A Study On Biblical Influence On Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God" And Its Stylistic Usage In The Sermon

Jonathan Edwards was a noted Puritan theologian and a great philosopher and thinker in colonial America. The Great Awakening was a Christian revival around 1740s and once swept the whole New England colony. The emphasis on religious piety to the Great Awakening was the same as the emphasis on reasoning to the Enlightenment, which has contributed greatly to both the American Revolution and the forming of the American culture. Having devoted to the movement vigorously, Edwards became the chief leader of the Great Awakening. Edwards' influence was not only the allocution for the temporal Christians but the classical statement of the eternal gospel, which was in-depth and additionally had a long head. Though Edwards' works and thoughts influenced New England civilization and even the complete history of the civilization as well as the American religion greatly, the spiritual great master was easy to misunderstand. There have been differences in the estimates of Edwards among the academe for a very long time, what's more, a great number of researches, articles and essays are composed, penetrating into every field of his career, works and thoughts. In Chinese academe, however, treatises and articles on Edwards' are less and weak. Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" has been considered as the most important sermon in America. Therefore, the thesis carefully examines Jonathan Edwards' life and career and especially this sermon in order to make an attempt at filling in the gap in the field of sermon studies of colonial American literature in China.In the common sense, Edwards was remembered only by one of his sermons and one vivid portrait in the minds of the most Americans. The sermon was "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", and the portrait was a miserable sinner who was held by God with a very slim thread, dangling over the burning fire of the pit of hell. The thesis not only studies Edwards' life and career, but also examines the very sermon from varied aspects, analyzing the preaching historical and religious background, and besides, explores Edwards' excellent writing strategies from the stylistic angle, explaining why the plain words and smooth tone can arouse great groan and scream. Furthermore, the author studies the Biblical influence reflected from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" thoroughly as well.