Jonathan Edwards: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a dramatic example of a “fire and brimstone” sermon—one designed to leave the listener shaken, convinced of his or her own sinfulness, and fearful of eternal damnation. According to Edwards, “There is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one moment, out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.” Not only do people “deserve to be cast into hell,” they are “already under a sentence of condemnation to hell.” Throughout the sermon, Edwards repeatedly refers to the “anger” and “wrath” of God, anger that finds expression in the “torments of hell” and the “lake of burning brimstone.” Moreover, the devil stands ready to seize souls whenever God allows him to do so, a common belief in frontier communities surrounded by dark forests, Indians, and ever-present dangers. Edwards sums up his argument in this way: “Natural men are held in the hand of God over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it.” God, he says, “is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell.” One can imagine the terror of his listeners when he thundered, “The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up.” In one of his most vivid images, Edwards says, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire.”

Calling his listeners to convert, Edwards says, “Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you.” Men, though, have an “extraordinary opportunity,” for “Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open.” Christ cries out to poor sinners, and many of those sinners are flocking to him and “pressing into the kingdom of God.” God, he says, “seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land.” Here, Edwards refers to the Calvinist doctrine of “election” or “predestination,” which states that God chooses whom to save not on the basis of merit, virtue, or faith but entirely according to his mercy, granted through Christ. Edwards concludes with a call to awakening: “Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come.”