Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Puritan Sermons

by Jonathan Edwards

A sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards to his Enfield, Connecticut, congregation in July 1741, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is particularly noted for its vivid descriptions of the torments of Hell and mankind's natural depravity. At the same time, it was also an appeal to man's need for salvation and a reminder of the agonies that awaited the unreformed. Coming during the height of the Great Awakening--a period of religious fervor in the first half of the eighteenth century--the homily was at once regarded by many as the greatest ever given on American soil and vehemently attacked by others as puritanical "fire and brimstone." One thing seems certain: it made a lasting impact on American Christianity.
Accompanying this landmark document are sermons by nine other influential Puritans of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, among them Thomas Shepard's "The Parable of the Ten Virgins," Cotton Mather's "An Hortatory and Necessary Address," John Cotton's "The Way of Life," as well as sermons by John Winthrop, Increase Mather, Jonathan Mayhew, Thomas Hooker, Peter Bulkeley, and Samuel Willard.
Enlightening and thought-provoking, the volume will serve as primary source material in many American history and literature courses.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Classics

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database named Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathan Edwards was the most eminent American philosopher-theologian of his time, and a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s.

The only son in a family of eleven children, he entered Yale in September, 1716 when he was not yet thirteen and graduated four years later (1720) as valedictorian. He received his Masters three years later. As a youth, Edwards was unable to accept the Calvinist sovereignty of God. However, in 1721 he came to what he called a "delightful conviction" though meditation on 1 Timothy 1:17. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God. Edwards later recognized this as his conversion to Christ.

In 1727 he was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his maternal grandfather, Solomon Stoddard. He was a student minister, not a visiting pastor, his rule being thirteen hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont, then age seventeen, daughter of Yale founder James Pierpont (1659–1714). In total, Jonathan and Sarah had eleven children.

Stoddard died on February 11th, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Throughout his time in Northampton his preaching brought remarkable religious revivals.

Yet, tensions flamed as Edwards would not continue his grandfather's practice of open communion. Stoddard believed that communion was a "converting ordinance." Surrounding congregations had been convinced of this, and as Edwards became more convinced that this was harmful, his public disagreement with the idea caused his dismissal in 1750.

Edwards then moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, then a frontier settlement, where he ministered to a small congregation and served as missionary to the Housatonic Indians. There, having more time for study and writing, he completed his celebrated work, The Freedom of the Will (1754).

Edwards was elected president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in early 1758. He was a popular choice, for he had been a friend of the College since its inception. He died of fever at the age of fifty-four following experimental inoculation for smallpox and was buried in the President's Lot in the Princeton cemetery beside his son-in-law, Aaron Burr.

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is the most famous sermon preached in North America. Edwards delivered it to a congregation in Enfield, Connecticut, on July 8, 1741. Apparently, the sermon was so shocking that Edwards was interrupted at numerous points by people in the congregation moaning, crying and calling out "How can we be saved?" It is a disturbing and unsettling read even today, but it is obvious that Edwards is motivated by a sincere and passionate desire for his hearers to put their faith in Christ's saving grace.

Although his frank and dramatic treatment of Hell and God's righteous wrath towards sinners is unpopular in modern society, people would be far better off reading Jonathan Edwards that whatever wretched Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer book is currently topping the bestseller lists - "Every Day a Friday", eugh!

This volume collects Edwards' sermon with a number of other famous sermons preached by Puritan divines like Cotton Mather, Increase Mather, and John Winthrop.

[Brandon]

This is a truly valuable book. It appears that the publisher offers it for historical interest primarily but for those of us who count ourselves the spiritual descendents of the American Puritans these sermons are very much alive. So far I am amazed with Increase Mather's "Predestination and Human Exertions" and John Cotton's "The Life of Faith."

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to like the Puritans a fair bit, but struggled with this book. The selections seemed somewhat random at times and the lack of context attached to sermons (explaining their relevance or why the editors of this anthology selected them) hurt a lot. Without that necessary context, it felt like a random collection of sermons and portions of sermons. When combined with the more difficult language of the 17th and 18th centuries, it made for a challenging read with some great highlights but a lot of confusing struggles through the text.

So unfortunately, a few great sermons and insights aside, this wasn't my favorite Puritan anthology.

Rating: 2.5-3 Stars (Okay).

P.S. As a side note, I will simply say that the Cotton Mather sermon in here talking about witchcraft (in the context of the Salem Witch Trials) was /fascinating/. A bit eye-opening to see how influential pastors in that time perceived and talked about that issue.

[Chris Wozny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sermon is a sobering reality of the wickedness/sin of man and the just wrath of God. While the reality of this can be hard to bear/ Edward's brings this reality to the forefront so that it can not be ignored. He describes it in painful but acurate detail. This sermon audience is meant for the great multitude of people in the church that are not saved. Those that have assented to a place where Christianity is true but have not trusted the means of escape from judgment, Jesus. Describing this people as ones that think they will avoid this judgment because of their doing. They may nod to Jesus dying for their sin, but are living their entire lives as if it were not true. This sermon is a wake up call to escape the earned judgment of God and find true peace in the one that took that judgment for you, Christ.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. I could not properly review any of this without pointing out the amazing spiritual level that the puritans walked in. This book is on my 'still reading' section, and will probably remain so for a long time as I've found I need to read each sermon slowly, without interuption, and sometimes several times in order to fully assimilate the truths laid out.
The puritans are often portrayed as all hellfire and brimstone (as typified by the sermon which titles this book), yet the fact of the matter is that these people had gained POWERFUL revelation on repentance, and like John the baptist, endeavored to live it as a lifestyle.
The spiritual depth of insight, revelation, and also intellegence of these men is rarely matched in contemporary Christian teachers and authors - which is no real surprise as they systematically tore down anything in their lives that may even hint at idolatry, and worked ceaselessly to replace such things with God's word, and the work of His Spirit in their lives.

