Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

In life most of us strive to receive the great things life has to offer by doing what we know to be right. We’ve heard the whole “you reap what you sow” bit and what’s right from wrong. We try our best to accomplish these righteous achievements. By applying these concepts to our lives we not only believe we’ll succeed on earth but also, if we believe there is one, that we’ll spend the rest of eternity heaven. Well, all of those expectations can be slaughtered after reading Jonathan Edwards frightening “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Through ethos, it is plain to see this character’s uncanny way of speaking to his audience. In the attempt to bring people over to Christ, Edwards uses a streak of condemnation. The theme of his message is ultimately of our demise. While reading, you encounter frightening twists and turns. But Jonathan’s stance is truly dependant on “the wages of sin is death.”
Edwards begins his grueling speech with a Bible verse. In fact, this idea is found throughout his entire oration. The thing I find most peculiar is that as many times he attempts to pull things from scripture, it is never an entire verse or he sums up the verse in his own words. For example, he initiates his speech saying, “In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites…Their foot shall slide in due time…relating to the punishment and destruction.” To start on that note shows he is one to use the element of surprise.
Another thing that was strange is how he depicts God. God is seen in several lights throughout his message. He goes from being a God who helps and then allows you to fall by which you have no way of getting back up. Yet it is only by His gracious hand that we are still standing because He is so merciful. Next He becomes this God of wrath and this cycle seems to never end. Jonathan even quotes a verse saying, “I say unto you, Fear him.” And after saying all this, Edwards expects his audience to actually receive this and want to follow God.
Not only does Edwards tell of our hellish eternity, but paints a vivid picture. He describes it as a furnace, “a wide bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath.” And we’re later described as “a loathsome insect over the fire.” Jonathan even goes on to compare the horrendous fire of hell to the fire of guilt burning in our hearts. “The flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire bent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out.” Yet he believes saying these things would make people want to agree and do as he says.
Finally, the most confusing part of his lecture, Jonathan Edwards insists on contradicting himself through the entire speech. He tells us, “God holds you over the pit of hell…he abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked…you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes.” But he just said before this, “There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment.” The whole “God is happy and then mad again” thing is continuous. He then goes on to talk about God’s infinite love and wrath. The two in no way can be equal.
So after hearing this message, I could only imagine the questions and thoughts running through the heads of his listeners. How Edwards could just walk in and say with such confidence that everyone belongs in hell is inconceivable. By using such unusual, and what seems to me, unbelievable tactics such as condemnation, false quotes, such great changing descriptions of how God views us, and finally the depiction of hell. This is truly a speech that would have received some rebuttals. He pretty much finished his speech by saying, “So just remember, repent or go tell hell. Thank you.” Yes, we can only imagine.