Jonathan Edwards Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Jonathan Edwards was a religious pioneer in his time. He fought in the name of God and believed that he was serving God with all intents of living a righteous life. He spoke among a congregation and gave sermons regarding religious guidelines and the way of prosperity. His tone in his sermon is very sporadic and tend to flux throughout the speech, making it rather confusing to get a general idea of whether or not he is angry or coming from a place of compassion. The way he gets his point across, using a range of tones, provides the audience with the appeal and idea he is trying to stress. An assertive tone is used at one point that really puts his words into a visual. He uses people’s fear as a motive as seen in this quote:
“He looks upon
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The fear of rejection in not only God’s eyes, but in the community, was greatly high for Puritans. Knowing this fear Edwards used it as an advantage when preaching to sway people’s religious decision and make them fear the wrath of God. Making the people feel insignificant when they present a sin in the eye of God forms a belief that you’re not worthy, hence giving a fear of not going to heaven; which was feared. With a fluctuating tone, Jonathan Edwards achieves many perspectives and it provides him with ability to control the congregation’s perspectives on concepts and ideas. In some key points, he uses graphic illustrations to get points across. Alongside that he has this undertone that God’s love is effervescent and he’s almighty forgiving love. At times it feels as if the whole sermon is an oxymoron. Without a doubt, he’s well aware of the senses he’s trying to intimidate and bring out. He’s doing what their religion follows, purifying the soul of impurities. Edwards, knowing the fear of Puritans, used this to add meaning to his sermons and he gave great depth to what he meant. For some, this is a rude awakening while for others it made them doubt themselves. With doubt comes the need to be better. That’s just what Jonathan Edwards hoped to achieve. He wanted people to be better and follow the path of God. Here’s just a few of the quotes that he

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