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Brenda Tamayo

Ms. Storer

English 3 Honors American Literature

September 4, 2019

The Persuasion of Reconciliation

In life there are consequences to our wrongdoings, sometimes they are horrible and

painful consequences. In Jonathan Edwards sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he

mentions many of these unbearable consequences. Edwards’s passionately discusses the horrible

fate of sinners who do not repent through the use of imagery, diction, and hyperbole.

As Edwards’s gives his sermon, he uses vivid imagery to explain what awaits sinners in

hell. In the beginning of his sermon he announces, “…the devil is waiting for them, hell is

gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and

swallow them…” (Edwards 97). As the congregation listens intently to these words, Edwards’s

uses vivid images, such as flames to describe hell. The purpose of these gruesome descriptions

are to scare the sinners among the crowd into repenting to avoid this horrible fate. This use of

imagery is also seen further along in this sermon, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell,

much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully

provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else…”

(Edwards 98). Edwards’s uses the image of a spider to demonstrate to the audience that God is in

control of everything and has ultimate power over peoples lives. With this in mind, the audience

should feel the need to confess their sins, which fulfills Edwards’s purpose of this sermon. The

use of imagery, among other literary devices, is one way Edwards’s conveys his message.
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Another way he attempts to persuade his audience is through the use of diction, mainly

personal pronouns. Through the entirety of this sermon Edwards’s uses many pronouns, such as

“you,” “your,” and “we” aimed directly towards the audience. For example, Edwards’s says,

“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight

and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly

descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf…” (Edwards 98). Edwards’s uses “your” and “you”

pronouns to make his sermon more personal to the audience. As Edwards’s speaks the audience

should be thinking about themselves and their own sin, not about someone else. This tactic that

Edwards’s uses is all to convince the congregation to seek absolution for their sins. Similarly,

later on in the sermon Edwards’s uses many more personal pronouns. He announces to the

congregation, “There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this

discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who

they are, or in what seats they sit…flattering themselves that they are not the persons; promising

themselves that they shall escape” (Edwards 99). Edwards’s use of the pronouns “we” and

“they” are used to personally attack people in the congregation and to make others think about

everyone in the room. This is meant to target specific people and with this tactic Edwards’s

attempts to make people reflect and seek forgiveness. Therefore, his use of word choice, among

other things, is a way Edwards’s tries to illustrate his message of repenting.

Lastly, Edwards’s repeated use of hyperbole is another device Edwards uses to convey

sinners to atone their sins to avoid eternal damnation. In the sermon, Edwards’s proclaims, “…to

be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand

times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours” (Edwards

98). Edwards’s exaggerates God’s hatred towards sinners in order to terrify the congregation to
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avoid God’s wrath. His use of hyperbole can also be seen when he describes hell, “…it is a great

furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of fire of wrath…” (Edwards 98). Edwards’s

exaggerates an image of hell as a bottomless pit and a furnace of wrath to prove to the audience

that it is a wretched place that they do not want to go to. In order to avoid the punishment of hell

Edwards’s reiterates how everyone must repent their sins. Thus, by his use of exaggeration,

Edwards’s emphasizes his message to all sinners, to seek forgiveness from the almighty God.

Throughout Edwards’s fervid sermon about God’s wrath and the punishment that awaits

sinners, listeners have been shaken to contemplate their own wrongdoings and seek absolution.

This was caused by Edwards’s use of imagery, diction, and exaggeration. Edwards’s thought

provoking sermon leaves one thinking about their own mistakes in life and what they can do to

better themselves.
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Work Cited

Edwards, Jonathan. “from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Glencoe American

Literature, by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm et al., Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009, pp. 97-99.