[Jethro Wall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of Puritan sermons had some gems, but was also a real slog at times (mainly due to the fact they were from the 1600s), with some pretty average sermons. ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’ itself was the heaviest thing I’ve ever read. It was extremely moving, but I felt like often Edward’s was just being ruthless for the sake of it, which I can’t get on board with. That being said, Edward’s writing style was definitely the easiest to read in the book, so I am keen to check out his other work. ‘Man Knows Not His Time’ by Increase Mather and ‘Similitude of a Vapour’ by Charles Chauncy also had some great moments. I guess this quote can kind of summarise what the Puritans were all about:

“Preach convincing truth and Gospel-truth, fetch’d from heaven, and bathed in teares.” (Of Ineffectual Hearing - Thomas Shepard).

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much anger!

[Carter Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title sermon—and a couple others—were fabulous, but there were also some mediocre ones, and a couple written by some really sketchy unitarian guys.

[Hazem]

ألقيت هذه العظة ظهر يوم 8 يوليو سنة 1741، في مدينة “انفليد” من أعمال “كونيكتكات” فعلى اثر نهضة روحية استخدم الله فيها “جورج هويتفيلد” اندلعت نيران الانتعاش في “نيو انجلند”، بيد أن أشر بقعة وهى “انفيلدا” لم تتأثر. وقد دعى “يوناثان ادواردز” مع مجموعة من الخدام لإلقاء بعض العظات في تلك المدينة في فترة بعد الظهر، لكن هؤلاء الوعاظ أصيبوا بصدمة بسبب ما رأوه في المستمعين من استخفاف، فكانت تظهر عليهم اللامبالاة والغرور، وبالكاد كانوا يراعون الآداب العامة.وفي هذه المرة وقف ادواردز يعظ، ولم يكن يستعمل اشارة من يده، لكنه وقف بلا حراك وهو يرتكز بكوعه الأيسر على المنبر وبيده اليسرى يمسك مذكراته، وكان الشاهد الكتابى هو (تثنية 32: 35) : “فِي وَقْتٍ تَزِلُّ أَقْدَامُهُمْ.”.
ربما لم يكن لعظة ما التأثير الذى تركته هذه العظة، فقد قوطعت بصرخات الحاضرين رجالاً ونساء. كانوا يقفون ثم يرتمون على الأرض، وكانت صرخاتهم تعلو أحياناً وتغطى على صوت الواعظ، وأمسك بعض الحاضرين بأعمدة البيت وبدا عليهم في تلك الأثناء وكانهم قد أحسوا بأن اقدامهم تنزلق لتهوى بهم إلى قاع الجحيم، وكانت تتردد في جنبات المكان صرخات أولئك الذين أحسوا أنهم هالكون فكانوا يصرخون طلباً للرحمة.

وطول الليل باتت “انفيلد” كمدينة محاصرة، ومن كل بيت تقريباً كانت تنبعث صرخات الرجال والنساء طالبين الخلاص!.
خطاة بين يدي

خطاة بين يدى إله غاضب

[Kaysie Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably give it 3.5 stars. My favorite sermon of the bunch was not Jonathon Edwards' but Charles Chauncey who spoke at a woman's funeral. I felt like he did a better job in convicting me to live for the eternal than Edwards. And to be honest, after just finishing the book, I don't remember what about 8 of the other pastors said.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring, deep, faith-filled messages on many topics by numerous Puritan leaders. It’s best to read through slowly because there is so much there! And most of it is not at all like Edwards’ famous sermon of the book’s title. I bought it to be able to read some “other Puritan sermons.”

[Melanie Arison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fire from this sermon is a must for every passionate christian.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read it for class, was not my choice, but it is well composed

[Timothy McNeil · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book (the DTE version) was a labor from the beginning to the end. It runs the gamut from musings about immersion in Faith to lectures about the wrongness about falling asleep in church (I have to wonder what else there would be to do on a Puritanical Sunday, so sleeping through a sermon seems to be the fault of the preacher) to a justification for rebellion against the Crown to a poorly reasoned rational approach to accepting God's greatness to the titular warning about how Angry God is going to flay His enemies, get His clothes bloody in the process, and the souls in Heaven will love Him even more when bearing witness to it.

My real objections here are that Dover made no attempt to impose standard spelling (nobody is picking up a DTE book for scholarship), apparently because doing any editing would not have been 'fair use'; and that there is no narrative flow to the collected works. There is no theme or message, or evolution of religion. It is just a collection of existent works with no context.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of sermons - including the famous Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - from some of the most notable American Puritan divines, such as Increase and Cotton Mather, Thomas Hooker, and Jonathan Edwards, this collection was a blessing and a treat to read. We would all do well to read more of the Puritans.

Brent McCulley (11/13/2013)

[richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still shudder at the thought of hell and try not to think about it however when I feel prompted to do so this book is a good place to start. The sermon from Jonathan Edwards makes me cringe and feel very uncomfortable, exactly what it should do when thinking about hell, the very thought should push us to evangelise the nation.

[Mom Coulongue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This certainly brought back memories from my childhood.
I can heard the thunder roll from loud, strong voices behind the pulpits as the words jump from the pages.
Recommend this for the anyone who can remember those days or who might want to understand what ministers used to believe.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was great!

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. The title sermon was good but was kind of laborious to get through the rest.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edwards sermon is 5 stars plus. But the rest of them are good but not earth shattering. I do appreciate the simple way the puritans felt about truth.