Puritan Beliefs
Which puritan belief does this quote BEST demonstrate and why:
"There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship."
People are sinful because the quote emphasizes people's "sinful wicked manner."
Which literary device does Jonathan Edwards use in the following excerpt. Explain what it is and what emotion it appeals to:
"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"
Edwards uses imagery in order to illustrate hell and what awaits sinners. He uses it to illicit a sense of fear.
He also uses personification of the flames when he says that "they gather" and would "swallow" the sinners. This also is used to emphasize how much hell wants to consume the sinners and therefore, frighten them.
Fill in the blank:
From a distance, it was impossible to ________________ who was waving at us.
Discern
What emotions does Edwards appeal to with his references to insects and spiders in the following quote? Explain.
"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."
Edwards appeals to his listeners’ fear or guilt. He compares people to insects and appeals to our sense of disgust. He also wants to emphasize how small and powerless sinners are in comparison to God.
What emotion is Edwards appealing to in the following quote? Explain why.
"The arrows of death fly unseen at noonday; the sharpest sight cannot discern them."
Fear because he is emphasizing the danger that sinners are in. They can't see the arrows of death and can be struck at any moment.
Which puritan belief does this quote BEST demonstrate and why:
"So that, thus it is that 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; and God 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"
Predestination.
Edwards compares people to a variety of things/animals in the sermon. Give an example and explain what it reveals about his view of humanity.
"Venomous snake"
"Spider"
"Insect"
"Worm"
Although the restaurant was expensive, the food was ________________.
Abominable
What point is Edwards trying to get across with the imagery below?
"Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen."
Sinners are in constant danger of falling into hell.
Find two examples of personification in the following excerpt.
"The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them. . . ."
"the flames do now rage "
"the pit hath opened its mouth under them"
"their damnation does not slumber"
Which puritan belief does this quote BEST demonstrate and why:
"The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood."
God is all powerful because God is portrayed as being the one that is stopping the bow and arrow from hurting the sinners. He is the one that has the power to keep the sinners safe from harm.
Which emotion does the following imagery appeal to. Explain why by using three specific details.
"And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God."
-Hope
- it uses language such as "extraordinary opportunity"
- Image of Christ throwing the door of mercy open, meaning he is going to have mercy on sinners
- Image of Christ calling out to sinners to let them into the kingdom of God
In an effort to ________________ the angry passengers, the airline offered them reduced fares.
Appease
Review lines 55-63 of the text. According to Edwards, why haven't the sinners been cast to hell yet?
"And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up."
Edward compares God to an archer who points an arrow to the sinners heart. Which emotion does the following imagery appeal to and why:
"The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood."
Fear because it emphasizes how a sinner can be struck by the bow and arrow at any moment.
Which two puritan beliefs does the following excerpt demonstrate and why:
"It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up."
- God is all powerful
- Predestination
Towards the end of the sermon, Edwards writes about the sinners who are coming to Jesus. Review the following passage. What does he want people to do and what specific emotions/needs is he appealing to?
"Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? . . ."
He wants them to convert by appealing to their sense of fitting in and also their sense of hope. He uses positive imagery.
The storeowner was able to ________________ the employees to work on the weekend by offering them extra pay.
Induce
Identify a quote in the following excerpt that supports the idea that sinners are in constant danger. Explain how that quote supports that idea:
"O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder.."
"You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder.."
Apart from powerful, how is God portrayed in the sermon? Find a quote.
He is portrayed as angry and wrathful. He despises the sinners because they are abominable.
Which of the following beliefs does the following quote support and explain why:
"It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity."
-God is all powerful
Which emotion does the following quote appeal to? Explain why.
"You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince.."
Guilt because it is emphasizing how sinners have offended God.
While it was easy to ________________ the actor’s arrogance, we had to admit he deserved the award.
Abhor
Review lines 75-89. According to Edwards, what are three things that will happen to sinners when they go to hell?
"It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?”
"It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite8 horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is!"
According to Edwards, how does God view humanity? Find a quote from the text to support it.
God views humanity as detestable and disgusting.
Quotes will vary.