Metaphors In Jonathan Edwards

Anyone who has ever attended a history class of any kind has undoubtedly heard of Jonathan Edwards, and those that have heard of him are often taken aback by his forceful and fear inducing form of preaching. Many wonder why Edwards implemented such harsh tactics in order to preach the word of God, but what they don’t realize is that Edwards isn’t the only preacher to have applied such tactics. To this day there are preachers everywhere that use fear tactics and forceful remedies to spread the gospel. One of the most well-known of these modern day Puritan preachers is John Hagee, whose fiery services impact people’s lives each and every day. Two other notable preacher’s who share Puritan views are Charles Lawson and Jerry Falwell. Through powerful descriptions and intense metaphors, Jonathan Edwards …show more content…
One fear tactic that is used repeatedly throughout Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is the use of daunting adjectives such as: “wicked,” “evil,””torments,” and “damned.” These words are thrown blatantly into the listener’s face inevitably capturing their attention. Modern day preachers use similar techniques. Charles Lawson can be especially brutal, using descriptive words such as: “fiery,” “brutal,” and “deceitful.” There is an undeniable excess of metaphors and similes used by both modern day Puritan preachers and Edwards. Edwards states that God’s enemies are like “great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before open flames.” John Hagee uses metaphors to get his points across as well; at times they might not be as palatable at Edward’s. Hagee once stated that, "[The Antichrist] will be the head of the European Union." Although both rude and absurd, there is no arguing that the metaphor gets his point across. Another method that all of the preachers use is the method of human