"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was not entirely typical of Edwards' own work. Nevertheless, it is the most widely anthologized sermon and thus deserves our attention here. This sermon needs further examination as a pastoral document as it was first preached at Northampton.

The sermon was first delivered to Edwards' own congregation in Northampton in June, 1741, and apparently elicited no particular reaction from his parishioners. However, it was delivered at Enfield, a neighboring community, the following month with considerable effect. In fact, the revival which broke out at Enfield has been attributed to the effects of the delivery of this one sermon.10

The message, painted in realistic terms, pictured the sinner's fate:

"The floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury ..."

The message was final, irreversible, total. The results were shattering. When he reached the climax of his sermon, "there was such a breathing of distress, and weeping, that the preacher was obligated to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard. Some unconsciously seized the sides of the pews and pillars as though they felt themselves slipping into hell."11

"It was the preaching of Edwards," said Joseph Haroutunian, "that initiated the revival at Northampton, and opened the way to the Great Awakening."12

Jonathan Edwards was a pastor-preacher with few equals. It has been observed that many of the best and most cogent expressions of Edwards' pastoral concerns are yet to be uncovered in his unpublished sermon manuscripts. Orville Hitchcock succinctly summarized the pastor-preacher:

"A preacher for thirty-six years, he prepared and delivered hundreds of sermons. These sermons were well organized, packed with logical argument and Scriptural evidence, and motivated by vivid persuasive appeals. Written in a plain and direct style and delivered with sincerity and earnestness, they had a profound effect on the people who heard them. Today organized religion has moved away from many of the principles for which Edwards stood; yet his influence still is felt. The man who, with George Whitfield, was responsible for the Great Awakening, one of the most important religious revivals of all time, cannot be said to have spoken in vain."13

1. Tyron Edwards, ed., Charity and Its Fruits (London: J. Nisbet & Co., 1852).

2. David W. Waanders, "The Pastoral Sense of Jonathan Edwards," Reformed Review, 29 (Winter, 1976), p. 24.

3. Ralph G. Turnbull, "Jonathan Edwards -- Bible Interpreter," Interpretation. VI, (Oct., 1952), No. 4, p. 429.

4. Sereno E. Dwight, ed., The Works of President Edwards (New York: S. Converse, 1829-1830), I, p. 70.

5. Samuel Hopkins, The Life and Character of the Late Reverend, Learned and Pious Mr. Jonathan Edwards (Boston, 1765), p. 47.

6. John H. Gerstner, Steps to Salvation (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), p. 28.

7. Ibid., p. 30.

8. William Barclay, Corinthians: Daily Bible Study (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956), p. 131.

9. Leslie Conrad, "Jonathan Edwards' Pattern for Preaching," Church Management, XXXIII (Sept., 1957), No. 12, p. 46.

10. Ralph G. Turnbull, Jonathan Edwards the Preacher (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958), p. 47.

11. R. W. Settle, "Colonial Religious Awakening -- New England," Christianity Today (Sept., 1958), p. 17.

12. Joseph Haroutunian, Piety Versus Moralism (New York: Holt & Co., 1932), p. 134.

13. Orville A. Hitchcock, "Jonathan Edwards," A History and Criticism of American Public Address. William Norwood Brigance, ed., Vol. I (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1943), p. 235.