Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a very accurate name for one of Jonathan Edward’s most terrifying sermons. In this sermon, Edwards tells us of God’s furious anger towards us. And why?  Because we are sinners. And every time we sin, we are provoking God more and more. But, there will be a moment when He can no longer take any of our sins and he will let his fury be known  and heard of, and kill us for it. We shall be flooded by his anger, shot by an arrow straight through our heart, or thrown into the raging flames of hell. Yes, that is what Edwards tells us. Yet, is it true? Well, it has to be! He is a minister, so he knows what he is preaching about. So why not believe him?

It is very important to remember that this sermon was given during the Great Awakening, the time period of religious revival. Jonathan Edwards seemed to be more into the belief that we humans should follow all of God’s rules and never, ever, EVER disobey them. This was the Puritan beliefs. So knowing this, it is kind of simple to understand why his listeners believed him.

At first I wondered why he would use fear to persuade his listeners to live a pure life, but I later understood. What better way than to convince others to do things than by fear? Asking politely wouldn’t have worked. If it did, then, for example, I doubt than wars would occur. Edwards portrays God, in my opinion, as a dangerous thief; if you do not give him what he wants (which is for all of us to follow his rules and laws), he will strike (kill us).

Though terrifying, it is a very interesting pint of view of a God. For me, God is merciful and although we should not sin, he will forgive us. Yet that is not Edwards view. He, from what I’ve understood, wants his listeners to be the perfect people. And for that to be possible, they must not sin. Yet they do, and now, god is angry. They are sinners… and their life rests in the hands of their angry God.