Monday, November 13, 2017

How would you describe Jonathan Edwards' views of God's relation to people in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"?

Edwards views
God as the puppet master who has
a grand plan for humanity.  He believes that any moment, on a
whim, God may
destroy us.  In , Edwards uses images to show the reader this belief.  For

example, he talks about the fact that God is holding the sinner over the fiery pit of
hell, and
at any moment, he might let go, and the sinner would drop into
Hell.  He also describes God as
terribly angry; he tells his congregation
that Gods wrath has been building, and that the only
thing holding back that
wrath is God himself.  He says that one day, humanity will go too far
and
Gods wrath will spill forth like flood waters. 

Edwards God is a God
who
is angry at his people.  Edwards describes the bow of Gods wrath, pointed
at the heart of the
sinner.  The only thing holding back the arrow is God. 
In Edwards world, God was an angry and
wrathful God, a God who punished sins
swiftly, and people believed that God was angry with
them. 


At the end of his sermon, Edwards does offer the hope of Gods

forgiveness and salvation; however, he ends the sermon with the warning that if they are
not
saved, they should start running.  As a whole, it is not a very positive
God portrayed by
Edwards, but it is effective.

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