Jonathan Edwards Second Half Of The Argument
Edwards wanted to get across to his audience the idea that they were all in danger of being thrown into an unending hell at any point in their lives. However, he could not have simply claimed that most people in the congregation would go to hell because that would have been neither convincing nor effective. Even back then when most of the colonists believed in a God and believed in an eternal hell, many would have ignored Jonathan Edwards had that been his approach. Instead, Edwards broke down the argument into 2 logical premises, in order to present his claim in a way that would be palatable to this particular audience. A good chunk of the first half of his sermon detailed his first premise, sinner’s go to hell. Although the “anger and wrath
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The sermon soon became flooded with “you”s (26) and “your”s (28) as opposed to the previous theys and theirs. Edwards now stated to the members of the congregation that God “abhors you” (33), “you have offended him” (33), and “you have nothing to stand upon” (26). No longer was this about anyone else because his 2nd premise was that they are all sinners. The presence of vivid imagery increased in the second half of his sermon because they served to increase the gap between the power of God and the power of men by depicting God as all powerful and men as lowly and depraved. The metaphors and similes provided the same sort of gap increase as they compared humans to insects such as when Edwards claimed that “all your righteousness would have no more influence too uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.” (28). In one sentence he undermined the “work” that the members of the audience had done during their whole lives. These quotes “hold you over the pit of hell in such as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect” (33), “hateful venomous serpent”(33), and “the poor worms” (37) overwhelmed the audience with the realization of God’s power. The audience understood that jyst as they could look down at an entire group of bugs with contempt and disregard, God could look down on humans as nothing but pests. All of this helps to enforce the idea that in the eyes of God they are sinners and therefore no more than mere
The sermon soon became flooded with “you”s (26) and “your”s (28) as opposed to the previous theys and theirs. Edwards now stated to the members of the congregation that God “abhors you” (33), “you have offended him” (33), and “you have nothing to stand upon” (26). No longer was this about anyone else because his 2nd premise was that they are all sinners. The presence of vivid imagery increased in the second half of his sermon because they served to increase the gap between the power of God and the power of men by depicting God as all powerful and men as lowly and depraved. The metaphors and similes provided the same sort of gap increase as they compared humans to insects such as when Edwards claimed that “all your righteousness would have no more influence too uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.” (28). In one sentence he undermined the “work” that the members of the audience had done during their whole lives. These quotes “hold you over the pit of hell in such as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect” (33), “hateful venomous serpent”(33), and “the poor worms” (37) overwhelmed the audience with the realization of God’s power. The audience understood that jyst as they could look down at an entire group of bugs with contempt and disregard, God could look down on humans as nothing but pests. All of this helps to enforce the idea that in the eyes of God they are sinners and therefore no more than mere