Top 4 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God quotes
“The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and 'tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.”
This quote from the beginning of the sermon expresses the justice of God that humans deserve. Edwards tells us that human beings are born in a state of sin that makes them hated by God. Their rightful place is in hell with the rest of God’s creations that chose to disobey his word. In this quote, Edwards personifies justice as a sword that is extended over the necks of men but is held back only with the will of God.
“There is laid in the very nature of carnal men a foundation for the torments of hell.”
Edwards goes a step further than the bible when he begins to claim that the souls of men belong to hell. In these early sections, it can be difficult to follow a rational narrative in concluding that human beings are originally from hell, and he never cites any passages from the bible as the source of his assertions. It must be remembered that the Great Awakening was meant to incite fear in the hearts of men, and perhaps it was with this motivation that Edwards made this claim about the origin of man’s soul being hell. In this quote, he supports his belief by citing the fire of anger that burns in some aggressive men.
“The foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.”
Edwards understands that he needs to address the protests that might arise in the heads of his congregation as he is delivering the sermon. He has certain points in the sermon which serve that purpose, and this is one of them. Edwards highlights the belief of certain individuals in themselves, and he believes that this kind of confidence is the most dangerous since it surely leads to hell. He tells the congregation that countless others before them have thought that they have been shielded from the consequence of hell because of their confidence in themselves. All of these people have inevitably failed, and if you were to address these people from hell, they would all tell you that they had planned things otherwise and had not intended to be in hell.
“So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is!”
Edwards discusses the nature of the punishment in hell, and he highlights the torturous nature of it as he discusses the prospect of suffering the fury of God for the rest of time. Edwards tells the members of his congregation that not only is God’s punishment terrible but that it is everlasting. He explains that there are no words in the English language that can communicate the truly horrid nature of the punishment in Hell.
