Shilo Wertenberger

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Jonathan Edwards’s speech "Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God" was given to a group of puritans in 1741. In this time in the American colonies the citizens were becoming more and more distant from the church so Edwards tried to change that with a new kind of sermon. As the speech was given Edwards spoke in a very serious manner, he delivered it as if were a final warning to the puritans. This speech was Edwards attempt at waking up the puritans; he planned to shock and scares his audience into increasing their belief and respect for the Christian faith using writing devices to increase his speeches impact. Throughout the speech Edwards uses rhetorical devices to provide a better understanding of the message he wishes to put across. Edwards uses Imagery to describe hell as a "fiery pit of death" like a "gaping hole" with “gathering flames" the reason for this is to describe hell in more clear detail and provide a description the listeners could picture and be scared of. Edwards uses a metaphor when he says “stands waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it...” the purpose of this metaphor is for the listener to become terrified of what horrors wait for them in hell. In the second paragraph Edwards starts a series of sentences with the statement "there is" this device is called anaphora. This use of anaphora is Edwards attempting to emphasize and tell about hell and focus on it. He does this to get his point across that the only reason people are safe is because of god's mercy. Edwards uses imagery again when he says "God's enemies ... are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind." .The use of imagery in the quote was to give the listener an easy way of understanding the wrath of god. Edwards uses figures of speech to compare different ways of God's power and the sinner's ignorance of their own peril.