“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
In the Sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God,” by Jonathan Edwards, Edwards does an excellent job of showing his understanding to his audience, by using words and images such as fear and biblical illusions. He wanted to show the audience of what would happen if they sinned and angered God. So he used these points to persuade his audience.
Edward presents fear into the mind of his audience. He uses fearful words and fire imagery to show how angry he is at the unconverted men. “The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber;…the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow”(l22). Edward knows that the puritans must know how a fiery pit or furnace must look like, so he presents the fear by showing on how God could just toss them into one. Edwards wanted to show them how hell is like, and what God would do if they don’t change their ways.
Edwards uses biblical illusions, so his audience can grasp what he is telling them. He uses a quote directly from the bible, “their foot shall slide in due time.” This showed that there was no hope for the audience; their time will come to accept the punishment from God. Edwards shows the fear of how God hates the people, a thousand times more than the devil, “you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours” (l76). In the Bible the serpent is described and shown as the devil. Edward shows how much God is disgusted at the audience.
Edwards’s repetition of a few words presents his audience with more fear. Edward uses the word “nothing” a lot throughout his sermon, to present the crowd a more seriousness of fear. He wanted to show that there is nothing to do to change themselves. “ You hand by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator; and nothing to...