Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

For almost two centuries, readers and students have been frightened by the scorching imagery in Edwards’s depictions of damnation. He certainly makes the afterlife seem to be a fearful place for anyone who does not live up to the high standards of the Calvinist dogma he preaches.

Do you feel that frightening people is an effective way of making a persuasive point? Would any other approach be appropriate?

Teaching Suggestion: Remind students that the congregation responded to Edwards’s sermon with such distress and commotion that he was not able to complete it, and it subsequently spread through publication in Boston. Some students may find that Edwards’s tone is too frightening and punitive, and will suggest a more hopeful tone. Others may claim that the stakes of his argument are high enough to warrant the dire tone of Edwards’s famous fire-and-brimstone imagery.

Use this activity to engage all types of learners while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Pathos, Logos, and Ethos”

In this activity, students will research the three rhetorical appeals—pathos, logos, and ethos—and create a presentation communicating how Edwards uses each in his endeavor to persuade his congregants to convert to Christ.