'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God': Some Unfinished

22 Pages·2015·1.74 MB·English

by  Edward J. Gallagher

Lehigh University
Lehigh Preserve
Faculty Publications English
6-2000
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God": Some
Unfinished Business
Edward J. Gallagher
Lehigh University, [email protected]
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"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God": Some Unfinished Business
Author(s): Edward J. Gallagher
Source: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Jun., 2000), pp. 202-221
Published by: The New England Quarterly, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/366800
Accessed: 21-09-2015 13:19 UTC
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"Sinnersin the Hands ofa n AngryG od":
Some UnfinishedB usiness
EDWARD J. GALLAGHER
in the heighto f popularityen joyedw hilel iving
NEITnHoEr Rin the fall fromg race experiencedt hereafterd oes
JonathanE dwardsa pproacht hel iterarytr ajectoroyf a Longfel-
low. Still,o ne cannoth elp but concludet hatE dwardsi s a casu-
altyo f the decenteringof Puritanisman d the devaluingo f reli-
gious writings ignaled by Philip Gura over a decade ago.'
Thought hee ditorso ft heJ onathanE dwardsR eader,p ublished
sinceG ura issuedh isv ade mecum,r ightllya bel Edwards" colo-
nialA merica'sg reatestt heologiana nd philosopher.. . the tow-
eringf igureo f an age in which religionp redominated,"t'h e
studyo f our earlyl iteraturne ow beginsi n pre-ColumbianN a-
tive America and ranges fromc harms to corridos. Such a
broadeningo f focush as necessarilyh ad its effecto n the atten-
tionw e devotet o the GreatW hiteF atherso fo urp ast.T husw e
watch Edwards's in an oft mu-
presence frequentedl iterary
seum like the Heath Anthologyof AmericanL iteratures hrink
fromn ine selectionso vers ixty-sevepna ges to fouro vert hirty-
fourj ust across the three editionsp ublishedi n the 199os.3
Whatevert hev agarieso fc riticawl hittlingh,o weverI, thinkit is
stills afe to say thatt herew illn everb e an Americanli terature
without" Sinnersi n the Hands of an AngryG od." It is simply
'Philip F. Gura, "The Studyo f ColonialA mericanL iterature1, 966-1987: A Vade
Mecum,"W illiama nd MaryQ uarterly4 5 (April1 988): 305-41.
2JohnE . Smith,H arryS . Stout,a nd KennethP . Minkema,A JonathanE dwards
Reader( New Haven: Yale UniversitPyr ess,1 995),p . vii.
3PaulF . Lautere t al., eds., TheH eathA nthologoyf A mericanL iteraturei,s t-3d edi-
tions( LexingtonM, ass.: D.C. Heath, 1990 and 1994; Boston:H oughtonM ifflin1,9 93).
202
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"SINNERS": SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS
203
too compellingA. nd,i n myo pinion,i t has noty ety ieldeda ll of
itss ecrets.
Edwin H. Cady askedw hath e rightlyca lled "thef undamen-
tal question"o ver fiftyy earsa go in the pages of thisj ournal:
"Why,t hen,w as 'Sinnersi n theH ands ofa n AngryG od' so suc-
cessfuli n itsm issiono fr educingp reviouslybl as6 Enfield,C on-
necticutt,o shudderingte rrorW? hyh as it becomet hec lassico f
hell-firaen d brimstone ... made thes ermon
preaching. [W]hat
so verye ffectiveW? here lie the springso f its success?"4A c-
countingf ort he demonstrableef ficacyof " Sinners"in thep ub-
lic sphereu ltimatelyin volvesa nalyzingt he trickyr elationships
among text,t imes,o ccasion, and the specifica udience, but
Cady limitedh is sightsa, s do I, to the sermoni tselfW. hatc an
we see in the work that seems to triggeri ts impact?W hat
strategiesm ountedb y Edwards,t he consciousl iterarya rtist,
can we detect?A dmittedlysu, ch concernsm ays eem a bit old-
fashionedlyfo rmalistiicn our era of sophisticatedli teraryth e-
orya nd culturals tudies,b ut I thinkt heyw ill remaint he basic
ones thatr eaders,e speciallyn ew readers,b ringt o the textA. nd
thust houghm oderns cholarsf romE dwardH . Davidsont o J.A .
