A Rhetorical Analysis Of Cut Them Off By Jonathan Edwards

Edwards instills fear in his congregation by threatening the wrath of God and what will happen if one does not omit their lives to Him. “So that thus it is, that natural men’ are held in the hand god over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it;” (102). Here Edwards uses sharp descriptions to show his congregation that any wrong move can put one in Hell, promoting the practice of religion, more specifically; his church. Edwards also writes and speaks very poetically in such a way that his sermons are delivered with an intense amount of imagery that it seems as if those in attendance are watching a movie. Comparing the earth to God’s hand and the mention of God’s wrath being a loaded bow that is ready to rain down on sinners at any moment, helps add the the fear and the image. Another way Edwards creates his atmosphere is by referring to the mass in front of him as ‘you’. When spoken to in such a personal manner one is more likely to be afraid or concerned about the subject as opposed to the sermon being delivered with a more general

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), a theologian and philosopher in the British Colonies of America. He was raised as a puritan in Connecticut and grew up to be one of America’s most influential protestant revivalists of that time. He delivered many sermons, the most well-known being “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards gave this sermon on July 8, 1741 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The main purpose of this sermon was to convey to the audience the reality of hell, the need to change their wicked lives, and, ultimately, that they should fear the wrath of God. Edwards does this to motivate the audience to live their lives as perfectly as they can in order to not anger God and to avoid Hell.

God then commands Death to show Everyman who is outside of the law of God what must come to him without escape or delay, the day of reckoning for all. Death encounters Everyman and has questioned him about why he has neglected God, “Everyman, stand still! Whither art thou going thus gaily? Hast thou thy Maker forget?” (Anonymous). Death dispenses the bad news that his day of reckoning for his sins has come and he must give account to God. Upon hearing that his time has come to an end he begins to fear his journey to go before God and give an answer to how he lived his life on earth. Everyman bribes Death to give him another day. Everyman’s argument is that Death did not give him a warning and now he wants to find a companion to accompany him on this journey of reckoning. As time nears Everyman struggles with his ignorance and therefore begins to seek and call upon his earthly friends such as Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, and Goods. Everyman discovers that one by one his acquaintances and possessions, whom he held dear to his heart and promised to be with him till the end, all abandon him in his time of need.

Imagine you are a Puritan, it is the Great Awakening, and one of the most well-known preachers of the time is telling you that there is a good chance you are going to hell. Without some serious skills in persuasion, this statement wouldn’t mean anything. Jonathan Edwards ' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" speech was extremely effective in persuading the Puritans to take their religious beliefs more seriously due to his use of many rhetorical devices such as: figures of speech, repetition and sound, syntax, and the triangle of rhetoric - ethos, pathos, and logos. The people were getting distracted by things other than religion

Jonathan Edwards, a famous preacher in pre-colonial times, composed a sermon that was driven to alert and inject neo Puritanical fear into an eighteenth century congregation. This Bible based and serious audience sought after religious instruction and enlightenment. Through the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Edwards offers a very harsh interpretation to humankind. Edwards utilizes various rhetorical techniques to evoke an emotional response in his audience and to persuade the members of his congregation that their wicked actions will awaken a very ruthless and merciless God.

Imagery is used tons throughout the book. Jonathan Edwards uses a lot of imagery to get his point across and to make it as vivid as possible to almost be seen and imagined by the readers . His attitude towards sinners is that you have to stop sinning and repent from your sins or you're going to burn in hell. Edwards tries to scare them by

Edwards’s uses strong, powerful diction to clearly get his across to the spectators. Jonathan Edwards repetitively uses the word “omnipotent” to visibly tell his audience how powerful God is. Along with that, he repetitively uses the phrase “God’s wrath” along with words such as “fury, despair and destruction”. Edwards actually describes God’s wrath by commonly using words as dreadful, glowing, wickedness, black and vengeance. By the usage of these words and phrases, Edwards indicates that God is angered and furious of our actions. However to point out God’s generosity, Jonathan Edwards commonly uses the word “mercy”. By using the word “mercy”, Edwards indicates that since God made his worshipers, he is giving them an opportunity to repent and amend their ways or destruction is unpreventable. Mr. Edwards also uses words as “mourn, howl, hopeless and sober,” to specify the listeners reactions upon hearing Edwards’s sermon. Edwards use of influential words leave the spectators mourning and groaning in great despair. Edwards employs all these words through the emotional appeal of ethos. This is what causes a great impact upon the listeners at the church.

Within the eighteenth century, Christians were going through the Great Awakening, a wave of religious enthusiasm that swept through the colonies in an effort to make an impact on the religion within the areas. In the sermon written by Jonathon Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he is trying to persuade nonbelievers into joining his religion in a way unused by many. To show nonbelievers the two altering sides of God based on what people believe and “they may imagine him to be so” (3), Jonathon Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” utilizes threatening tone, conveying repetition, and augmenting similes to express the fury and hopefulness of God.

Edwards uses terrifying and harsh diction to convey that the Puritan congregation needs to pursue a life of humility and righteousness. Word like “violent anger”, “threatened”, and “wicked” that have negative connotations describe what God’s wrath will feel like on non-believers. It also conveys the point that Puritans are predestined and will not have to deal with this, convincing people that they need to be serious about becoming a Puritan. The passage where Edwards describes Hell also has strong diction that conveys that the Puritan lifestyle should be pursued. Phrases like “Hellish desires reign”, “The pit has its

He argues towards the sinners to express the way he feels about them and what he'll do to

He uses this against non-believers to make them fear that if they're not with the church, they will

Jonathan Edwards told the people in his sermon that God doesn’t like sinners and that whoever doesn’t change their way of life, will pay for their actions and burn in hell for all eternity. Jonathan says, “ God holds you over the

Actions gathered in front of him, he splits apart the caring people and the ones who have done nothing to show love or care. The Christians who have been caring will live an eternal life and those who have not cared or helped out others will be eternally punished. This is stated where it says in the text "those who have done nothing for me will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous ones will go into eternal life" This means that God is all around us and those who are helpful, caring and loving will live an eternal life.

Thy Grace to breake the Cord, afford / Us Glory’s Gate / And State” (Taylor 42-46). While these selections are didactic, Edward’s sermon is meant to persuade his listeners. Edwards states, “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; and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger,...” (Edwards 126). In this quote Edwards attempts to persuade his audience to transform themselves from natural men into new creatures to diminish the anger that God feels towards those who have not been born

Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” recapped by Julia Bryan-Wilson begins by explaining her work. She sits in seiza, a Japanese posture of showing politeness, wearing a black dress and presenting a pair of scissors, inviting the viewers to participate and cut her dress. At first, the participants were hesitant, but the less there was of her dress, the more aggressive the audience became. She does not speak or move and she begins to be treated as a sexual object. Wilke comments on women’s place in society and her position of power being lowered than a man’s.