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Natalie Davis

Professor Provine

English Comp I

8 December 2018

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

The “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon that was preached by Jonathan

Edwards during the Great Awakening period in American history. Jonathan Edwards was

preaching this sermon in a way that seemed as if he was trying to scare people into repentance.

In his sermon Edwards warns about God’s wrath and says that God will get vengeance against all

sinners of the world. He explains the wrath of God against the sinners will be more painful and

more intense than anyone can imagine. Jonathans argument is that God offers us a way to avoid

this punishment by repenting. He uses the expression “Their Foot shall Slide in Due Time” to

describe the sinful Israelites and their sudden punishment. He Explains that the expression shows

that they are always “exposed to deconstruction, as one who stands or walks in slippery places is

always exposed to fall.” He shows several other points regarding the statement “Their Foot shall

Slide in Due Time” and uses those points to explain their punishment or how they will be

punished. Edwards later brings up the observation of “There is nothing that keeps wicked men at

any one moment, out of hell, but the meer pleasure of God.” Jonathan Edwards uses metaphors

and observations like these in a way that captures attention and brings the attention to the logos

of the sermon.

People trusted Jonathan Edwards ethos because he attended Yale at the young age of

thirteen, was the pastor of the church at Northampton, and was a well-known theologian.

Jonathan Edwards went against the popular beliefs of the day, meaning he disagreed with the
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idea of predestination and did not go along with the puritans. Jonathan Edwards brought a new

meaning to Christianity by his powerful sermon. His sermon brought to light truths which others

had not, this is something that captured the attention of many people in the 1740’s when he

preached this sermon. He was a very important part of the Great Awakening movement that

occurred during the early days of American colonialization and exploration. Jonathan Edwards

used metaphors to explain concepts that would not make complete sense to people who had

never heard about the things he was preaching about otherwise. His use of metaphors only added

to his ethos. He did not necessarily follow all of the common beliefs, but this is something that

many others came to agree with after hearing his sermon in 1741. He gives strong arguments,

along with many points to back up each argument that He would make during this sermon which

makes what he is saying be even more convincing. Jonathan Edwards made this sermon one that

will be remembered forever and will forever have an impact on those who read it because of the

strong points that he makes.

The pathos of Jonathan Edwards sermon is very powerful. He appeals to emotions by

using strong language that could scare the congregation or anyone who reads his sermon to be

scared into repenting. He captures the attention of people by drawing them in with powerful

words like “vengeance” or “wicked”. He explains how God says he will seek vengeance, using

metaphors and making observations to only add to the passion behind each statement. He also

brings to light what will happen to the sinners if they do not repent quickly because Gods

punishment can come at any moment and sinners should be afraid of the pain they will endure.

One part of the sermon that is a good example of how the emotions of the congregation would be

affected is when Edwards is talking about hell, “The world of misery, that lake of burning

brimstone is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the
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wrath of God; there is Hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, not

anything to take hold of: there is nothing between you and Hell but the air” That statement is

used when he is addressing the unsaved sinners in the congregation, hoping for them to hear

about this terrifying place and want to repent and no longer follow in the footsteps of those who

came before them.

The logos of this sermon is that God has the power to send sinners to hell and punish

them in a way that should make anyone be afraid. Jonathan Edwards uses passionate words to

say that whether we are thrown into the fire pit that is hell or not is completely in the hands of an

angry and vengeful God. He talks about the misery the unsaved sinners will experience when

God takes his wrath out on them and throws them into hell for not repenting. He is lacking in

some ways of showing what happens other than the wrath of God, for instance his whole sermon

is talking about how the unsaved will have to face the wrath of God and stay in hell, but he does

not spend very much time discussing the good of becoming saved. While he does do a great job

of striking fear into the hearts of the unsaved, he does not do as great of a job of using the

joyfulness of being saved as a way to further entice the congregation to become saved. The main

topic of the sermon is hell and God’s wrath as a way to cause a change in the people who hear

Jonathan Edwards sermon, which is a popular topic of the Great Awakening. Edwards sermon is

very powerful and full of very important concepts that need to be taught to a congregation in

need of change.

Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” gives very persuasive

arguments regarding becoming saved. He is passionate about the people of his congregation

being saved, and that is shown many times throughout the sermon. Jonathan Edwards was

preaching this sermon in a way that seemed as if he was trying to scare the congregation into
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repentance. His powerful language, credible background, and passion for the people made his

arguments seem almost impossible to go against. This sermon is one of passion and fear that

brings forth change in people, even if that change is caused by the fear Jonathan Edwards

instilled in them through his descriptions of hell. This sermon was very effective through what

Jonathan Edwards discussed, how much passion he used to discuss those topics, and his history

as a preacher. He did a great job of almost forcing the people to understand and hear what he had

to say, if he had not used fear as a way to grab the people’s attention, there would not have been

such an impact on the Great Awakening movement as the one he made. Jonathan Edwards is a

great theologian, impressive preacher, and a very impactful speaker. His sermon is one unlike

most that preachers would preach today, making it stand out against the other sermons and bring

attention to the importance of being saved. His use of fear was intimidating in a way that was

almost encouraging.
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Works Cited

Schafer, Thomas. “Jonathan Edwards” Britannica, (Date of Publication not Available)

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jonathan-Edwards