Jonathan Edwards wrote this lecture, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” to preach to the congregation of his church during the period of Great Awakening, a time of religious revival. He knows how to persuade and uses numerous techniques to do so. In his sermons, Edward’s expressive, informative, and argumentative writing style and his use of simile, metaphor, personification, imagery, and tone creates a fearful, emotional image in the minds of his readers.…
In the excerpt Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, he demonstrates many different Puritan ideas. Edward feels just as the thoughts that are changing later on were based upon. He believes God as a deity who longs for his people to lead great, generous lives. Rather than talk gently about sinful behavior, Edwards considered it most effective to discuss God’s wrath. Rather than believing in the idea of predestination, he believed people had the power to save themselves by living a good life. His relationship with God was very strong, which encouraged him to to create better individuals by writing his sermons. The purpose is to aware of people of their behavior and conduct here on earth is for more significant more essential…
Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” approaches the audience with a call to action. Jonathan does not soften his blows of aggression towards those listening to his sermon. Edwards’ use of imagery and syntax add to the emotional effect of the sermon. “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string.” This metaphor is directed to those that sin, and is used as a more blunt approach to those who do bad, than Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”. Plato approaches the topic of ignorance with ease and softness, using an epic metaphor to compare humans finding self-knowledge to those in a cave. Edwards uses many similes as well, but with a more aggressive impact. “And the fiery…
Have you ever heard a motivational speech and while it was going on you felt so motivated, but when it was over you did not know what to do with yourself? In Beyond Scared Straight, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and "Can Kids Be Scared Straight?" all three authors try to persuade people to do the right things in a forceful tone, but there are reasons why appeals to fear is not the best motivational force. Some reasons why appeals to fear is not the best motivational force are that people might not get scared, are not afraid of the negative consequences, and do not want to nor know how to change.…
In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Jonothan Edwards makes use of similes, hyperboles, and repetition to strike fear into his audience in order to persuade them. By utilizing the sense of fear along with the rhetorical devices he manages to prove his point.…
Consider the fearful danger you are in it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of fire wrath.’ this rhetorical strategy that is being is called pathos. Pathos is used to appeal to the readers emotions. In this case Jonathan Edwards uses pathos to appeal to people fear. he is using this to scare people to convert Christ and to stop committing sin. This also helps because most people don’t want to feel the wrath of God. Pathos is one of the best rhetorical strategies that Jonathan Edwards used. Appealing to someone’s emotions is the best way to grab and keep there attention. Fear is a powerful thing if you can get fear into someone you can possible persuades them to do just about anything. That why pathos is an important part of his…
When first reading Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” shocked readers how it started right in about the wrath of God and Hell. His diction and images create a tone of alarming immediacy – act now for your own good.…
Preacher Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of a an Angry God used fear of eternal damnation to motivate his followers to repent. In Scared Straight? The program used fear to make teenagers experience the consequences about their acts. I think fear is a good motivational between kids and parents . It works between teachers and students , it works between citizens and law.…
“Sinners in the hands of an angry God” was preached by Jonathan Edwards during a time when the people were relying on science more than their saviour in heaven, a time when people were lacking in their spiritual needs. This speech opened the eyes of many, and was so powerful it may very well have been the trigger of the great awakening. But why was this speech so powerful? Why did this speech change the lives of thousands? As we can see he used plenty of persuasive techniques, he is very descriptive in his imagery and uses simple metaphors to persuade thousands to repent of their sinful ways and turn to Christ. He planted fear and guilt into their hearts. This sermon is a sermon full of anger and fright, a sermon powerful enough to make the strongest man cry and weep. But the true purpose of this sermon was to bring hope to a nation in need. It ultimately was a message of redemption, a message that Jonathan Edwards believed people needed to hear.…
Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicists and founder of the general theory of relativity, once addressed, "Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death" ("Albert Einstein"). Men concern themselves with life on earth and doing good deeds now, not fret about life after death. From the early 1600s to 1750, Puritan influence impacted America as predestination, the idea that God knows where each person will end in eternity, and the Protestant work ethic, the idea that hard work displays Godliness and wins God's favor, penetrated the colonist's lives and literature. As Puritan influence decreased in the late 17th century, the Age of Reason blossomed, shifting literature from teachings…
Damned or not Damned! A unique look at “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God”…
The time period known as The Great Awakening brought upon the revival of the Christian beliefs and many converted during this time. One of the most famous figures during this time was Jonathan Edwards, who was recognized for his sermon, “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God”, where he uses frightful and powerful visuals to make the people convert. Edwards uses a scornful tone and dramatic imagery to clarify and intensify his argument that if the unconverted do not change their ways, they will plunge into the fiery pits of hell.…
As once a founding father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin once stated, “do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” Though this quote might have been years later than 1741 during the time of the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards gave the inspiring speech “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God” to puritans who left the church and left Edwards feeling that puritanism was in danger. He uses fear as a tactic to get the unfaithful puritans to rededicate their lives to God and gives them hope to repent for the mistakes they have made. Edwards uses frightful imagery, and violent then hopeful metaphors to get puritans who strayed away from strict religion to come back and have a second chance at a pure life.…
individualism is “a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control”. what this means is that the individual has control over what goes on in the society rather than a government or any one force controlling what the individual does, individualism could be shown in many different forms. examples of different forms individualism could be shown is through the way you dress, your moral beliefs, or even your actions.Individualism is shown through romantic, revolutionary, and colonial text in Sinners in the hands of an angry god, speech to Virginia conviction, and self reliance…
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon given by Johnathan Edwards, a preacher and a theologian. Published in 1741, Edwards’ sermon is one of most defining pieces of literature during the First Great Awakening in the United States. The Day of Doom is a poem written by Michael Wigglesworth, a Puritan minister. The poem became wildly popular in Puritan New England when it was published in 1662. Both texts discuss the themes of divine judgement and punishment. Edwards’ sermon illustrates that it is God’s will that keeps evil men from being sent down to hell. Wigglesworth describes the Day of Judgement in which God will decide who will be saved who will be sent to hell. These pieces of religious literature both describe a harsh God who has ultimate judgement and no mercy when it comes to punishment.…