Leo Lemay, but especiallyW illiamJ . Scheick and Willis J.
Buckinghamh, ave followedC ady and studied" Sinners"i n de-
tail,I don'tb elievet heirv aluablei nsightys ete xhaustm eaning-
fula nswerst o his fundamentaqlu estions.S o I wouldl iket o en-
couragea freshl ooka t the anatomyo f" Sinnersi n the Hands of
an AngryG od" byt akingu p theu nfinishebdu sinesso fh owi t is
constructed-byt easings ome morei nformatioonu t ofp riori n-
sightsa nd byo fferinsgo me new ones ofm yo wn.
"Sinners"is synonymouwsi tht heG reatA wakeningt,h att ime
in the earlye ighteenthce nturyw hen the spiritualli d blew off
New England.T his so-calleds piders ermonw as preachedm ost
famouslyt o the hard-casec ongregationo f Enfieldo n 8 July
4EdwinH . Cady, "The Artistroyf JonathanE dwards,"N ew England Quarterly2 2
(March 1949):6 1.
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204 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
1741,a t whatO la Winslowh as called "theh eighto f revivale x-
citement."5E dwards'st ext," Theirf oots halls lide in due time,"
yieldst he doctrinet hat "There is nothingt hat keeps wicked
men,a t anyo ne momento, ut of hell,b ut the merep leasureo f
God."6A n overwhelminsge nse of God's sovereigntyE,d wards
was calculatingw, ould awakent he unconvertedin the congre-
gation.T he means he unabashedlyc hose to inspirea we was,
quite simplyh, orror": Since therei s a hell man mustb e fright-
ened out of it." "Some talka s if it is an unreasonablet hingt o
frighpt ersonst o heaven,"E dwardsw rote," but I thinki t is a
reasonablet hingt o endeavort o frighpte rsonsa wayf romh ell.
Theys tandu pon itsb rinka, nd are just readyt o falli ntoi t,a nd
are senselesso f theird anger.I s it not a reasonablet hingt o
frightean p ersono ut ofa house on fire?"A7 nds o thec hallenge
to understandintgh e power of "Sinnersi n the Hands of an
AngryG od" has alwaysb een in discerningth e charactero ft hat
horrora nd thew aysi n whichi t is evoked.
The to the emotioni t arousesi s the ser-
Opening.-Central
mon's its or whatw e call more its
pace, pulse, might precisely
pulsationE. dwardss trikeas varietyo fb eats fors trategiecf fect.
On the surfacet, he traditionaOl pening( pp. 89-90) is a model
of serene,l ogicalo rder,a nd it proceedsa t a measured,s teady
gait.F ramingt hemb etweena concisel ead-ins entencea nd the
crisplyst atedd octrineE, dwardse xplicitlnyu mberst hef ouri m-
plicationso f the passage fromD euteronomyt o conveya sense
of mathematicaplr ecisionA. ll are deliveredi n easilyd igestible
unitso fr easonablysi milars ize, and theya re orderedb ys ubject
(pointso ne and two deal witht he place and timeo f the fall,
pointst hreea nd fourw ithr easonsf ora nd againstt he fall).T he
unpleasantid eas generatedb y the passage seem neatlya nd fa-
miliarlyp ackaged,s eem controlleda nd tamedb y theirr hetori-
cal housing.E ach points tartsw itha nd returnst o a cold num-
5Ola Winslow,J onathanE dwards: Basic Writings( 1966; reprinted,N ew York:
Meridian,1 978),p . 150.
"SmithA, JonathanE dwardsR eader,p p. 89, 90. Furtherc itationst o "Sinners"w ill
be fromt hise ditiona nd willb e notedp arentheticalilny thet ext.
7ClarenceH . Faust and ThomasH . JohnsonJ,o nathanE dwards:R epresentativSee -
lections(N ew York:H ill and Wang,1 935),P . xxii.
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"SINNERS": SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS
205
ber and a lean topics entence.T he presentationis clinical;t he
seriess eems designedt o impede the cumulatived evelopment
ofa n emotional
response.
