that the human race needs to repent and ask for forgiveness from this wrathful God, through the literary device similes.
Furthermore the author conveys the theme that the human race needs to repent through similes. The first example of this device appears in the first section of his sermon when Edwards writes, “ Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should withdraw his hand [. . .]” (98). Edwards explains that if God ever just let the human race go, they would all fall because of their sinfulness. There what must they do? They must repent and ask forgiveness through the conversion of the Puritan faith. The next simile that Edwards uses to portray his theme appears when Edwards writes, “The wrath of god is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given” (98). God’s wrath is always increasing day after day, because of the human race being selfish and no one purifying themselves and asking for forgiveness. The last similes that illustrates Edward's theme is when he depicts acuerde scene when he writes, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, [. . .] his wrath towards you burns like fire” (100). Edwards depicts this picture of God, being full of anger holding the human race above the fire and views them as nothingness, This empathizes the point of repenting so the God becomes less wrathful against the human race, Edwards also conveys his message through metaphors.
Lastly Edwards uses metaphor to convey the theme that God punishes sinners unless they repent and purify their lives through the Puritan faith.

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

one.
In Conclusion Jonathan Edwards in Sinners, in the Hands of Angry Gods, uses personification, simile, and metaphors to show that God condemns sinners to hell unless they purify their lives through Puritanism. God views the human race as an insect on a web or a easy target with his wrath being the bow. The Only way the human race can save themselves is repenting and asking forgiveness from this wrathful god so that he does not let them fall into the fiery pits of hell.