“ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ” by Jonathan Edwards
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Transcript of “ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ” by Jonathan Edwards
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
by Jonathan Edwards
English III
Focus Activity
Think about a time you tried to change someone’s mind. Did you use a gentle approach, scare tactics, or something in
between?
Literary Elements
Metaphor – a figure of speech that compares or equates two seemingly unlike things. In contrast to a simile, a metaphor implies the comparison instead of stating it
directly; hence there is no use of connectives such as like or as.
Literary Elements
Imagery – The “word pictures” that writers create to evoke an emotional response.
In creating effective images, writers use sensory details.
Literary Elements
Repetition – The recurrence of sounds, words, phrases, lines, or stanzas in a
speech or piece of writing.
Repetition increases the sense of unity in a work and can call attention to particular
ideas.
Literary Elements
Sensory details – Evocative words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses—sight, sound, smell, touch, or
taste.
Selection Vocabulary
• Wrath – n. extreme anger; vengeful punishment• Appease – v. to bring to a state of peace or
quiet; soothe• Abate – v. to lessen or reduce in force or
intensity• Incensed – adj. made very angry
• Prudence – n. exercise of good and cautious judgment
• Abhor – v. to regard with disgust• Abominable – adj. disgusting; detestable
The Great Awakening
In 1740 the well-known British evangelist George Whitefield joined with Jonathan Edwards to spark a religious revival that
swept New England. The Great Awakening was a backlash against what
many believed was a church that had grown far too lenient.
Edwards preached a return to Calvinism which stressed predestination, the belief
that only a select few chosen by God would be saved. No individual could earn grace by doing good deeds, so everyone was equally powerless to control their
own fate.
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Cultural Note
As a Calvinist, Jonathan Edwards believed that some people were favored by God and others were not. This belief was
interpreted by some to mean that worldly success was a sign of God’s favor. Many
believed that one way God rewarded people for their repentance and pious
behavior was with earthly goods.
What is wrong with this assumption?
Visualize the Story
As you read, visualize the faces on the congregation as they listen to the speech.
How might they react?
Could their outward reactions tell how they are reacting inwardly?
“…indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the
thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.”
“…all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep
you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.”
“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made rady on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains
the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry
God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from
being made drunk with your blood.”
Repetition
Edwards repeats the word nothing several times. What effect does this have?
Theme of the Selection?
It’s time to turn so you don’t burn!
Symbolism
Edward exhorts his congregation: “Let everyone fly out of Sodom!”
How is this a symbol?
Literary Elements: Imagery
Edward’s sermon is filled with images meant to frighten listeners into seeking God and
avoiding hell.
1. What frightening images occur in the first two paragraphs? To what senses do
they appeal?
Literary Elements: Imagery
2. What sensory details does Edwards include in the fourth paragraph? What effect does the imagery have on the
reader?
Literary Elements: Imagery
3. List five additional images in the sermon, each of which appeals to a different sense.
Interdisciplinary Activity: Art
Choose a passage from Edwards’s sermon that contains vivid imagery, such as his
comparison of sinners to “the most hateful and venomous serpent.” Sketch the passage, or use a computer graphics
program to illustrate the scene.