Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Essay

As once a founding father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin once stated, “do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” Though this quote might have been years later than 1741 during the time of the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards gave the inspiring speech “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God” to puritans who left the church and left Edwards feeling that puritanism was in danger. He uses fear as a tactic to get the unfaithful puritans to rededicate their lives to God and gives them hope to repent for the mistakes they have made. Edwards uses frightful imagery, and violent then hopeful metaphors to get puritans who strayed away from strict religion to come back and have a second chance at a pure life. Edwards uses frightening imagery to make the puritans scared of what is to come if they continue being unfaithful to God. Striking the cord of a personal sin, “justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow” giving God the power to take away ones life in a second. Edwards’s scares the puritans by using imagery that relates to them, knowing that they have watched people of their kind be shot by a Native American with an arrow when they first came to the New World. Edwards uses individual imagery to make the puritans think he is speaking
Edwards’s use of scare statics includes personal and collective attacks towards those who have sinned making them feel guilty and ashamed. He uses fear to get attention and make audience follow directions. One must learn to move on from their past and learn from their mistakes. Throughout the speech, Edwards explains how the puritans should move on with their life in the direction of God and not look back on their sins. In real life, people must do the same. One can move forward, but if they always look back at their past they will not grow or