Mrs. Pope
English 5-6 H Period 1
24 October 2012
What a Simple Sin Can Create In the sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, he uses vivid imagery and similes to frighten his audience so they can one hundred percent dedicate themselves to God or they will drop into the deadly red flames of hell. Edwards uses devastating images of hell to convince his audience that hell is real, so they can be terrified and stop sinning before they end up in the lake of misery. Edwards says that once God gets tired of the Puritans sinning, he will let go and they will fall into “hell’s wide gaping mouth” (23). The devil’s playground is waiting patiently for the Puritans to sin so they can drop to their “everlasting destruction” (26) and nothing will save them from falling because they didn’t pledge their lives to God. Edwards utilizes similes to scare the audience by comparing rising waters to God’s anger to frighten them enough to stop sinning or they will face the fires of hell. God’s rage is compared to the water, and just as his rage increases also the water’s elevation “increase[s] more and more” (24). When God loses his patience with the sinners, the rising waters will “let loose” (24), and God’s wrath will destroy all the Puritans in seconds. Until the Puritans stop sinning, God’s anger will continue and cause more destruction.
Oliva 2
Edwards uses vivid imagery and similes to demonstrate the wrath