Sinners+in+the+Hands+of+an+Angry+God

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Edwards’ message to the reader was to tremendously fright, alarm, and cause panic in their souls. As the sermon clearly states, this was intended for; “Every one of you that are out of Christ”. His method of striking fear in the readers or listeners was through thorough explication and description the punishments and the horrific attributes of hell. He implies that the only obstacle holding us from falling is; “the mere pleasure of God that holds you up”. He informs that our own actions have created havoc which will ultimately result in our self-destruction, but the only one stopping us from being struck by all these horrific things are God. He hoped that through these great fears and threat of punishments, people would change their way of life into a more God-centered and purified manner. His ultimate goal was to convert the unconverted.


 * What literary techniques does the author employ in achieving his or her purpose?**

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 * Jonathan Edwards utilizes an extremely strong, stern, tragic, and bitter **tone** in order to get the message across to his listeners and readers.
 * The speaker also uses **apostrophe** (an address to a person absent or dead or to an abstract identity) when constantly referring to God; “The hand of God”.
 * He also exploits **personification** by giving human-like qualities to the earth; “The world would spew you out”.
 * Edward’s carefully elects to use **metaphors** all throughout his sermon in order to get his message across; “No more influence to uphold you… than a spider’s web would have to stop a fallen rock”.
 * He also uses **similes**; “God’s wrath is like great waters…", "The Jews are to blame"
 * Some **alliteration** is used; “more mighty”, “Ten-thousand times” “Than the strength”


 * Effect of time period on the work:**

This, both famous and infamous, sermon was publicly read on July 8th 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. The great focus during this time period was still religion. During the late 17 and early 18th centuries, the Great Awakening was taking place in America and it had a tremendous influence on all literary works. The main focus during this time period was religion and individualism, which was a great influence to Edwards when writing this sermon. During this time period, preachers of all religions (mainly puritans) gave sermons and speeches to the public in order to “transform” them and “purify” their thoughts, life, and beliefs. Jonathan Edwards happened to be one of these preachers and was the author of the most influential and brutal sermon in American history.

"Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" is far too long to be posted in its entirity on this webpage. To read the writing, please [|click here]

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