"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Markeia Scruggs
September 2, 2009
2 page Lit. Response
Upon reading “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, it was made obvious that Jonathan Edwards was an extremely strong willed man who wasn’t afraid to share his opinion. Because he was such a strongly opinionated man, he used great diction and created vivid imagery for the reader. His entire work appeals to pathos because of his strong diction.
“That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall.” the passage states. By using the words slippery places, Edwards creates an image of someone falling due to a bad situation. His choice of using the word destruction gives the quote an even stronger meaning. It makes the outcome of the situation seem ten times worse. Edwards states, “God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, buy will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction;” His diction in this quote gives the sense of no forgiveness, even though forgiveness was promised by God. As the reader, I became angry because Edwards basically says that if you’re in a bad situation it will fail and God won’t help you. This is a huge appeal to pathos because One can make the argument that sometimes people make mistakes, and they should be forgiven for them. Edwards makes the claim that forgiveness is unattainable in a slippery situation, which was supported by the previous quotes.
Why do we think we have the power to do what God already has the power to do is the question that comes to mind when reading this quote. “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or single a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, trembles. And before whom the rocks are thrown down?” the passage states. Jonathan Edwards used irony in this quote to express how we think we can obtain the power that God has over us. Edwards used great diction in this quote by using the words tread on and crush, which gave the impression that we think we have the power to destroy things. He also creates an image of a small, helpless creature being crushed by a large, dominant human with great power.
Edwards gave strong opinions of how he views God. He appealed to pathos by using many different examples. He also gave great diction and word choice in his work. He strongly expressed his opinions in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”.