Skip to main content

What message is Edwards conveying in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"?

Jonathan Edwards was a theologian in mid- to late-18th century in New England. In 1741, he preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (the published pamphlet of the sermon described this as his sermon on "The Danger of the Unconverted"). This period in colonial American history would come to be known as the Great Awakening—a spirit of religious revivalism in the face of both the Church of England and Puritanism.


Edwards' message can be read in several ways. First, one can read quite clearly the theology in which he was steeped, and which he emphasized in his sermon. He asserts that Hell is quite real, a place of eternal torment for the wicked (people who do not wholeheartedly seek God through the mediation of Christ). The theology describes how the wicked taste Hell even in this life, and could be taken at any time to Hell. "'Tis only the Power and meer [sic] Pleasure of God that holds you up." Nothing can be done by man to avert the fiery fate—no amount of care for health or belief in man's wisdom and intention can alter their wickedness. The only way to be saved from Hell is through Christ, who is the mediator of God's covenant of grace.


From a broader perspective, this sermon is one of the best examples of a period known as the Great Awakening. Characterized by refuting the dry, staid religion of the Church of England and Puritanism, the Great Awakening introduced an experience of religion, evoking a greater intimacy with God through sometimes-intense fervor and emotion in prayer.


These experiences led to religious and political shifts. A new boldness in the face of religious authority led to a greater sense of ownership of and participation in the worship of God. This brought about the rise of various denominations instead of uniformity. This new understanding that religious authority was not a sole source for salvation would translate over the next decades into the political arena. Political authority would no longer be attributed to a single monarch. The revolution would begin.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more