Jonathan Edwards

Vince Tang
English 48A
Journal for J. Edwards
November 22, 2011

Reading Quote:

o   “If God should only withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power…” (431).

Research Quote:

o   “In his patient and lucid prose Edwards became a master at the art of persuading his congregation it could-and must-possess this intense awareness of humanity’s precarious condition” (385).

Summary of Reading Quote:

o   The reading quote is metaphorically saying that God is capable of inflicting intense punishment on us at any moment.

Response:

o   The power of Jonathan Edwards’s prose is that it is practically poetic. He writes this lengthy line to extensively intensify our reading experience and creatively uses alliteration and imagery in his descriptive metaphors to retain our interest. The reading quote is on the verge of being poetic; the most intense form of literature. His words are carefully chosen. We cannot help but “be moved by them” (385). It is great literature for the modern reader but, unfortunately, Edwards successfully persuades his congregation with his preaching through his language in his sermon titled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Fear God. This seems to be the message of that particular sermon. He brings horror into his listeners with repeated threats of God’s wrath rather than emphasizing on the Lord’s endless love. What is unfortunate is that it is questionable on whether his listeners truly believe in God’s creation and all He has to offer; or do they believe in Christ because Edwards’s powerful language was able to emotionally move them to a point where the belief is in God’s fury. What all this show is that communicating creatively with carefully crafted language that touches our senses is influential enough to shape a person’s thoughts, beliefs, and overall approach in life.

o   Developing the language was humanity’s greatest innovation. In fact, it still is our greatest innovation. We not only continue to add new vocabulary but continue to add new definitions to already existing words! For instance, since when was a mouse defined as a computer controlling device? What is the definition of crescentular or bulletize? To answer the first question; the definition obviously emerged alongside the development of the computers. The answer to the second question can be found at the following website: http://nws.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/newword_display_recent.php. Perhaps we can say that a computer mouse may or may not be crescentular shaped but the structure of this journal is definitely bulletized. This simple example shows that language brings humanity together to a common understanding. Similarily, as mentioned before, words creatively crafted are capable of moving individuals such as the listeners and readers of Edwards's audience during the first Great Awakening.