Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Rhetorical Analysis

In the, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards’ purpose is to scare his people, the Puritans. He describes what hell is and that people are worthy of hell if the will of God is not followed properly. Through the use of rhetorical devices such as imagery and strong diction and language, Edwards plan is to persuade all sinners to repent for their sins and ask God for forgiveness. Throughout the sermon he expresses in much detail what Hell and suffering looks and feels like and the ways to avoid hell and have eternal happiness in Heaven. Through imagery, on the eleventh line of the sermon he describes what hell looks like by saying, “The wrath of God burns against them; the pit is prepared and fire made ready for them; and the furnace hot and ready to admit them.” The use of these words causes fear that hell will consist of much pain for the people, something they will definitely not want to be put through. By doing this, it might make the people think about their actions and decide among changing their actions and worshipping God. Edwards also uses words and imagery to compare Gods wrath to a bow that is bent. He explains that the bow is ready to pierce the hearts of all sinners and by doing this, Edwards makes you feel as if you are there experiencing …show more content…
Edwards says that we are in a fearful danger, held over the hands of God whose wrath is provoked and “incensed”. He says, “It is an everlasting wrath,” meaning that our suffering will last an eternity and there will be no end to this suffering. Through connotation, he says that we are “hanging” by a thread making it an easy task for God to let go and cast us down to hell. His use of words, such as we will “burn” and “singe” makes it easy to picture and feel what the unsaved will sustain. The language used puts God in a position of the greatest power and places the people in a position of deep