Tuesday 4 September 2012

What are five similes used in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards?

Ais a
comparison that uses the words 'like' or 'as.' Edwards uses vivid, frightening , including
similes, to convey to people the great danger they are in from the wrath of God if they do not
repent of their sins. Five similes that express humankind's peril are as follows:


In the first, we may think we are safe and secure, but, in fact, our lives are compared
to walking and standing in a slippery place where we could easily fall into the pit of
hell:

as one that stands or walks in slippery places is
always exposed to fall

Human society, even the church, is
shown to be weak and vulnerable before God's will. We have no real power to stand up to
him:

They are as great heaps of light chaff before the
whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames.


In an extended(I have only provided the start of it), Edwards
compares God's anger to water that is so pent or dammed up that when it breaks loose it will
create a crashing, powerful flood that will sweep away everything in its path:


The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the
present ...

In the simile below, the devils are likened
to devouring, hungry lions ready to pounce and devour human souls:


The devils watch them; they are ever by them, at their right hand; they stand waiting
for them; like greedy hungry lions, that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the
present kept back.

Finally, we humans are compared to
spiders dangled by God over flames and hated by him, liable to be dropped into the fire at any
moment:

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much
as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully
provoked.

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