Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

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.

Edwards was America’s greatest theologian and a learned philosopher who understood the methods of effective persuasion that Aristotle outlined in the fourth century BCE. In this activity, you will learn about those same methods and identify them in the text of Edwards’s sermon.

• Read “Pathos, Logos, and Ethos,” hosted by St. Louis Community College, to understand the three appeals speakers and writers use to persuade their listeners to think or act the way they want them to. Consider the ways Edwards uses each in his sermon.
• Review “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and cite evidence in which Edwards makes these rhetorical appeals.
• Create a project with three main displays demonstrating your understanding of each of the rhetorical appeals and how Edwards uses them in his sermon. This may be in the form of a trifold display, a three-page paper, or a multimedia three-slide presentation.
• Choose the strongest of his appeals and display the text. Provide an analysis of your own in which you evaluate his reasoning.
• Share your findings with your classmates.

Teaching Suggestion: If students are struggling to find examples of ethos, you could point them to the many pertinent scriptural passages that Edwards cites and alludes to throughout the text. This shows that he is well-versed in the theology he preaches and that he shares common ground with his audience. For appeals to pathos, point to any passage that evokes strong fear through vivid imagery. For an appeal to logos, you can analyze the carefully constructed arguments contained in his masterful prose, such as in Paragraph 7 when he convincingly argues that any human could be moments from death.

Differentiation Suggestion: For scaffolding, you may annotate the sermon with three different colored highlighters, each for a different rhetorical appeal. Students could then come together to choose the strongest evidence for each color and use that to create a list of citations for one collective presentation. This would also translate well to a group work activity, with each of the three groups working on one of the three displays. Because the text provides so many strong examples to choose from, stronger peers could help others.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Jonathan Edwards is insistent upon The Righteousness of God, and he uses a variety of rhetorical strategies, including apostrophe, metaphor, and antithesis, to persuade his audience.

• Which rhetorical strategies does Edwards use to prove his point about the righteousness of God? (topic sentence)
• Cite at least three different examples of apostrophe, metaphor, or antithesis that Edwards employs to emphasize God’s righteousness.
• In your conclusion, evaluate how effective you find the speaker’s rhetorical approach.

2. In order to serve the purpose of his speech, Edwards uses juxtaposition to demonstrate the contrast between opposing forces.

• Which opposing forces does Edwards hope to contrast in order to persuade his audience? (topic sentence)
• Cite at least three different examples of juxtaposition and explain how Edwards’s language accentuates differences between the two forces.
• In your conclusion, explain how Edwards’s choices might have affected his audience.

3. Persuasive speakers appeal to logos, or their listeners’ sense of logic, as well as pathos, their sense of emotions.

• Which of Edwards’s arguments is more persuasive? His appeal to the intellect, or his appeal to the heart? (topic sentence)
• Cite at least three different examples of logical or emotional appeals that you found particularly persuasive. 
• In your conclusion, explain why the chosen persuasive appeal supports Edwards’s purpose in giving this speech.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider Paragraph 9 of the Application, which begins “O sinner!” In what ways does this paragraph constitute an apostrophe? What is Edwards’s purpose in using this apostrophe?

2. How does Edwards characterize God in this sermon? Consider direct characterization, such as physical or emotional descriptions, how others reach to God, and what God’s purpose is. Also consider indirect characterization, such as what God says, thinks, and does. What are God’s goals and desires? How rational are they?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What assumption does Edwards hold about many in his audience?

A) They are godless pagans.

B)  They are unsaved Protestants.

C) They are loyal Catholics.

D) They are spiritually perfect.

2. According to Edwards, what prevents his listeners from immediate death and damnation?

A) The pleasure of God

B) The salvation of Christ

C) Their works of faith

D) Their gifts from the Holy Spirit

3. According to Edwards, what must a person do to achieve salvation?

A) Become baptized

B) Be reborn in Christ

C) Receive Last Orders

D) Have faith and act righteously

4. Which of the following statements is best supported by the text?

A) Every human being deserves to enjoy the benefits of heaven after death.

B) One good way to achieve salvation is to attend church services.

C) Most people who have ever lived have ended up in hell.

D) Hell is a stage of temporary punishment where a person’s soul is cleansed.

5. What does the arrow that is “made ready on the string” to be “made drunk with your blood” symbolize?

A) The temptation of Satan

B) Human inequities 

C) The wrath of God

D) The fury of Jesus’s adversaries

6. How does Edwards support his claims about what happens to humans’ souls after death?

A) By making frequent allusions to scripture

B) By claiming to have special contact with God

C) By citing firsthand experience

D) By citing research from church leaders

7. What does the spider symbolize in the extended metaphor of the spider being dangled over the fire? 

A) An act of sin

B) An unsaved sinner

C) A demon

D) A persecutor of Christ

8. How does Edwards use his knowledge of Isaac Newton’s universal law of gravity to inform his speech?

A) He explains how the attraction between God and a sinner weakens as the two grow farther apart.

B) He uses Newton’s recent discoveries as an example of how people’s attempts to dethrone always fail.

C) He refers to Newton’s important theological texts, which go hand-in-hand with his treatises on the laws of nature.

D) He presents the necessary consequences of sin to be an incontrovertible fact of the universe, like Newton’s laws.

9. Which step would Edwards most likely suggest a sinner take in order to avoid damnation?

A) Spread the word of Christ’s gospels to the unbelievers.

B) Give all worldly possessions to the poor.

C) Accept the gift of Christ’s grace in their hearts.

D) Give 10% of their income to church.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Edwards justify God’s vengeance and anger? Cite two or three pieces of evidence from the sermon to support your answer.