Reads like dialogue ripped straight out of Breaking The Waves or There Will Be Blood. ( )

It's really interesting how he interprets all of creation being subjected to futility unwillingly. Like even the earth is tired of holding us up, tired of being forced to participate in our rebellion against its Master. As humanity continues to insult a gracious creator, what can awaken our stony hearts? What can help us feel the urgency of Jesus's call to live? This sermon, Lord willing! ( )

Nothing like starting the New Year with a bowl of wrath! The 18th Century Puritan divine, Jonathan Edwards, is probably best known for this sermon which vividly paints God's righteous anger at humanity for their sin. Fire and brimstone are keywords in this sermon and it has served as a template for lesser lights.

I think it is unfortunate that this sermon is what most people today know of Edwards. Other aspects of his theology are more amenable to contemporary tastes. His descriptions of nature and beauty are almost mystical. He was also a panentheist before panentheism was cool (and way more orthodox than the likes of Matthew Fox).

But this sermon is worth reading. From a literary standpoint, I think it is brilliantly constructed. While I don't like the tone of the sermon (especially as it draws to a close), I appreciate the main theological point, that there is nothing holding back God's righteous judgement on us, but his Sovereign pleasure and that a day of reckoning is sure.

I remember George Marsden making a comment in his Edwards biography that the gospel remedy was well known across Protestant New England, but that people needed to be moved to seek it. This means that I can appreciate this sermon for its time and the effect it had, used by God, to help usher in the first Great Awakening in America.

( )

This book is composed of a number of sermons by the great preacher Jonathan Edwards. It is worth reading for the famous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon alone as it will definitely convict, challenge and hopefully inspire. There is also a shorter sermon on Use of Time which is very practical. I found the rest of the sermons hard going...obviously they are Biblical but repetitious in places and very long. I would recommend this for theology students or as a reference book rather than for reading cover to cover.

Recommended reading for all Christians. ( )

This was required reading in high school, but I enjoyed it. ( )