An Angry God Thesis

In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”’ Jonathan Edwards uses appeal to fear to help his audience experience the consequences of sinful behavior. One such image is when Jonathan says “ a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God…..nothing you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment…”. Edwards is trying to make you imagine that you are been held by God over the pit of hell. This appeals to fear by creating anxiety of not knowing when he could let you go then, and when he does you would be descending down to hell with know one to help you.
Edwards uses the phrasing “that you are held over in the hand of that God…..nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment…
The smoke is showing you how hot it is in there. The hands you see are the souls that are trying to get out but they can’t. Lastly, the horns you see belong to the devil. He is hiding in the darkness looking at the victim been introduced to the pit of hell. The pit of hell is like entering the mouth of the devil, it’s frightening. This is such a vivid drawing of what people actually thought entering the pit of hell looked like. People during that time thanked God and praised him during times of good and bad, so saying that God is basically holding you over the pit of Hell by his own mercy and basically for his own fun is terrifying to these people. Jonathan Edward in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, chides the people of the church and of the world, stating that they are not worthy of God’s mercy, that they will soon face his wrath if they do not change their ways. Edwards wants the “sinners” to recognize that they will be judged by God and that his judgment is greater, more fearful, and painful then the can imagen. He also wants the people to know that in the end it’s all up to God if he will give us another day and provide another opportunity to respond his