Compare "Comtemplations" and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
Nature Expressed in Contemplations and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
Many authors communicate their messages, feelings, and beliefs in their writings. This is very true of both authors, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards. Puritanism is the base of their beliefs. In the short stories, “Contemplations” by Anne Bradstreet and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, the similarities and differences are interesting, though hard for the reader to understand. In these stories, the two similarities that come to mind are 1. Nature is created by God out of his divine fullness and 2. Nature has been corrupted by the creation or people occupying it. In Contemplations, Bradstreet is recording her thoughts as the takes a stroll through nature. She describes her surroundings from the colors of the trees to the brightness of the sun. “How excellent is he that dwells on high?” (Poetry Foundation 10). As she continues to praise God for his wonderful creations, she then thinks back into ages past into the garden of Adam and Eve. “See glorious Adam there made Lord of all, Fancies the Apple, dangle on the Tree, To get his bread with pain and sweat of face, A penalty impos’d on his backsliding Race” (Poetry Foundation72-73, 76-77). Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he preaches to you that God created this world and unless you are “elected” by Him, if you sin, you will be damned to hell. “Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption”(Lauter 728). The stories’ differences come out towards the end. Bradstreet believes that everything in nature dies but people have immortality, meaning that they will go to heaven and their spirit lives on. “But he whose name is grav’d in the white stone, Shall last and shine when all of these are gone” (Poetry Foundation
Many authors communicate their messages, feelings, and beliefs in their writings. This is very true of both authors, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards. Puritanism is the base of their beliefs. In the short stories, “Contemplations” by Anne Bradstreet and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, the similarities and differences are interesting, though hard for the reader to understand. In these stories, the two similarities that come to mind are 1. Nature is created by God out of his divine fullness and 2. Nature has been corrupted by the creation or people occupying it. In Contemplations, Bradstreet is recording her thoughts as the takes a stroll through nature. She describes her surroundings from the colors of the trees to the brightness of the sun. “How excellent is he that dwells on high?” (Poetry Foundation 10). As she continues to praise God for his wonderful creations, she then thinks back into ages past into the garden of Adam and Eve. “See glorious Adam there made Lord of all, Fancies the Apple, dangle on the Tree, To get his bread with pain and sweat of face, A penalty impos’d on his backsliding Race” (Poetry Foundation72-73, 76-77). Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he preaches to you that God created this world and unless you are “elected” by Him, if you sin, you will be damned to hell. “Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption”(Lauter 728). The stories’ differences come out towards the end. Bradstreet believes that everything in nature dies but people have immortality, meaning that they will go to heaven and their spirit lives on. “But he whose name is grav’d in the white stone, Shall last and shine when all of these are gone” (Poetry Foundation
Cited: Lauter, Paul. "The Heath Anthology of American Literature." Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 723-735. Poetry Foundation. "Contemplations" n.d. www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172955. 5 February 2014.