Beneath the logicalo rdero f the surface,h owever,e motion
seethes. In a phrase particularlyap propriatet o "Sinners,"
somethingw ithint hreatentso flameo ut,t hreatentso consume
itsc asing.T he listeneris made to feel,i n anotherp hrasea ppro-
priatet o thes ermona, s ifh e or she werew alkinga plankb lind-
folded:e ach measureds tep promisest o be the last and, even
when safelym ade, onlyl engthenst he distancef roms ecurity
and hastenst he plunge into eternityT. he four implications
fromD euteronomyb uild one on another,s tep followingst ep,
marchingt oward an inexorabled oom that is sensed but
shieldedu ntilt hel astm omentF. irst,t heI sraelitesw erea lways
exposedt o destructionT.h at'sb ad, but there'sm ore:t heyw ere
alwayse xposed to sudden and unexpectedd estructionT. hat's
worse,b ut there'ss tillm ore:t heyw ere alwayse xposedt o sud-
den and unexpectedd estructionb y theiro wn weight.T hat's
evenw orse,b utt henc omest he clinchert: he Israelitesw ere al-
ways exposed to sudden and unexpectedd estructionb y their
ownw eighta nd theyw erec ertaint of all! There is no headlong
rusht o oblivionh ere (Edwardse mploysa similart echniquei n
stretchintgh eg rimt exto fP salm7 3 overp ointst woa nd three);
Edwardsh as no intentiono f quicklyp uttingt he Israelitesa nd
Enfielderso ut of theirm iseryQ. uite the contraryE. dwards's
strategiys to fixt heg aze on miseryA. ndt hati s horrifying.
In fact,t he even rhetoricaslu rfaces tartst o bucklef romt he
steady,i ncrementalp, ulsatingp ressureo f horrifyincgo ntent.
Edwards'ss entences tructurien the Openingi s clear and taut
throughto the end oft hel asts entencei n pointf ourw, heret he
syntaxli terallyst artst o fall,t o slide. The bumpys ounding" as
he thats tandsi n such slipperyd ecliningg roundo n the edge of
a pitt hath e can'ts tanda lone,w henh e is let go he immediately
falls and is lost" (p. 90) could, of course, have been more
smoothlyw rittent o read "as he thats tandsa lone in such slip-
peryd ecliningg roundo n the edge of a pit immediatelyf alls
and is lostw henl et go." But Edwardsi s creatinga n appropriate
rhetoricawl obblef orh isl istenersS. oundm atchess ense.I n this
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20o6 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
sectiono f the sermon,b alance is restoreda nd orderr escued
witht he appearanceo f the clearlyc rystalizedD octrine,w hich
immediatelyf ollowst he fourthp oint,b ut the pulsationi s a
clear menace to a taste of what'st o come. Ed-
complacency,
wardst riest o approximatfeo rh is audiencet het remblinfgr ight
ofw hatw e mightt erma "closec all"w ithd estruction.
The Reasons.-Edwards adoptsa similars trategwy ithm ean-
ingfuvl ariationin the Reasons section( pp. 90-95), whichi m-
mediatelyf ollowst he Openinga nd statemenot f doctrineT. he
ten-packo f reasonsE dwardsp rovidesi s so well knitt hatR ose-
maryH earn can scoop offt he topic sentenceo f each to illus-
trate her contentiont hat form is in
argument "Sinners."s
Hearn's extractedli st of reasonse nables us to see at a glance
thato ne buildso n anotheri ncrementalljyu,s t as in the Open-
ing.T here is no wanto fp oweri n God to castw ickedm en into
hell. Not onlyi s theren o wanto f poweri n God to castw icked
meni ntoh ell,t heya lreadyd eservei t. Not onlyi s theren o want
of poweri n God to cast wicked,d eservingm en intoh ell,t hey
are alreadyu nders entenceA. nd so forthW. hereasm ovement
in the Openingi s linear,h owevera, s in walkinga plank,m ove-
menti n the Reasonss ectioni s ultimatelyci rcularT. he section
endsw herei t
begins.
