"Sinners in the hands of an Angry God"

"Sinners in the hands of an Angry God"

by: Jonathan Edwards

http://www.piney.com/JonEdwSinHands.html

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"God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen."

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Reflection: The message in this passage seems to be that we are at the mercy of God, subject to his will and whim, and protected only by his restraint. We are all horrible sinners and do not deserve to be saved from Hell but are by his benevolence. It is a sermon meant to make people feel small and insignificant and afraid, awed by the power God wields and submissive to his total authority. It is suposed to make people accept the fact that the only reason their sinful lives aren't being thrown into the depths of hell is because God is saving them. So they should praise him, lest his benevolence run out.

Journal: His message enveloped me, grabbed hold of me and dug into me so that I could not break away, I was captivated. The fiery words that instilled a fear in me as I have never felt before, and made me realize my place. I am nothing in comparison to God, I am his to do with what he will and I have no right to go against him. He holds me in his hand above the mouth of hell and I do not deserve to be saved. Standing there listening to him speak I resolved to devote myself to His cause, spread His word, preach His message, and forver more honor and praise Him, for he is life.

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Puritan Essential Question:

The Puritan religion is very focused on what God wants, they attribute everything to God and his wishes and their lives revolve around Him; this belief comes through in their writings. According to their beliefs it is God's will whether or not you go to heaven or hell, in Jonathan Edward's Speech, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," he conveys this message rather vehemently, ""God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment." What Jonathan Edward's is saying is that God has made no promises to you, and that you will not go to heaven if you do not gain favor with Him by doing his work and following his laws. In addition to believing that everything that happens is the will of God, they wish to serve God in any way that they can, to become a tool for Him to use as He sees fit. In the poem, Huswifery, Taylor begin's the poem with the line "Make me, O Lord, thy Spinning Wheele compleat," basically asking the lord to make his life one that can be useful to the Lord. The Puritans lives revolve around their religion, and they wish to be suitable for their God, the wish to spread his word and be useful to him; but oftentimes, when people believe that they are doing the work of their God, they become overzealous and sometimes lose sight of what they were originally trying to accomplish, doing no good at all.