In his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan Edwards preaches about God’s mighty wrath, and what will happen if it is invoked. This sermon, published in 1741, was a product of the Great Awakening, a time of vast religious revival. After universally deciding that many colonists had lost touch with their faith, many preachers and church-goers alike found themselves with a renewed zeal for religion. This kind of writing bolstered the Puritan belief that hell was a very real place. By using images of a chaff in the wind, a worm, and a spider, he likens humans to weak, easily destroyed creatures or objects in order to show the congregation how they appear in God’s eyes. His intention is to strike fear into the hearts and minds
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Edwards informs the congregation that they “are but feeble despicable worms of the dust” (16). By comparing them to disgusting, useless worms, he again humbles his listeners, reminding them that in God’s eyes, they are small and unimportant. Also noted in this except is the image of dust. This is an image brought up quite frequently in the Bible. It is an image often associated with the creation of man, who is said to be “from dust”. Presumably, most listeners would have been well versed in this element of the Bible, and would have recognized it, connecting both the image of the worm and the metaphor of dust back to the state of humanity. If human life is made of dust, which is a tiny particle, then how strong can one human be against the wrath of God? This also applies to vermin and creatures that crawl in the dirt. According to the Bible, humans are created from, and after death return to, dust. If worms and similarly low animals live their entire lives in the dust, then even they have some superiority over humans if they are crawling around in their remains. To bring to mind the fragility of human life against the power of God, Edwards reads, “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth” (11). When most people step on a worm, they feel a greater sense of relief than of remorse. This illustrates the way that God feels …show more content…
He informs them that God “holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect” (15). If these people, even the best among them, are perpetually held over the pits of hell, then that shows that God has very low expectations for them. If a Puritan was to believe that God was ready and capable to damn them at any moment, then they would always be on their best behavior. This tactic of fear mongering continues when Edwards tells the congregation that, “there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up” (16). Here, he makes the point that if you woke up this morning and are still alive at this moment, you should thank your lucky stars that God has found it within Himself to spare your pathetic
Edwards informs the congregation that they “are but feeble despicable worms of the dust” (16). By comparing them to disgusting, useless worms, he again humbles his listeners, reminding them that in God’s eyes, they are small and unimportant. Also noted in this except is the image of dust. This is an image brought up quite frequently in the Bible. It is an image often associated with the creation of man, who is said to be “from dust”. Presumably, most listeners would have been well versed in this element of the Bible, and would have recognized it, connecting both the image of the worm and the metaphor of dust back to the state of humanity. If human life is made of dust, which is a tiny particle, then how strong can one human be against the wrath of God? This also applies to vermin and creatures that crawl in the dirt. According to the Bible, humans are created from, and after death return to, dust. If worms and similarly low animals live their entire lives in the dust, then even they have some superiority over humans if they are crawling around in their remains. To bring to mind the fragility of human life against the power of God, Edwards reads, “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth” (11). When most people step on a worm, they feel a greater sense of relief than of remorse. This illustrates the way that God feels …show more content…
He informs them that God “holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect” (15). If these people, even the best among them, are perpetually held over the pits of hell, then that shows that God has very low expectations for them. If a Puritan was to believe that God was ready and capable to damn them at any moment, then they would always be on their best behavior. This tactic of fear mongering continues when Edwards tells the congregation that, “there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up” (16). Here, he makes the point that if you woke up this morning and are still alive at this moment, you should thank your lucky stars that God has found it within Himself to spare your pathetic