Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Running head : ANGRY GOD

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Jonathan Edwards ' Tirade of Fear

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Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God : Jonathan Edwards ' Tirade of Fear

In the first approximately 40 of the sermon , Edwards (1741 ) used the pronoun they ' They ' were the wicked unbelieving Israelites (p . 1 ) and the opening biblical quotation he used actually underestimated God 's rage at the ingrates he had saved : I will heap calamities against them .wasting famine .consuming pestilence and deadly plague (Holy Bible : New

International Version , 2001 Deuteronomy 32 :23-24 . Edwards seemed to have forgotten that God was easily enraged by everyone . e .g , .the Lord hardened Pharaoh 's heart .He could pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn ' - sparing the Israelites (Exodus 10 :9 , 13 . But anti-Semitism must have put his congregation in a receptive mood

Edwards preached that wicked men ' have no way of knowing when or how God will strike . But on God 's whim , a healthy person may instantly be dead and in hell . Now for the bad news : The Jews aren 't the only wicked men ' - Edwards switches to the pronoun you ' - which includes every man , woman , and child ( And you children , who are unconverted , do not you know that you are going down to hell ,

. 7 ) who never was born again (p . 4 . God abhors you .His wrath towards you burns like fire .He will crush you under His feet without mercy (pp . 4-6 . Edwards then called on the congregation to be saved , born again , as others throughout the country had done , and their hearts [are] filled with love to Him who has loved them (p . 7 (Yes , always crush ' the one you love

Since Edwards has been recognized by historians as the leader of the Great Awakening (Lucas , 1997 , his sermons presumably resulted in large numbers of people awakening ' and opting to be born again (and generously tithing ) to become innocent of their prior sins . What sins Eating little babies for breakfast , lusting in their hearts ' for a neighbor 's spouse , exploring body parts with the boy or girl next door picking a daisy from someone else 's yard ? Why were they convinced that they had been sinners ? Indeed , there has been research providing evidence that some people can come to believe just about anything , e .g that they remember events in the hospital the day they were born (reviewed in Loftus , 1997 . Thus , many people probably were sincerely convinced that they had sinned , wanted to repent , and felt a new love for God . However , the same research has provided evidence that the majority are harder to convince . Thus , many probably were convinced they were headed for Hell and God might not know that 's why they were being reborn ' In fact , is it even possible for most people to love ' on command ? Many also might have been going through the motions to maintain good relationships with those in their communities...