A sermon by Jonathan Edwards, preached in Enfield, Massachusetts in 1741, warning unconverted listeners of divine judgment and the precariousness of their state.
This is a digital edition of Jonathan Edwards's famous sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,' preached at Enfield, Massachusetts on July 8, 1741, during a period of religious revival known as the Great Awakening. The text is part of the Electronic Texts in American Studies collection from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries.
The sermon opens with a title page and a biblical epigraph from Amos 9:2-3. Edwards takes his text from Deuteronomy 32:35, 'Their foot shall slide in due time,' and explains that the verse implies four things about the punishment of wicked Israelites: they were always exposed to destruction, liable to sudden unexpected destruction, prone to fall of themselves, and kept from falling only by God's appointed time.
Edwards argues that nothing keeps wicked men out of hell at any moment except the mere pleasure of God. He supports this with nine considerations: God has power to cast them into hell at any moment; they deserve to be cast into hell; they are already under sentence of condemnation; they are objects of God's wrath; the devil stands ready to seize them; hellish principles reign in their souls; visible means of death are no security; human prudence and care do not secure them; and their own…
The sermon continues with vivid imagery of sinners walking over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, with God holding them over the flames like a spider over a fire. Edwards warns that unconverted persons are in God's hands, and only his arbitrary will keeps them from falling into destruction at any moment.