Guilt In Jonathan Edwards's Sinners

Everyone in their life has already or will experience what guilt is. We always feel guilty when you know you are letting someone down. You always feel guilty, when you tell a lie to your friends and parents. You always feel guilty when you steal something that doesn’t belong to you. There are many ways that you can feel guilty. Many people ask “ What is the definition of guilt?” Guilt is an emotion that you feel when you done something wrong or bad. Guilt is feeling regret and wishing that you never did it. Guilt is feeling angry towards yourself, because you disappointed everyone in your life. Guilt is something that we feel everyday, but it is our choices that serve as a lesson and remind us not to do the same thing in the future. In Sinners …show more content…
Puritans lived strictly under God’s rules. If you didn’t follow those rules you would be committing a sin and would be punished. As years passed, people started not to follow those laws as strictly as they did in the beginning. As their belief began to fade, authors such as Jonathan Edwards started to write pieces, books and papers to use as a weapon. They tried to convince the Puritans that if they didn’t follow the laws, they are all sinners. Edwards puts fear in his audiences to make them believe that what he has to say is the truth. Edwards also want his audiences to feel guilty by making them believe they are all sinners.Edwards uses descriptive, vivid, and strong imagery. When Edwards states “But your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing and you are every day treasuring up more wrath” he is trying to petrify the audience, that if they don’t go back to the Puritan life and follow God’s rules, every day their guilt will increase and God’s wrath will only get worse each day. Edwards also uses a metaphor to persuade the audience if they don 't give themselves to God, their lives are in danger. When Edwards states “ justice bends the arrow at your heart and strains the bows, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God” he is implying that God will punish them for all the sins they are committing by not giving themselves to God. In Edwards’s work, he appears to be on you side but all of his …show more content…
She uses a philosophical tone, to persuade the audience that guilty bring out the best in us, by making us feel compassion towards others. Goodman knows that guilt is an important aspect of our lives, so instead of feeling embarrassed or angry she wants us to embrace it. She uses ethos by bringing personal experiences to establish credibility. When she states, “When my daughter was small and I was working, I worried that I was not following the patterns of the good mother” she is building ethos and connecting with her audience by saying that everyone feels guilt, even her. Goodman uses a metaphor to show her audiences that guilt is not a bad thing. When she states “guilt is the great civilizer” she is implying that the worst emotion bring out the best in us because it allows us to feel compassion towards others and to feel