Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Vocabulary • Provoked: (verb used as an adjective) angered • Appease: (v.) calm, satisfy • Constitution: (n.) physical condition • Contrivance: (n.) scheme; plan • Inconceivable: (adj.) unimaginable; beyond understanding • Omnipotent: (adj.) all-powerful

Vocabulary • Abhors: (v.) scorns; hates • Abominable: (adj.) disgusting; loathsome • Ascribed: (v.) regarded as coming from a certain cause • Induce: (v.) persuade; force; cause

Figurative Language • Simile • Metaphor • Personification • Symbol • A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of something else and that is not meant to be taken literally.

Simile • More than just “like” or “as” • So, thus, any other comparison word • An explicit comparison • “This is just like that.”

Metaphor • More than just “not using ‘like’ or ‘as.’” • An implicit comparison • The wine-dark sea • He is a rocket on the court.

Personification • The giving of human-like qualities to inanimate objects, ideas, animals, etc. • See these a lot in Edwards’s sermon.

Symbol • The use of one object (signifier) to represent another (signified)

Response Questions • (p. 87) In this passage, how does Edwards personify Hell and its fires? • What detail does he use to personify God? • (p. 91) What do you think makes Edwards’s final paragraph especially persuasive?

Question #4 • Identify the three famous figures of speech that Edwards develops in the fourth through seventh paragraphs. What things is he comparing in each one?

Question #5 • Edwards was directing his sermon to what he calls “natural men,” those members of his congregation who had not been “reborn.”What images and figures of speech might have helped Edwards’s listeners to feel the peril of their sinful condition?

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God