Jonathan Edwards, "In the Hands of an Angry God".
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards was a sermon given by the Puritian minister Edwards. In this sermon Edwards uses the fear that God at anytime can punish the wicked to keep his people under control. This was a practice used by the puritians to make the people live correctly under that laws of the Bible and of the church. This essay will point out examples of this in his sermon. Edwards begins by using a simple Bible verse from Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 35. It says, "Their foot shall slide in due time." He uses this short and simple verse to explain to his congregation that at anytime, God could decide that it was their appointed time to leave this world. Edwards concludes that this verse is referring to the punishment and destruction that the
He thinks that because the Israelites were exposed to so much destruction that they would fall, just like a person walking across a slippery floor is always in danger of falling. I don't like Edwards idea that we are only play things to God, only here for his amusement. Sure we are all walking a thin line between heaven and hell but I don't think God gets enjoyment in watching us fail. If a person is always trying to live right because he doesn't know when God is going to allow him to fall, then it keeps that person from doing things that he or she knows that they shouldn't. He paints God as a cruel ruler who enjoys playing with the life of his people. " Edwards wants his people to always be warey that at anytime God can take away there lives and that they should always be ready for this. He then says that no one is able to predict whether he will stand or fall, and he uses Psalm 73:18-19: "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them into destruction. And most of all you don't want to anger an already angry God. Edwards surmises that one day at God's appointed time, he will no longer help them and they will be allowed to fall. I think that he does this so that the people will fear and respect God. I don't think I would have liked the God that he was telling me about and I think that is why there were so many different religious groups popping up during this time. He ends his sermon with the thought that, "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment. Be good, live a good life, because at any moment God may decide your time is up.
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