Sinnersin The Hand Of An Angry God
Nguyen 1
Leslie Nguyen
Ms. Freschi
P.6 English 3H
7 October 2014
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” written by Jonathan Edwards convinces the audience to believe in God and actively converse with him rather than being ambivalent. He infers that talking to him is the key to salvation and their good actions are meaningless without a relationship with God. Edwards is a strong believer in God, so he takes it upon himself to advocate change. He utilizes fear and terror to achieve this and tries to change their behavior by scaring them and saying that God hates lukewarm followers. Edwards shows exaggeration into his writing by using rhetorical devices. One of the strategies he used is personification. Edwards beings the sermon by using personification comparing God's wrath to hell when he threatens, " There is a dreadful pit of glowing flames of the wrath of God; there's a hell's wide gaping mouth open"(21-22).This quote explains that everyone is going to hell where there are flames and hell is ready for them to go into it. Personification compares human qualities to objects. Another rhetoric device he used is a simile. A simile paints a picture which makes Edward's writing more intense. Edwards warns his audience that something horrendous would happen to them :" The wrath of God is like the great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher , till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped , the more rapid and mighty its course, when once it's let loose"(47-51). This quote is saying that the wrath of God is the rising and rapid waters that can attack his congregation if they don't go talk to God. Not only he used simile and personification, he also used metaphor. Metaphor is like a simile but it is more direct and doesn't use the words like or as. Edwards exaggerates his point by stating, "The bow of God's wrath is bent and the arrow is made
Leslie Nguyen
Ms. Freschi
P.6 English 3H
7 October 2014
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” written by Jonathan Edwards convinces the audience to believe in God and actively converse with him rather than being ambivalent. He infers that talking to him is the key to salvation and their good actions are meaningless without a relationship with God. Edwards is a strong believer in God, so he takes it upon himself to advocate change. He utilizes fear and terror to achieve this and tries to change their behavior by scaring them and saying that God hates lukewarm followers. Edwards shows exaggeration into his writing by using rhetorical devices. One of the strategies he used is personification. Edwards beings the sermon by using personification comparing God's wrath to hell when he threatens, " There is a dreadful pit of glowing flames of the wrath of God; there's a hell's wide gaping mouth open"(21-22).This quote explains that everyone is going to hell where there are flames and hell is ready for them to go into it. Personification compares human qualities to objects. Another rhetoric device he used is a simile. A simile paints a picture which makes Edward's writing more intense. Edwards warns his audience that something horrendous would happen to them :" The wrath of God is like the great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher , till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped , the more rapid and mighty its course, when once it's let loose"(47-51). This quote is saying that the wrath of God is the rising and rapid waters that can attack his congregation if they don't go talk to God. Not only he used simile and personification, he also used metaphor. Metaphor is like a simile but it is more direct and doesn't use the words like or as. Edwards exaggerates his point by stating, "The bow of God's wrath is bent and the arrow is made