Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Analysis

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In Enfield, Connecticut during 1741, Puritan religious leader Jonathan Edwards delivered to his church's congregation what would later be his most famous sermon ever. Edwards did not believe that many of his followers were Christian-like enough to suit God or himself. He believed that God was angry with all people for their sins and would be very vengeful for those that did not properly repent. I think the early settlers would have been persuaded by Edward's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God", because Edwards was a respected and credible man, he was smart in using persuasion techniques to sway people's minds, and he offered everyone a solution for their problem. Edwards was a well-known and respected religious thinker in his time. According to Brittanica, Edwards graduated from Yale University with a Master's Degree in religious studies in 1723, and followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps to become a pastor. In 1729, he succeeded his grandfather as sole pastor of the Northampton congregation, the most important in Massachusetts outside of Boston. By 1740, he had become a major part of the "Great Awakening" period in the colonies, marked by highly emotional sermons and the preaching of terror of God's will. Based on his resume, Edwards' words would have been meaningful to …show more content…
He argued that to be spared God's wrath, people must convert because "unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering". He stated that for all people God is filled with "merciless venegeance" and that if they do not please him, the "devil is waiting for them". He explained to his flock how "God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell". All of these examples are evidence of his attempt to persuade people via scare tactics of the necessity of dedicating themselves to