“Sinners in the hands of an angry God” is a sermon delivered by Jonathan Edwards in 1741 at Enfield, Connecticut. The sermon is subject to a congregation, and Edwards appeals to every sinner worldwide convincing them to repent their sins as judgment awaits them. He informs the congregation that God will be the judge of their actions and the punishment from him might be harsher than they ever anticipated (Edwards, 1741). It is through the characterization of God and Christ that Edward is able to appeal and effectively pass across his message to his audience, the congregants.
Jonathan Edwards one of renowned eighteenth-century theologian and a preacher is the author of the sermon. As such, he is also the narrator of the text, and his main purpose is to deliver the sermon to the congregation assembled in Connecticut (Edwards, 1741). He is also determined to convince the congregation to repent their sinful ways and embrace Godly ways by accepting his salvation through Christ. In the sermon, he is notably delivering his vision of Christianity and emphasizes that hell is real. Additionally, he serves the purpose of informing the congregation of God’s furry and lack of mercy towards mankind due to their sinful ways. He thus gives the congregation an ultimatum of reforming their ways and that their only hope is through salvation by the love of Christ.
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In the sermon, God is mentioned as the major character. The preacher uses the traits of God to appeal to the congregation. The primary traits of God as depicted in the sermon are his wrath and power. Edwards envisions God as the most powerful force in the whole universe. He is the creator of human beings and the world they live in. It is this notion that propels the preacher to mention that even the most powerful human is “but feeble despicable worms in the dust (Edwards, 1741).” His power is unpredictable and limitless because he can cast the sinners to hell if he so wished.
Moreover, the preacher goes a step ahead to explain the characteristic of God’s wrath. According to the preacher, the wrath of God is because of his disappointment and anger due to the fall of humanity. God created humans to be good and follow righteous ways; however, they have betrayed their creator by following sinful paths, which is ruining them (Edwards, 1741). As such, God is angry with them and is eager to punish them for their sinful nature. Further, the preacher notes that God is also cruel and vindictive. In the sermon, the preacher noted that God would use hell to punish the sinners. He stresses that this sinner should not expect restraint or mercy from their creator no matter how severe their torment will be in hell. God will show no pity to the sinners and might even mock and laugh at their torment. In order to prove his might and limitless power, he can opt to torture the humans as a spectacle to all the creatures of the world. He is unlike Christ who is destined to save humans from hell but rather his obligation is to exact justice to the sinners.
Christ is another paramount character in Edwards' sermon. He is different from God, and his mission is to provide salvation and mercy to humankind. The preacher portrays him as the only hope for saving humankind from the wrath of God. He is also referred to as the mediator with a role of arbitrating between humankind and God (Edwards, 1741). He has the capabilities of intervening against the wrath of God to save humans, who have faith and repent by asking for mercy, from damnation. This portrays that Christ is the only saving figure that the congregation has.
The last character from the sermon is the congregation. This makes up the audience of the preacher’s sermon in Connecticut. The message in the sermon is meant to appeal to them so that they can reform their sinful ways. The preacher acknowledges that most of the congregants are attached to their religious faith and might be adamantly confident that they will ascend to heaven (Edwards, 1741). Despite this, the preacher notes that most of them will be shocked to find themselves burning in hell due to their sinful practices and beliefs. To save their souls from burning in hell, they are thus asked to repent their sinful ways by asking for mercy through Christ (Edwards, 1741).
In conclusion, the narrator of the sermon effectively uses the characterization of God and Christ to appeal to the congregation to reform their sinful ways. In the sermon, God is depicted as being powerful, vengeful, cruel and vindictive and he will use his might and wrath to punish sinners. Unlike God, Christ is merciful and serves as the mediator between humans and God. From the preaching, Christ is the only hope for saving humanity from perishing in hell. Human beings are thus asked to repent their sinful ways to avoid the wrath of God by asking for mercy through Christ.
References
Edwards, J. (1741). Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God .
