Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - Essay Example

?First and Dr. R. Nealy English 2327 4 July Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Summary of the Short Story and Critical Essays Summary of Work Sin, guilt and redemption, the tripartite structure of Christian theology which suggests the ways of God to men held a very important role in the lives of the puritans of early America in particular. They were reminded continuously about the aftermath of committing a sin. During the year of 1741, one of the very dynamic theologians and pastors of the time, Jonathan Edwards started preaching sermon to his congregation in the areas of Northampton and Connecticut in Enfield regarding the ways of God to men and convince the sinners of his congregation to take up the right path of life. In order to preach such sermons, Edwards effectively used various rhetorical devices to establish his point of contentions strongly through his sermons. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is also treated as the typical sermon enabling a terse glimpse into the theological paradigm of The Great Awakening. Edwards at the outset of the sermon itself takes the refuge of the imagery where he is able to paint a mental picture by the use of these imageries regarding the horror pertaining to the eternal damnation inflicted upon the unsaved souls. Edwards with the help of his words builds a horrifying panorama of torture and torment brought upon the awaiting sinners at the gate of the Hell which had an effective implication upon the minds of his followers receiving his sermons. Even though the existence of Hell is always a challenging concept and the tortures inflicted upon the sinners at the regime of Hell is also under consideration yet the powerful play of words by Edwards evoked a sense of fear and menace in the minds of the audience listening his sermons. Edwards’ threat of torture and torment for the sinners into the regime of Hell almost compelled the audiences to succumb to his way of proposed redemption from the sin and come back to the path devised by God for men. Mental pictures were successfully built through the sermons where the God is shown holding the sinners over the fiery pit of the Hell. And, when Edwards became quite successful in building the feeling of awe and fear in the minds of his followers, he launches the device of hope by showing again through the power of his words, the existence of light on the other edge of the dark tunnel at Hell. The light comes to the sinners, Edwards preached in the form of God’s mercy and forgiveness. The psychological game which Edwards plays by building a sense of fear at the beginning and then comforting the sinned souls with the presence of mercy and forgiveness is truly effective and strongly influential. Next, Edwards uses myriad figures of speeches to establish the abstract concept of God’s wrath and the evil of the sinners with relation to the common life experiences. Edwards established the fact widely that God is able to unleash and inflict His wrath and agony upon the sinners at any moment but His immense and all-mighty sense of mercy and forgiveness save the sinners from coming into the direct effect of God’s anger. Edwards also uses metaphors to compare the sinners with spiders and serpents along with creatures which are subject of indignation for common men. Therefore, with fright and a stark feeling evoked by using vivid imagery and home-felt words, Edwards was able to make his followers believe that the sinners are quite vulnerable to God’s wrath and anger at any point of time and thus by these make-belief stories and powerful interplay of emotions and words, Edwards was able to keep his members of congregation away from the path of sin (Edwards and Smolinski 1-31). Summaries of Critical Essays Lukasik, Christopher. “Feeling the Force of Certainty: The Divine Science, Newtonianism, and Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."” The New England Quarterly 73.2 (2000): 222-245. Print. Christopher Lukasik in his essay, “Feeling Force of Certainty: The Devine Science, Newtonianism, and Jonathon Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” discussed the challenges associated with the uncertainty of the terror and precariousness of the sermons imbibed within the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Moreover, the image of the dangling spider over the dungeon of Hell for more than two centuries evoked fear and a sense of foreboding into the minds of the listeners. Lukasik asserts in his essay that the images presented by Edwards in his sermon have definitely served as a product of emotional uncertainty for more than two centuries. However, Lukasik in his essay points out to a very unique and important aspect of the sermons preached by Edwards. Lukasik points out very effectively that the images of a loathsome spider dangling or all other images of hanging, falling or dangling creatures mentioned within the premise of the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” should not be only treated as an icon of terror to set the ways of God to men. But very importantly, these sermons do associate the concepts of new science and have the capability where the new scientific propositions have been precisely infused and have been well accommodated into the premise of the old religion. Lukasik argues that it is quite true that Edwards was a master rhetorician but this fact does not undermine that Edwards was successful in coupling the certainty and universality associated with the action of gravity upon the objects in the physical world with that of the certainty and universality of human being’s sheer sense of depravation and dependence on God in the realm of metaphysical world (Lukasik 222-245). Mancina, Emily F. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Resurrecting the Odious Debt Doctrine in International Law.” Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. (2004): 1239. Print. In the essay “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Resurrecting the Odious Doctrine in International Law” Emily F. Mancina pondered upon the omnipotence of God preached by the puritan parish of America, Jonathan Edwards in the year 1741. The omnipotence of the all-mighty, his sovereignty is reiterated time and again in the sermon in particular. Taking the queue of the arbitrary will, Mancina discusses the way of God’s free will, the way it operates and remains unhindered as well as gets implemented in an arbitrary way. Mancina agrees that the arbitrary and free will of God is completely religious in context but its implication is broad and intense to the extent that the sermon can be infused properly into the realm of science, politics and social science as well. The discursive effect of the sermon and its issue of God’s sovereignty accommodates properly within the space of western normatively. Sovereign power and the discourse associated with it in the sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards form the backbone of the Westphalia system. The discourse as viewed by Mancina also invites the doctrine of moral judgment as viewed as one of the means of providing culpability and inflicting punishment. Taking the clue of the concept of