Analysis of Jon Edwards : Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Anna Potts Steve Stewart ENGL 2130 06 February 2013 Analysis of Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the touchs of an smouldering idol The Great Awakening was a religious move handst that spread throughout crude England during the mid-eighteenth century, from about 1730 to 1745. The Great Awakening sought to make Christianity a deeply personal experience and pulled a centering from traditional ceremony, encouraging personal commitment and frantic involvement in faith. Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan and theologian one of the most famous preachers of the Great Awakening.Edwards most famous address was Sinners in the Hands of an irascible God, despite the fact that he had delivered the sermon to his own crowd, with little effect, he felt led to use it again when invited to preach at the inhabit town of Enfield, Massachusetts on July 8, 1741. During Edwards sermon he used vivid imagery of hell, the wrath of God, and the intrust of salvation to reveal his perspective on the humanity tha t awaited those that did not follow Christ. During his sermon Jonathan Edwards used vivid imagery and descriptions to make his plica see that hell was a real place.To make the congregation see just how close to hell they truly were Edwards stated, That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone is extended aboard under you (Cox). He also wanted them to work that the longer they went without Christ, the heavier they would become. Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell (Westerfield). The ground beneath them would give way under the weight of their wickedness and they would plunge into hell where the Devil would be ready for them. The Devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping, for them, the flames gather and flash about them and would lief lay hold on them, and swallow them up (Smolinski 11). If the descriptions of hell and the Devil werent enough, Edwards also used the power and wrath of a vengeful God to strike fear into the hearts of the unconverted in the crowd at Enfield. The sheer magnitude of Gods power is shown in the discover at that place is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one moment, out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God (Gallagher). Edwards instilled fear into the congregation by threatening the retaliation of God, He will crush you under his feet without mildness, hell crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments (Trapp). As more and more people chose not to follow Christ, God becomes angry and his wrath continues to grow. The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present they increase more and more, and rise higher(prenominal) and higher, till an out permit is given and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course once it is let loose (Baym et al. 99). Edwards sought to show the congregation their desperate need for Gods grace, impressing the crowd with what he per ceived as the power of truth. Before ending his sermon, Edwards appeals to the unconverted in the congregation with the apprehend of salvation from a sovereign God. Edwards continues, And now you have an extraordinary opportunity (Rogers 11). You are in a day where Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands calling and strident with a loud voice to poor sinners (Rogers 11). Let everyone of you who is still without Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now listen to the loud calls of Gods word and providence (Copeland et al. 228). Edwards final line was a call for the congregation to look back on the depths of damnation through which they had traveled-leaving the valley of hell and returning to the mountain heights of the Devine perspective, the heights from which the hope of salvation could be properly understood and embraced (Stuart 58).Stephen Williams, an eyewitness in En field, wrote in his diary before the sermon was done there was a great moaning and crying went through ye whole house, What shall I do to be saved, Oh, I am going to Hell, Oh, what shall I do for Christ, and so forth. So yet ye minister was cause to desist, ye shrieks and cries were piercing and amazing (Farley). Though his sermon caused many to fear him, Jonathan Edwards ultimate goal was to convert the sinners and nonbelievers in the congregation and lead them into salvation.Edwards hoped the imagery and message of his sermon would awaken his audience. His underlying point was that God had given humanity a chance to rectify their sins. Edwards ended his sermon with one final appeal, Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. To modern readers Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God may appear to be the work of a sadistic, wide-eyed radical or a fear-monger, but the sermon is actually a reflection of the cruel and puritanical time in whi ch Edwards lived and preached.Works Cited Baym et at. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, vividness 1, Beginnings to 1865. New York W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2008. Copeland, Lewis, Lawrence Lamm, and Stephen McKenna. The Worlds Greatest Speeches. Fourth Enlarged Edition. New York Dover Publications, Inc. 1999. Cox, Brandon. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. 2009. Retrieved from www. brandonacox. com, February 01, 2013. Farley, William P. Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening. Enrichment Journal. Springfield The General Council of the Assemblies of God. 013. Retrieved from http//enrichmentjournal. ag. org, February 10,2013. Gallagher, Edward. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Some Unfinished Business. Department of English, Lehigh University. Retrieved from www. lehigh. edu , January 31, 2013. Rogers, Henry. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, A. M. With an Essay on His Genius and Writings, Volume 2. London Ball, Arnold, and Co. 1840. Print. Smolinski, Reine. Si nners in the Hands of an Angry God. A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th, 1741. (1741).Electronic Texts in American Studies. Paper. Stuart, Robert Lee. Jonathan Edwards at Enfield and Oh the Cheerfulness and Pleasantness American Literature, Vol. 48, No. 1. Durham Duke University Press. 1976. Print. Trapp, Joonna. Hell In a Hand Basket The absence of Hell in American Literature. Northwestern College. Philosophy Colloquium. 2005. Westerfield, David. A Quote From a Very Famous Edwards Sermon. Theology. 2006. Posted on Sunday, may 28, 2006. Retrieved from www. davidwesterfield. net on January 30,2013.