Engl 48A
Jonathan Edwards
“ And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the king of kings?” (Norton 436)
"Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian," and one of America's greatest intellectuals." Wikipedia.org
Jonathan Edwards in his essay “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” uses of many strong and horrifying words to describe the place sinners will eternal live if they do not take care of their “unsaved souls”. I liked the way Edward uses of figures of speech to describe the power and kindness of God over the people, such as when he compares the sinners to spiders and serpents, which are creatures repulsive by humans just as sinners are to God.
“He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but He can most easily do it”. (Norton 426)Edward creates the image that God is holding the sinners by a thin thread, just to warn them and give them some time to redeem themselves while God constantly offers help from the sin state that people live.
I really enjoyed this reading, I could almost hear Edwards talking directly to me- it is a very beautiful and at the same time scary sermon.
