Theme Of Pathos In Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

In the 1700s, during the Great Awakening hundreds of people were accepting Jesus Christ and becoming born again. During this time, pastors were working to increase this number and convert more and more people. One of these pastors was Jonathan Edwards, who gave intensely persuasive sermons. In one of Edwards’s most famous sermons "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he utilizes rhetorical appeals: pathos, to appeal to the congregation’s fear; logos, to appeal to congregation’s common sense and logic; and ethos to gain the congregation’s trust throughout his sermon to assist him in persuading the congregation to become born again. Through his fire and brimstone teachings, Edwards evokes an immense amount of fear in his listeners. To further …show more content…
Edwards employs pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions through fear and show them what will happen if they do not convert. Then, he utilizes logos to appeal to his listener’s common sense and give them logical evidence to help convince them to become born again. Lastly, Edwards applies the appeal ethos to his sermon to gain the congregation’s trust so they will listen to him and convert. By applying these appeals to his sermon Edwards appeals to his listeners on several different levels ultimately leaving little to be questioned, and by doing this he is more likely to appeal to the congregation as a whole. Edwards applies the appeals wisely, and they all blend together to deliver his message and construct an incredibly persuasive sermon to help him convince the congregation to be born