Sinners by Jonathan Edwards

A detailed Summary of Sinners by Jonathan Edwards

Envision living in the day of the Puritans. Living in a land where everything is new and exciting. There is the freedom of speech and religion. But some chose not to believe in the divine religion, the religion of believing in a higher power or in some cases, God. Jonathan Edwards had a lot to say to those who chose not to believe in that awesome power, the power of God.

Jonathan Edwards wants to frighten the Puritans into following a more righteous path. In the passage that Edwards writes he says "Men are held in the hand of God over the pit of Hell..." in this direct quote Edwards is trying to say the Puritans are going to hell, unless they follow the more righteous path. This is a good quote because it tells how Edwards feels about the path, and how he thinks that everyone is going to fall into the blazing pit of Hell. Edwards wants to get his point across to the non-believers and in doing so he feels that he must frighten them into following that path, he uses a lot of metaphors , similes, hyperboles, and personification in doing this. Edwards says in one simile that he wrote, "Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead..." in this simile, Edwards says that the Puritans are evil

Next, Edwards wants to tell the Puritans that is they do not follow the more righteous path that they will go to hell. In following through with this, Edwards writes, "you hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it..." in this use of a hyperbole, Edwards tells that the non-believers are so close to going to hell, the Devil is just waiting to cajole them into believing him, and becoming one with him. This quote shows that the puritans are so close to falling in, and they don't even realize it, even with all the flames of divine wrath around them. Edwards is such a bigot that he doesn't believe that there is any other way to live than the way that he lives. He says "there is Hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon..." he stresses in this metaphor how hell is waiting for the non-believers and how there is nothing to stable them without God. Without God there is no point in living because you were born a sinner and unless you are the chosen one you will be forever a sinner and never get to heaven, but unless you believe in the "higher one" you will be

forever failing and forever struggling through your miserably, pathetic, life. Edwards mentions in one part of the passage, "the bow of Gods wrath is bent..." in this metaphor Edwards is saying that unless the Puritans are willing to become believers, "God's arrow is one moment from being made drunk with your blood." This in this case means that God is the only thing holding the Puritans up and at any moment he could change his mind and drop you like a rock. In the metaphor that was used earlier it describes how Edwards feels that God is doin

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Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion