Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Analysis

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Are appeals to fear the best motivational force? No, and I say no for two reasons. Reason one is you cannot scare someone into changing the way they think, act, or believe if they don't want to change, and reason two is fear cannot change why people do what they do because most people act and think the way they do for certain reasons In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", a sermon by Jonathan Edwards he says, "...yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease..." (Edwards 41). Edward's is trying to get all those who are unconverted to believe in Christ and become saved, and to accomplish that he tries to scare them by describing what he pictures Hell will be like, and by telling them that they can…show more content…
Only those who are unconverted wanting to change and become saved will become converted. A teen named Stephen took part in the Change Within program at Corcoran. Stephen said on a scale from 1-10 the program only affected him around a 5. Stephen said that he only got in trouble so much because his mom passed away. A visit to a prison, mild threats from prisoners, and a conversation with a prisoner will not bring Stephen's mom back. The visit really didn't affect Stephen like he said, because about a month after the visit Stephen got in trouble again and was put on house arrest (Corcoran). Also in an article by Kathy Feinstein, "Can Kids Be Scared Straight?" she says, "...it is unreasonable to expect a two-hour jail visit to overcome the results of a lifetime of poverty, inadequate schooling, and dysfunctional families" (Feinstein 29). One cannot scare a person into behaving when they were raised around misbehavior. Also fear cannot change a child's personal situations. It cannot put them in a better school, it cannot change their family or home situations. Scaring a child will not change why they behave like they do, because most children have a reason behind why they act the way they
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