Beginning of Essay
Jonathan Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is moving and powerful. His effectiveness as an eighteenth century New England religious leader is rooted in his expansive knowledge of the Bible and human nature, as well as a genuine desire to " ....

Middle of Essay
.... attempts to prove the basis of his application. "Cut it down, why cumbereth it in the ground?", Luke 13:7, is used by Edwards to illustrate God's justifiably immediate destruction of those guilty of sin. Absent from his selection is any mention of the moderation and patience that continues in Luke 13:8-9: "let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well." By omitting these v erses of scripture, Edwards hopes to move his audience by his calling rather than at their own leisure. Another example of manipulation occurs as Edwards proposes that sinners are already Satan's property. In section ....