A Critical Analysis of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741) by Jonathan Edwards

Protestantism in the American Colonies had been steeped in Reformed Christian doctrine fueled by the systematic theology of Calvin. This era of heightened religious sensibility and evangelism, exposing such biblical realities as the equality of all men and Enlightenment principles of egalitarianism such as inalienable rights endowed by their Creator, helped formulate the democratic thinking that led to the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin supported George Whitefield, perhaps the most famous of the evangelical preachers during this period in Colonial America, by printing his sermons in his Gazette. This sets the stage for Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is perhaps the best literary example of the style of preaching taking place during the Great Awakening. With vivid imagery and illustrative language, Edwards very emotionally addresses his congregation directly and makes an appeal for them to repent of the sin that will surely bring the deserved wrath of an angry God to bare upon them. “What are we, that we should think to stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?”

With such questions as this, Edwards causes his audience to contrast and consider themselves in comparison to the terribleness and omnipotent, absolute judgement of God. That God’s power is absolute and His wrath justified against sin is very evident throughout Edwards’ sermon. He also aptly interjects Scripture passages to further illustrate the unfortunate position of sinful man. “John 3:18.” He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.” Making clear the distinction between saints and sinners, Edwards brings Puritan beliefs into conversation with the rationalist and deist creators of the Enlightenment.

Ethics become a central issue in the social context of evangelical revivalism as well as provincial politics. Ethics and the issue of morality are the ballroom within which the old and new schools of thought in Colonial America find themselves dancing towards a revolution of ideas. Edwards seems to be somewhat of a preacher with a Reformed theological ideology who expressed Calvinist soteriology in more modern language than his predecessors. Edwards wanted his audience to know with certainty that Hell is a real place to be shunned and that God was, is, and ever would be an omnipotent God whose wrath and judgment are to be feared above all else. With vivid imagery in scenes such as, “There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.” The appeal Edwards makes in his conclusion is most compelling even today; for those currently out of Christ to come forth and surrender their lives and accept this momentary window of opportunity to avoid the tyranny of God’s wrath, damnation, and hellfire that is promised in Scripture. www.ministryofwritinghelps.com

Thanksgiving 2012

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Is life a bowl of cherries? Will people smile in our face while they rob us blind or urinate on our head while telling us with a straight face that it is raining? I would say absolutely, friend. And yet, despite the total depravity of man, millions of us will gather around dinner tables today and enjoy

countless blessings of the Lord until, engorged with the fat of the land, we literally exhaust ourselves consuming good things. Has God given us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair yet again (Isaiah 61:3)? I would say affirmative, good people. God is good and His mercy endures (Psalm 100:5) no matter how far we’ve fallen, no matter how horrendously we have treated His ‘other’ children, or how disobedient and self serving we can be at any given moment in these lives we owe to Him alone. We can only achieve relative goodness whereas God is infinitely, absolutely, and preeminently so. Sin only needs opportunity to be realized in us. If we do not well, sin lies at the door (Genesis 4:7). Therefore, I thank God He has made a way that we, being weak in the flesh (Romans 6:19), once we have confessed our sins and accepted His blood bought forgiveness, can be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and even come boldly to His throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Hallelujah! Yes. I am indeed thankful today and every day for so great a salvation as God has wrought for me in, by, and through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son (John 3:16). I think this is what I will meditate upon before I lose consciousness from Thanksgiving stuffing today. Pun intended.

© 2012 Brian L Hunter

A Few Thoughts on Whitman

Progressing from transcendentalism and the trend to have man supplant God in literature, we find that romanticism and modernism seek to fill the subsequently dark abyss of America’s intellectual soul with a shocking infusion of raw, lustful, sensual experience and far removed allegorical descriptions of natural life. Whereas authors in earlier periods sought to explore the mystery of life and man’s relationship to God, romantic and modern authors seemed to have an urgent curiosity about their own place or worth as individuals in the natural order of the universe. I am reminded of Proverbs 14:12 which says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Unchained from religion and social mores, free to roam the landscape of issues from emotional health, human sexuality, base instinct, and vitality, Whitman and his beneficiaries wrought a treasure chest of aesthetic observation and suggestiveness. I , personally and with no documented support, see Whitman’s direction heading towards the sublime and maturing in the works of Herman Hesse (1877- 1962), D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), Henry Miller (1891-1980), and Anaïs Nin (1903- 1977), progressing with more and more evil concupiscence until romantic and modern artistic expression gave way to the sublime depths of base carnality, violence, and intellectual erotica. Would realism swing the pendulum back in the other direction, and, if so, how far? The Transcendentalists had let the genie of man’s self-sufficiency out of the box and now the prodigal son was dining with the type of swine representative of the least discriminating beings in Orwell's barn of human experience in the allegorical Animal Farm. Coincidentally, swine most often symbolize devils in the Bible and swine was considered to be an unclean animal by the Israelites under Mosaic law.

This critic is led to consider that, if such developments in literature are indicative of a decline in morals and integrity in American society in its relatively brief history, symbiotically, such developments in literature must have significantly contributed to that historically documented decline. It has been said that Whitman was suspicious of classrooms, and his great poem "Song of Myself" is generated by a child's question; "What is the grass?" (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=7388) He would have done well to open a Bible, turn to John Chapter One, and meditate on the fact that “All things were made by Him (Jesus); and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3 KJV)