CRITIQUE OF SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD

Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon was a perfect example of a persuasive speech. Several aspects of this intense work added to its impact on the Puritan lifestyle. Edwards was well known as a Puritan preacher in the eighteenth century and was fully aware of his audience's thoughts and emotions. Moreover, Edwards presented his sermon during a key era: the Great Awakening. Above all else, however, was that Edwards possessed an effective method of persuasion, which was fear.

The speaker's qualifications and the audience to whom he presents are both important to a persuasive speech's influence. A speaker must be known as somewhat of an expert on his topic and must know something about his audience in order to deliver an effective speech. Not only was Edwards a well known Puritan preacher in the eighteenth century, he was also fully aware of the thoughts and emotions of his audience. Edwards had been the valedictorian of his graduating class at Yale and had preached for twelve years prior to this famous sermon; both of these factors along with others established his credentials to his audience. Also, when writing his sermon, Edwards had taken his audience's feelings into account in order to produce the most effective speech possible.

A speech's content is greatly affected by the time and place of its presentation. Edwards presented his sermon during the Great Awakening, a key era in colonial times. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was delivered at a time when people were looking for secure religious beliefs. According to history, "... the Great Awakening represented an unleashing of anxiety and longing among ordinary people living in a world of oral culture-anxiety about sin, and longing for salvation." (The Enduring Vision, p. 125) His speech, which outlined God's indifference to human life, struck fear into the hearts of his audience and left them pondering their own value to God.

Perhaps more importantly, Edwards was a master of persuasion. Without crucial speech-giving and persuasive skills, a speaker may be disregarded and ignored by his audience. A persuasive speaker's technique may be based on logic, traditions, emotions, or the audience's sense of reason; whichever serves his purpose. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was aimed at the brittle emotions of his audience. Edwards' technique was, in fact, so effective that it "...caused listeners to rise from their seats in a state of hysteria." (The American Experience, p. 70)

Obviously, Edwards possessed each of the four essential qualifications of a persuasive speaker: qualification, audience, occasion, and technique. His reputation and awareness of his audience's thoughts and emotions enabled him to find the most effective way to reach his audience and make his view known. Having been delivered in the midst of the Great Awakening probably tripled the impact of this sermon. Utilizing each of these in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he made it one of the greatest examples of persuasive speeches ever made.