In the breathlesss wirlo f one long penultimates entence,
whose tumescencei s worldsa way fromt he tidys uccinctness
withw hicht he sectionb eginsa nd whichi s threadedt hrough
the topics entenceo f each point,t he ten reasonsa re recapitu-
lated:
So thatt husi t is,t hatn aturaml ena reh eldi n theh ando fG od over
thep ito fh ell;[ 2] theyh aved eservedth ef ierypi t,[ 3] anda rea lready
sentencedto it; [4] and God is dreadfulplyr ovokedh,i s angeri s as
greatt owardtsh ema s to thoset hata re actuallysu fferinthge e xecu-
tionso ft hef ierceneossf h isw rathin h ell,a ndt heyh aved onen othing
int hel eastt o appeaseo ra batet hata ngern, eitheirs Godi nt hel east
boundb ya nyp romisteo hold' em up one moment[;5 ] thed evili s
8Rosemary Hearn," Forma s Argumenitn 'Sinnersi n the Hands ofa n AngryG od,'"
CLA [College LanguageA ssociationJ] ourna2l 8 (June1 985):4 55.
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"SINNERS": SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS 207
waitinfgo rt hemh, elli s gapingf ort hemt,h ef lamegs atheran df lash
aboutt hema, ndw ouldf ainl ayh oldo n thema, nds wallowth emu p;
[6] thef irep entu p int heiro wnh eartiss strugglintog b reako ut;[ io]
andt heyh aven o interesitn anym ediator[7, -9] therea re no means
withinre acht hatc anb e anys ecurittyo t hem[.P . 95]
Thus does the scholarlyst atemenot f doctrine", Therei s noth-
ingt hatk eepsw ickedm en,a t anyo ne momento, ut ofh ell,b ut
the mere pleasureo f God" (p. 90), morphi ntot he savage "In
short,t heyh ave no refuge,n othingt o take hold of, all that
preservest heme verym omenti s the mere arbitrarwy ill,a nd
uncovenantedu nobligedf orebearanceo f an incensed God"
(p. 95). The neat stacko f reasonsh as had its toes held to the
firea nd turnedm oltenA. nd the gratuitouslpyo undinga llitera-
tion of "uncovenantedu nobligedf orebearanceo f an incensed
God," as the phraser unsp ast comma stops,e nsurest hatb al-
ance is notr estoredn ori s orderr escued.
And yeto rderi s whatm ightr easonablyb e anticipatedin this
segmento f the sermon.I f I can be playfulltya utologicafl ora
momentt o makea point,w e expectt he Reasonss ectiont o ap-
peal to reason. The "textbookP" uritanm inisterw ould know
thati t is properf ormt o convincet he understandinbge forea p-
pealingt o the emotions.9B ut, the concatenationo f tautt opic
sentencesn otwithstandintgh,e artistroyf the Reasons section
extendsb eyondH earn's carefula nalysiso f theirl ogicald evel-
opment.W hilee ach reasonb uildso n the one beforea nd leads
to the one followinge,a ch reasona lso tendst o "takeo ff,"t o be-
come rhetoricalltyo p heavy.I t moves to a boundary,t o an
edge, far removedi n intensityif not in space fromw here it
began. Moreover,a nd perhaps most importantt,h e reasons
oftene nd shorto f completiont; heya re lefts uspended,w hich
negatest he serenem ode of presentation(t he firstr easone nds
with an unansweredq uestion,t he fourtho n the brinko f an
open maw,t he sixtha nticipatinsgp ontaneousc ombustiont,h e
'PerryM iller,T he New EnglandM ind: The SeventeenthC entury( 1939; reprinted,
Boston:B eacon Press,1 961),p p. 239-362.
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zo8 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
seventhw itha rrowso f death flyinga,n d so forth)T. o be still
mores pecifict, he reasonst endt o end in imaginaryc onfronta-
tions,i maginaryc onditionsi,m aginaryc rises,i maginaryc on-
summationsi,m aginaryc orrespondencesa,n d imaginaryc on-
versations-all withd ire The
fraught consequence. unrelenting
centrifugafl orce of the emotionalc ontenta gainstt he cen-
tripetapl urposeo ft hel ogicals tructureex ertsm orep ressureo n
the skeletono ft he sectiont hani t can bear. Andi t crashes.T he
unimaginablbe ecomesr eal.T he forceso fd estructiotnr iumph.
