Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Vocabulary Provoked: (verb used as an adjective) angered Appease: (v.) calm, satisfy Constitution: (n.) physical condition Contrivance: (n.) scheme; plan Inconceivable: (adj.) unimaginable; beyond understanding Omnipotent: (adj.) all-powerful

Vocabulary Abhors: (v.) scorns; hates Abominable: (adj.) disgusting; loathsome Ascribed: (v.) regarded as coming from a certain cause Induce: (v.) persuade; force; cause

Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Personification Symbol A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and that is not meant to be taken literally.

Simile More than just “like” or “as” An explicit comparison So, thus, any other comparison word An explicit comparison “This is just like that.”

Metaphor More than just “not using ‘like’ or ‘as.’” An implicit comparison The wine-dark sea He is a rocket on the court.

Personification The giving of human-like qualities to inanimate objects, ideas, animals, etc. See these a lot in Edwards’s sermon.

Symbol The use of one object (signifier) to represent another (signified) Signifier Signified Red Octagon Stop Cross Christian Church Flag with Red and White Stripes and A Blue Square Covered in Stars The United States of America

Response Questions (p. 87) In this passage, how does Edwards personify Hell and its fires? What detail does he use to personify God? (p. 91) What do you think makes Edwards’s final paragraph especially persuasive?

Response Question #1 He says that Hell is “gaping,” as if it has a mouth, and that its flames want to “lay hold on” and “swallow” natural men.

Response Question #2 He speaks of God having hands.

Response Question #3 Possible Responses: The shout of “O sinner!” The passion with which he speaks The distillation of his argument into a few sentences that dramatically build, detail upon detail (warm-up, anyone?)

Question #4 Identify the three famous figures of speech that Edwards develops in the fourth through seventh paragraphs. What things is he comparing in each one?

Question #5 Edwards was directing his sermon to what he calls “natural men,” those members of his congregation who had not been “reborn.” What images and figures of speech might have helped Edwards’s listeners to feel the peril of their sinful condition?

Answer to #3 The wrath of God is compared to dammed waters, with God holding back the “fiery floods.” A bent bow, whose tension is increasing as justice prepares to loose the arrow of God’s vengeance upon those “out of Christ.” Sinners are compared to “loathsome” spiders held over the fire and threatened with being dropped into the flames.

Answer to #5 Edwards’s sensory images—such as flames, “thin air,” and the description of singeing and burning—make listeners feel the danger.