Jonathan Edward's Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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3. In Jonathan Edward's [Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God], the wrath of God is depicted as a bow and arrow. Because God was seen as an angry, unforgiving god, he is described as one who is holding the arrow with only the slighest hint of amusement, the "meer Pleasure" that seperates a sinner from hell. Justice, as depicted by the quote, is the factor that draws back the bow, while God is the one that holds it in place. This is the basis of the general outline of how God related with the people. The Puritan people feared and tried their hardest to appease God. If they did not respect and appease God, a circumstance depicted by Edwards, they would be suspended above hell, with the full force of God's Fury "made ready." No "Promise of Obligation," no glimmer of hope, no particular phenomenon could…show more content…
The arrow is fate. For those who sin, their fate is already decided, the arrow would fly, and justice would be served. 4. In Edward Taylor's poem [Caught in a Spider's Web], a wasp is depicted to have been caught in a spider's web. In this specific context, Taylor sets the spider to be the devil, hungrily waiting in his trap, hidden in plain sight. The "pettish wasp" is one who respects and worships God. Taylor explains that those who sin are not granted the slighest of mercy, but those who do not sin, the devil's "pins did not clasp." In addition, although the wasp, or person, is saved from the Devil's wrath, the Devil himself does not harm the wasp for his own wellbeing. The religious belief that the Devil should not meddle with the faithful is exhibited, and he keeps his distance "Lest he(the wasp) should fling His sting." This, ironically, is a nearly mutual relationship between a faithful Puritan, and the Devil.
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