Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan minister during a religious reform period called the Great Awakening. At this time hundreds of men and women were being converted because of powerful sermons during that time. Edwards believed that religion should not only be based on reason but emotion should be a key role too. Edwards used rhetorical appeals in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, such as the ethical appeal, logical appeal, and emotional appeal to persuade unconverted members to become “born again”. A rhetorical appeal that Jonathan Edwards uses in his sermon is the ethical appeal. On the National Math and Science Initiative, "Using the Persuasive Appeals" paper ethical appeal is defined as “The speaker or writer appeals to the
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The National Math and Science Initiative, "Using the Persuasive Appeals" source clarifies that emotional appeal is defined as “The speaker or writer appeals to the audience’s emotions.” (“Using 13”). An example of when Edwards implies emotional appeal is in paragraph 6 when he says, “Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an Angry God." (Edwards 42). In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Edwards uses emotional appeal numerous times. In this piece of the sermon he is using the emotional appeal to try to make people understand that they need to be converted. He is saying that all the men that are not converted are in need to be converted. He is telling the people that every day they do not become converted they are angering God and getting closer to hell. Equally important, another example of emotional appeal that Edwards makes use of is when he says, "Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight and these places are not seen." (Edwards 41). This is an example of pathos because he is using fear to try to get his point across to the congregation. He is trying to tell the unconverted members of his congregation that the barrier from man to hell is very thin. The unconverted members do not know how close they are to falling into hell at any moment of their
The National Math and Science Initiative, "Using the Persuasive Appeals" source clarifies that emotional appeal is defined as “The speaker or writer appeals to the audience’s emotions.” (“Using 13”). An example of when Edwards implies emotional appeal is in paragraph 6 when he says, “Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an Angry God." (Edwards 42). In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Edwards uses emotional appeal numerous times. In this piece of the sermon he is using the emotional appeal to try to make people understand that they need to be converted. He is saying that all the men that are not converted are in need to be converted. He is telling the people that every day they do not become converted they are angering God and getting closer to hell. Equally important, another example of emotional appeal that Edwards makes use of is when he says, "Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight and these places are not seen." (Edwards 41). This is an example of pathos because he is using fear to try to get his point across to the congregation. He is trying to tell the unconverted members of his congregation that the barrier from man to hell is very thin. The unconverted members do not know how close they are to falling into hell at any moment of their