sinners in the hands of an angry god essay
Micah Knox
Mrs. Laycook
English 10H, period 3
October 21, 2014
Sinners In the Hand of an Angry God Essay
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, By Jonothan Edwards was an extrememly persuasive piece of literature written in 1781. It was written in order to convince his congregation that they had to have a conversion experience to avoid spending eternity in hell. He wanted them to acknowledge that they could not gain salvation by their own merit and needed Christ as a mediator. I believe that Jonothan Edwards, “sinners In the hands of an angry god”, did a good job of convincing the congregants because its intense imagery.
Jonathan Edwards uses the rhetorical techniques, imagery, repetition and metaphors to show his sharp tone. Edwards uses repetition to express his sharp tone. In the sermon Edwards says, “there is a dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of god”(108). In his sermon he repeats the word wrath, which mean violent anger, over and over again making it clear how angry god is with his people. Edwards basically dooms the congregation to hell saying that they are horrible people and that they deserve to burn in hell. In putting heavy emphasis on this word, he shows the people that they are all sinners in the sight of god and if they have any hope of not being damned they will repent. Edwards sharp tone is also conveyed by the metaphors he uses in his sermon. He compares several things to enforce his tone.
Jonathan Edwards uses many metaphors and images in his sermon. In one case he uses a metaphor to dramatize human powerlessness. He states the human has as much chance of keeping out of hell " as a spider's web would have to stop a fallen rock (109)." He compares the wrath of God to "great damned waters." He then compares God's wrath a bow which is bent and "the arrow made ready on the string"(109) to pierce the sinner's heart. He continues by saying that God holds people over the pit of hell 'much as a spider...over a fire
Mrs. Laycook
English 10H, period 3
October 21, 2014
Sinners In the Hand of an Angry God Essay
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, By Jonothan Edwards was an extrememly persuasive piece of literature written in 1781. It was written in order to convince his congregation that they had to have a conversion experience to avoid spending eternity in hell. He wanted them to acknowledge that they could not gain salvation by their own merit and needed Christ as a mediator. I believe that Jonothan Edwards, “sinners In the hands of an angry god”, did a good job of convincing the congregants because its intense imagery.
Jonathan Edwards uses the rhetorical techniques, imagery, repetition and metaphors to show his sharp tone. Edwards uses repetition to express his sharp tone. In the sermon Edwards says, “there is a dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of god”(108). In his sermon he repeats the word wrath, which mean violent anger, over and over again making it clear how angry god is with his people. Edwards basically dooms the congregation to hell saying that they are horrible people and that they deserve to burn in hell. In putting heavy emphasis on this word, he shows the people that they are all sinners in the sight of god and if they have any hope of not being damned they will repent. Edwards sharp tone is also conveyed by the metaphors he uses in his sermon. He compares several things to enforce his tone.
Jonathan Edwards uses many metaphors and images in his sermon. In one case he uses a metaphor to dramatize human powerlessness. He states the human has as much chance of keeping out of hell " as a spider's web would have to stop a fallen rock (109)." He compares the wrath of God to "great damned waters." He then compares God's wrath a bow which is bent and "the arrow made ready on the string"(109) to pierce the sinner's heart. He continues by saying that God holds people over the pit of hell 'much as a spider...over a fire