Jonathan Edwards: Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

The primary focus of the world during the Great Awakening was religion, and the clergy were tasked to influence the thinking and transformation of people through the word of God. The preacher’s objective was to purify the thoughts and beliefs of the people in order to be saved from the wrath of God. Many people from different faiths, especially Christianity, have asked if hell is real, and have always wondered how a loving and merciful God, a God who is gracious to His followers and willing to forgive them of their sins, could judge and punish them with fire that burns eternally. Jonathan Edwards, the most famous preacher during the Great Awakening answered this question about the reality of hell in an epic sermon he preached to a congregation

The Lord is merciful; however, “He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but He can most easily do it” (Edwards 430). Here Edwards acknowledge the mercies of God but also worn sinners that, that mercy will not be available on the judgment day. so in His own time to punish the sins of the people of Israel because they were condemned to hell for their unlawful

Such a compelling analysis of the “sinners” makes a sermon a masterpiece then and now. Gallagher asked many questions including why has it become classic of hell-fire and brimstone preaching and what strategies mounted by Edwards, the conscious literary artist, can we detect” to understand the success of the “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” (Gallagher 203). The “sinners” was perfect sermon during the Great Awakening because Jonathan Edwards was successful with his great eloquence with powerful and fearful images of hell to persuade the congregation at Enfield to seek forgiveness and repentance. Gallagher in his analysis emphasized on the auditory experience of the sermon and has coined a term known as “a recurrent pulsation” to indicate oratorical power of Edwards to change his congregation with his voice than to impose any laws on them (220). Gallagher suggested to critics of “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” to focus more on understanding Edwards’ preaching style and his approach to poetry to encourage others to analyze his writings to support American literature (221). Irrespective of what critics of “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” would say, the facts still remain the same. There are people who still denies the existence of God, how much more His