To use yet anotherp hrase literallya ppropriatet o this ser-
mon,E dwardss ufferfs romn o wanto f means in the Reasons
sectiont o set destructiveen ergiesi n motion.A ferociousb ut
unacknowledgedb iblical reference( Nahum 1:1-6) conjures
crushingd efeati n a confrontatiowni tha n Old TestamentL ord
almightilrye bukingth ee arth[ 1],w hereasa simpled irectr efer-
ence fromE cclesiastesy okesw ise man and foola t the moment
ofu nexpectedd eath[ 8]. The swordo fd ivinej usticeh angso ver
naturalm en [2], whereash ell's moutho pens under them [5].
Edwards findss tarko ne-linersl ike "everyu nconvertedm an
properlyb elongst o hell" [3] and "the arrowso f death flyu n-
seen at noonday"[ 7] as equallys uitedt o his purposea s a fren-
zied series of choppyp hrasest hatr eplicatesr agingf lameso f
hell [4]. There'st he catchyp oetryo f "theh earti s now a sinko f
sin"[ 6] and theu tilitariapnr oset hata ll humana ctivitiys worth-
less withoutt he presenceo f Christ[ lo]. But surelyE dwardsi s
at his mosta udaciousw henh e summonsv oicesf romh ell,a lter-
egos fort he hard-caseE nfieldersw, ho testifyth att heirc onfi-
dent expectationos f "peace and safety"d id nothingt o charm
away the machineryo f destruction[9 ]. Afters uch testimony
fromb eyondt he grave,w hatc omplacencyca n thereb e? None
amongt heE nfieldersE, dwardsw antst o be sure.
I said abovet hatt he movemenot fr easonsi s circu-
ultimately
lar. To be at once more specifica nd metaphoricalI, have al-
ways sensed this sectiona s the hammeringo f nails arounda
coffinE. ach oft het en reasonsi s in antiphonadl ialoguew itha n
invisible,r ationalizinsge lf,a nd one by one each excuse pre-
sentedf orp ostponingco nversiond rivest heu nconvertecdl oser
to his or herd oom:
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"SINNERS": SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS 209
I havep owert or esist. Therei s no wanto fp oweri n God to
defeart ebels.
I deservme ercyn oth ell. Divineju sticen evers tandisn t hew ay.
I'ml egallyfr ee. Youa rea lreadybo undo vert oh ell.
I'mp hysicalflyr ee. The glitterinsgw ordi s whet,h ell's
moutho pen.
I'mn oti ni mminendta nger. The devilsa waitl ikeg reedyh, ungry
lions.
Helli s faro ff. Helli s withiyno ua lready.
I'm alive. The arrowso f deathf lyu nseena t
noonday.
I'mw ise. Thew isem and iesl iket hef ool.
I plan. Listent oa planneirn h ell.
I haveG od. No covenannt,o o bligation.
The effecto f this pulsating,i mplied "antiphonyi"s for me
claustrophobiaa, formo f suffocationan, d I am convincedt hat
it is an effectE dwardsi ntends.H e is to
attempting approxi-
mate,I believe,w hati s arguablyt he greatesth orrorc ontem-
plated by the humanm ind,p rematureb urial.E dwards'sa udi-
torsf indt hemselveisn a narrows pace,f ullyc onsciousa nd fully
powerless,a s he progressiveleyn tombst he excuse-makinfga c-
ulty.T here is no exit.C ontemplatinogn e's doom is one's sole
occupation." This is death,"R obertL owell says in his spider
poem," To die and knowi t."'
Applicationa nd Exhortation.-To this point,t he effecto f
"Sinners"h as been to subverto rder,t o rattlet he statusq uo, to
break down complacencyin ordert o clear a space in which
conversiono,r at least heightenedc onsciousnessm, ighto ccur.
Much oft heA pplicationan d Exhortationo,n the otherh and,i s
constructivee,v en thoughi t tortureos ur modem understand-
ing to considerv isions of man's sorrys tate "constructive."
Whereash eretoforEed wards,i n a scholasticp ostureo f detach-
ment,h as made onlyo ne referencet o the "manyt hata re now
in thisc ongregation("p . 91), in the second halfo f the sermon,
1oRobertL owell," MasterE dwardsa nd the Spider,"L ord Weary'sC astle( New York:
HarcourtB race, 1944),p . 59.
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