sovereignty, Mancina tries to develop a unique metaphorical relationship between the World Bank and the states or the nations indebted to it. The relation is drawn upon the matrix of God’s arbitrary will and sovereign control where He can actually launch His wrath upon the sinners at any time, but is restrained by the virtue of mercy and forgiveness which actually makes His actions completely balanced and worthy of being a sovereign power. Mancina views the World Bank equal to the angry God who is relieving the debts of the indebted nations in an arbitrary manner, thereby taking the complete control of the financial futures of the indebted nations (Mancina 1239). Adams, John C, and Stephen R. Yarbrough. “"Sinners" in the Hands of An Angry God, Saints in the Hands of Their Father.” Journal of Communication and Religion 20 (1997): 25-35. Print. In the scholarly article, “Sinners” in the Hands of an Angry God, Saints in the Hands of Their Father”, John C. Adams and Stephen R. Yarbrough focus on an aspect of the sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards which is quite relevant and critically acclaimed since its initiation. It is undoubtedly the most popular work of the parish, but it raises more complex questions as compared to providing simple way of God suggested to men argues John C. Adams and Stephen R. Yarbrough. The vivid description of the torments of Hell and the predicament along with the relation of the “Sinners” with the fiery pit of the Hell have always been a commonplace discussion in terms of this sermon. The essay also focuses on the major aspect of the sermon by taking into consideration, the exuberant and dynamic rhetorical implementation within the premise of the sermon. John C. Adams and Stephen R. Yarbrough established that the rhetorical and highly influencing sermons preached by Jonathan Edwards were neither designed to preach nor to persuade or instruct. The reason for the formulation of such persuasive and rhetorical sermons was actually configured to pave an opportunity for the congregations and have a revision of a fresh and possible experience of a Calvinist theme which was repetitive in nature when aligned with the theme of election and predestination (Adams and Yarbrough 25-35). Yang, Ming-Tsang. Wesley Xi, She-Ru Kao, Pao-Hsiang Wang, Ya-feng Wu, Min-tser Lin, Eva Yin-I Chen, Su-ching Huang, Iping Liang and Han-yu Huang. Gothic Crossings: Medieval to Postmodern. Taiwan: National Taiwan University Press, 2001. Print. Wesley Xi very intuitively points out to a unique aspect of the sermons preached by Jonathan Edwards. The paper re-evaluates the importance of the “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” and tries to place it beyond the mundane periphery of scaring men along with providing them the ways of God. Wesley Xi views the sermon as one of the prominent documents of Christian Gothic. The historical context and the reading of the documentation through historical perspective are equally important according to Wesley Xi. The psychological, cultural and even dialectical implications of the sermon are of utmost importance where the audiences are able to relate and transport themselves into a character. Moreover, rather than searching a new face, the gothic profile is discussed at length which imparts an unique dimension to the sermon given by Jonathan Edwards (Yang, Xi, Kao, Wang, Wu, Lin, Chen, Huang, Liang and Huang 53-54). Response to Literary Criticism With regard to Feeling Force of Certainty: The Devine Science, Newtonianism, and Jonathon Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Christopher Lukasik, it can be said that while reading the essay, “Feeling Force of Certainty”, the sermon by Jonathan Edwards takes a bigger and better dimension which is unique in approach, where the infusion of the religion with science takes place potentially. This essay proves that the famous sermon of Jonathan Edwards was not directed merely to scare men and convert the followers. It had logic and a sense of universality that have enabled to retain the flavor and value of the sermon intact over centuries. With regard to “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Resurrecting the Odious Debt Doctrine in International Law” by Emily F. Mancina, it is determined that Mancina’s discourse is a blow and a wind of change on the conventional idea related with theology. The intricate association of in between theology and religion is perceived intensely through the essay. The comparison in between the sovereignty of God along with its omnipotence and the power of World Bank which determines the financial futures of the indebted countries as God control the fate of the sinners and bring for them punishment. These factors are extraordinarily unique in terms of socio-economic discourse inherent within the simple theological study. In accordance with “Sinners” in the Hands of an Angry God, Saints in the Hands of Their Father by John C. Adams and Stephen R. Yarbrough, it can be said that a thorough introspection through the essay by John C. Adams and Stephen R. Yarbrough leads to a very effective conclusion with which there are subtle differences at personal space at times. The notion that sermons were not preached with the vision of instructing or persuading the ways of God to men is not solely correct. The aspect of paving an opportunity for the members of congregation is partly functional, but the instructive domain of the sermon by Jonathan Edwards is strong in its agenda since the time of its initiation itself. In keeping with Jonathan Edwards’ Christian Gothic: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Wesley Xi, it is observed that the sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards is seen under the light of a Christian gothic paradigm where the characters are the audiences or the sinners themselves who add a new value and a dimension to the fundamental characteristics and purpose of the sermons in a new and a unique way. The establishment of the logical relation of the Christian gothic with the sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards really accomplishes the literally value of the sermon in a comprehensive and totalitarian aspect apart from its rhetorical exuberance only. Woks Cited Adams, John C, and Stephen R. Yarbrough. “"Sinners" in the Hands of An Angry God, Saints in the Hands of Their Father.” Journal of Communication and Religion 20 (1997): 25-35. Print. Edwards, Jonathan, and Reiner Smolinski. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th, 1741.” Electronic Texts in American Studies 54 (1741): 1-31. Print. Lukasik, Christopher. “Feeling the Force of Certainty: The Divine Science, Newtonianism, and Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."” The New England Quarterly 73.2 (2000): 222-245. Print. Mancina, Emily F. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Resurrecting the Odious Debt Doctrine in International Law.” Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. (2004): 1239. Print. Yang, Ming-Tsang. Wesley Xi, She-Ru Kao, Pao-Hsiang Wang, Ya-feng Wu, Min-tser Lin, Eva Yin-I Chen, Su-ching Huang, Iping Liang and Han-yu Huang. Gothic Crossings: Medieval to Postmodern. Taiwan: National Taiwan University Press, 2001. Print. Read More