What Makes Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God so Effective?
intellectual argument and more on an emotional reaction from the audience. “Begging the Question” is a logical fallacy wherein the speaker asks a question of a point that is already assumed to be established. Edwards does this at the beginning of his piece, “There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into Hell at any moment.” If one accepts this as true, the rest of Edward’s sermon flows logically out of this assumption. If any part of this is untrue, the entire argument falls apart. Much more fatal to his argument than his initial begging of the question, however, Edwards violates his own assumptions. Edwards paints God as omnipotent and able to visit the torments of hell on anyone with only a simple thought. Edwards’ God is an Old Testament God whose greatest pleasure would be to throw all of unworthy humanity into a great burning fire. He is barred from doing this, however, by Christ’s sacrifice. Ultimately, Edwards’ omnipotent God is not. He has limits. The statement, ther
into logical fallacies, and its effect relies less on a valid intellectual argument and more on an emotional reaction from the audience. “Begging the Question” is a logical fallacy wherein the speaker asks a question of a point that is already assumed to be established. Edwards does this at the beginning of his piece, “There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into Hell at any moment.” If one accepts this as true, the rest of Edward’s sermon flows logically out of this assumption. If any part of this is untrue, the entire argument falls apart. Much more fatal to his argument than his initial begging of the question, however, Edwards violates his own assumptions. Edwards paints God as omnipotent and able to visit the torments of hell on anyone with only a simple thought. Edwards’ God is an Old Testament God whose greatest pleasure would be to throw all of unworthy humanity into a great burning fire. He is barred from doing this, however, by Christ’s sacrifice. Ultimately, Edwa
