Andy Campbell Mrs.

Nogarr AP English 3, Period 6 October 21st, 2013 Title: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Author: Jonathan Edwards Discussed: October 29th, 2013

Imagery: The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. (Paragraph 7)

Repetition: You hang 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 lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.(Paragraph 8)

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is an example of a typical Puritan sermon preached during the Great Awakening, a time of religious revival in the late eighteenth century. With this resurgence of religion, intense and frightening sermons that persuaded sinners to repent became commonplace, emphasizing the belief that Hell is a real place. Edwards hoped that the imagery and message of his sermon would awaken his audience to the horrific reality that awaited them, if they continue living the way they do. Edwards uses imagery to paint a

horrifying picture of eternal damnation for unsaved souls. His use of graphic words describing the horrors and torment awaiting sinners has a powerful effect on his audience. Even if Hell isn't a real place and all of the pain and suffering described is a lie, Edwards' way of delivering his message is so successful that it scares his listeners into believing and following his instructions. For example, the sentence: The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood contains extremely vivid imagery that puts the listener into the situation described. The listener can almost feel the arrow of striking their flesh. Edwards uses these figures of speech to compare abstract concepts of God's wrath to common experience such as the bow and arrow, the dangers of which everyone understands. Edwards used both of these images to convey the power of God to the people, many of whom were illiterate, and could not understand complex words. This metaphor shows that God could unleash his wrath at any moment but his kindness stops him from doing so. Later, Edwards compares sinners to spiders, a creature despised by humans just as sinners are despised by God. Edwards conveys these frightening images throughout his sermon to induce his audience into believing they are vulnerable to God's wrath. Edwards continuously uses repetition of images of pain and damnation, such as going into detail about what Hell is like and what kind of tortures await sinners, in order to frighten those present into leaving their old ways and converting. Edwards held his audience captive with his promises of eternal damnation if proper steps were not taken. For example, repetition

is seen in: You hang 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 lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. This sentence concludes Edwards sermon, using the repletion of nothing extensively to emphasize the futility of the sinners efforts. His use of repetition is prevalent throughout the sermon, providing a somewhat rhythmic quality to underscore the importance of his words and get the message across more effectively. It is interesting to see how effective this sermon was, despite the lack of evidence used to support Edwards claims. The answer lies in the underlying principle of which religion is built upon: fear. The fear of the unknown remains a useful technique in persuading people to do some act, or to refrain from doing acts, based on the laws of God. Most people would agree that a certain amount of fear is beneficial for man because it injects in him a certain amount of discipline. Certainly, from an evolutionary perspective, fear is an advantageous trait that prevents humans from doing potentially life-threatening things. However, sometimes fear is misused. The fear factor is dangled in front of people to persuade them to act in a certain way because it will keep them safe from terror. Fear sells today, just as it always did. Edwards diction is effective because fear blinds ones ability to use logic and common sense to question authority. From Edwards condescending tone, he makes is apparent that we have virtually no power over the authority of God. It appears that religion must constantly degrade and humiliate its followers in order to glorify and elevate its god. This keeps the followers in a continuing state of fear and compliance, afraid to question the intentions of their god, no matter how unjust or bizarre.