Monday, June 7, 2010
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Wow! I think this particular reading did more to awaken me to the religious climate of early New England than any other. I knew those early ministers felt a great responsibility to keep their flock on the straight and narrow, but Jonathan Edwards was over the top. It would have been funny if he wasn't so serious about it. "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." "You are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venemous serpent is in ours." "He will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly." I'm pretty sure that I would have a hard time with religion if he were my religious leader.
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I agree with you. I was amazed, not only with what he said, but how he went on and on and on. How long do you think his sermon was and can you imagine how guilty everyone felt when he finally finished?
ReplyDeleteThis is not a semon I would have liked to be present for. Talk about belaboring the point. How many ways can you tell a group of albeint not perfect people but fairly good people that they are in store for the wrath of God? This is a scary sermon.
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