Sinner In The Hands Of An Angry God

When Church Historians are asked, " Who is the most influential American preacher?", they will usually say it is Jonathan Edwards. When theologians are asked, "Who is the most influential American theologian?", most would say it is Jonathan Edwards. And when scholars of early American literature are asked about the most influential piece of American literature, they will usually say, "Sinners in the hand of an angry God", by Jonathan Edwards.

My personal study of Jonathan Edwards began when I was given the book "The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards" by John H. Gerstner. I was fascinated by the theology of Edwards first, and then studied the man and his impact on America and the world. What I discovered was a man who was used by God to bring revival to a world which had become complacent and needed to return to their first love. In many ways the modern Church is in the same condition. We need to be revived and we need to return to God and experience true revival.

In today's world people have a very difficult time accepting a description of God as wrathful, who will deal decisively with sinners. We would rather create an image of a God who is friendly towards sinners, who winks at sin and who would never judge sinners much less allow them to go to a place like hell. The problem with our modern thinking is that it is not Biblical. Jesus taught much more about hell than He did about Heaven. God is a God of love, but He is also a holy God. We must turn to Jesus for forgiveness of sin, and to flee the wrath of an angry God.