In the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" what does this line mean: "Justice bends the arrow at your heart and strains the bow"? In the "Sinners...

I agree much
more with Posts 3 and 4 than with Post 2.  Edwards certainly does think that God has reason to
punish us and that God might want to punish us in the same way that we get very angry with our
children when we see them purposely doing things just to test us.  We have the right to be angry
and so, to Edwards, does God.

However, just because he says the arrow is set
in the bow, pulled back and aimed at us, does not mean that Edwards is trying to scare us. 
Instead, he is trying to emphasize how much we deserve damnation and, therefore, how immensely
good God is to forgive us our sins.  This is more of a message of hope and gratitude than it is
a message of "fear--sheer fear."