“Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God”
by Jonathan Edwards
English III
CHS
C. Edge
Focus Activity, p. 100
Think about a time you tried to change
someone’s mind. Did you use a gentle
approach, scare tactics, or something in
between?
In your journal, write about a time when you
tried to persuade someone to accept your
point of view. How did you do it? How
successful were you?
Literary Elements
Metaphor – a figure of speech that
compares or equates two seemingly unlike
things. In contrast to a simile, a metaphor
implies the comparison instead of stating it
directly; hence there is no use of
connectives such as like or as.
Literary Elements
Imagery – The “word pictures” that writers
create to evoke an emotional response.
In creating effective images, writers use
sensory details.
Literary Elements
Repetition – The recurrence of sounds,
words, phrases, lines, or stanzas in a
speech or piece of writing.
Repetition increases the sense of unity in a
work and can call attention to particular
ideas.
Literary Elements
Sensory details – Evocative words or
phrases that appeal to one or more of the
five senses—sight, sound, smell, touch, or
taste.
Selection Vocabulary
• Wrath – n. extreme anger; vengeful punishment
• Appease – v. to bring to a state of peace or
quiet; soothe
• Abate – v. to lessen or reduce in force or
intensity
• Incensed – adj. made very angry
• Prudence – n. exercise of good and cautious
judgment
• Abhor – v. to regard with disgust
• Abominable – adj. disgusting; detestable
The Great Awakening
In 1740 the well-known British evangelist
George Whitefield joined with Jonathan
Edwards to spark a religious revival that
swept New England. The Great
Awakening was a backlash against what
many believed was a church that had
grown far too lenient.
Edwards preached a return to Calvinism
which stressed predestination, the belief
that only a select few chosen by God
would be saved. No individual could earn
grace by doing good deeds, so everyone
was equally powerless to control their
own fate.
ETV Streamline Video
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the
Hands of an
Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the
Hands of an
Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the
Hands of an
Angry God
Analyze the Title
Sinners in the
Hands of an
Angry God
Cultural Note
As a Calvinist, Jonathan Edwards believed
that some people were favored by God
and others were not. This belief was
interpreted by some to mean that worldly
success was a sign of God’s favor. Many
believed that one way God rewarded
people for their repentance and pious
behavior was with earthly goods.
What is wrong with this assumption?
Visualize the Story
As you read, visualize the faces on the
congregation as they listen to the speech.
How might they react?
Could their outward reactions tell how they
are reacting inwardly?
“…indeed these things are nothing; if God
should withdraw his hand, they would avail
no more to keep you from falling, than the
thin air to hold up a person that is
suspended in it.” (p. 102)
“…all your righteousness, would have no
more influence to uphold you and keep
you out of hell, than a spider’s web would
have to stop a falling rock.” (p. 102)
“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the
arrow made rady on the string, and justice
bends the arrow at your heart, and strains
the bow, and it is nothing but the mere
pleasure of God, and that of an angry
God, without any promise or obligation at
all, that keeps the arrow one moment from
being made drunk with your blood.” (p.
103)
Repetition
Edwards repeats the word nothing several
times. What effect does this have?
It emphasizes that there is nothing the
natural man can do to save himself.
Theme of the Selection?
It’s time to turn so
you don’t burn!
Symbolism
Edward exhorts his congregation: “Let
everyone fly out of Sodom!”
How is this a symbol?
The city of Sodom is believed to have been
destroyed by God because nearly
everyone in the city was living sinfully.
Obviously this congregation does not live
in Sodom, so Edwards uses the term to
stand for all conditions of sinful living.
Literary Elements: Imagery
Edward’s sermon is filled with images meant
to frighten listeners into seeking God and
avoiding hell.
1. What frightening images occur in the first
two paragraphs? To what senses do
they appeal?
Images of a fiery pit and lake of brimstone
appeal to sight and touch.
Literary Elements: Imagery
2. What sensory details does Edwards
include in the fourth paragraph? What
effect does the imagery have on the
reader?
The weight of sin will make the sinner fall.
The images frighten and intimidate.
Literary Elements: Imagery
3. List five additional images in the sermon,
each of which appeals to a different sense.
• Bow and arrow of God’s wrath
• Souls born again
• The sinner held over hell like a spider
• A sinner who is like a venomous serpent
• Hell as a great furnace
Interdisciplinary Activity: Art
Choose a passage from Edwards’s sermon
that contains vivid imagery, such as his
comparison of sinners to “the most hateful
and venomous serpent.” Sketch the
passage, or use a computer graphics
program to illustrate the scene.