Walt Whitman

Kayleigh Pitts

Joan Kalley

English 202

23, August 2016

Excerpt Questions

“The wrath of God is like a great waters that are damned for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose.” (Edwards). This description is a simile comparing the wrath of God to great waters.

“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: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. (Edwards). This description is also a simile, comparing the wrath of God to a fire.

“Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing bout it, and ready every single moment to single it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.” This piece is comparing the wrath that God had on those in hell to the wrath that God has for everyone.

2. A- The congregation that Edwards preached to had to be very vulnerable and fearful. A member of his congregation may believe that God is evil or that God is always waiting on someone to mess up so that he can damn them to hell.

B- In society today, I do not believe that Edwards would have very many people present in his sermons. People today are so opinionated that Edwards telling them to fear God would not really resonate with them, much less make them fearful of God.

3. I believe that Edwards did enjoy picturing a God of wrath. Edwards would not be as interested in depicting a God of love because it would be harder to instill fear into people. Without people fearing God, it would mean that sin would become more common because they would not fear the consequences of the wrath of God. Edwards had an advantage by speaking about a God of wrath. Edwards instilled a fear of God into his congregation. With people fearing God, they also feared the consequences of sinning or disobeying God. Therefore, people listened to what Edwards had to say because they were afraid what would happen if they did the wrong thing.

4. The image of the churchman has changed very much. While people still fear an almighty God, it is not the same type of fear. A member of Edwards congregation may fear burning in hell forever, however, churchmen today fear in not being forgiven by a loving God. I do not think that a minister today could judge a congregation on Edwards terms. A minister today simply would not believe that God is a God of wrath rather than a God of love.

1. Paine’s tone is impelling, stern, and anger. The excerpt seems as if Paine is trying to convince a group of men to join the fight for America. By giving the example of hoping his children have peace one day, he is motivating these men to fight for their children. Paine also comes off as stern when he stresses the importance of men fighting for their country when he defines America as the happiest place on Earth. The tone has a sense of anger in that Paine compares individual villains to an army, because both cases are very serious and they should both be punished.

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