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On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards stood in a Connecticut pulpit and preached the most famous sermon in American history.

Almost 300 years later, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is still required reading for many high school and college students as an example of early American literature.  

In one of the most famous lines from that sermon, Edwards said this. . .  

“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God.”  

Was Jonathan Edwards right? Are sinners really in the hands of an angry God?  

Some would say, “No, God isn’t angry!” The problem with this response is that it completely denies a theme we’ve seen from every single one of the minor prophets. . .  

In Hosea, God says, “my anger burns” (8:5) and “I will pour out my wrath like water” (5:10)  

In Joel, God says, the “day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and think darkness!” (2:1-2)  

In Amos, God says “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” (6:8)  

Others would say, “God used to be angry, but not anymore! He’s changed!” The idea is that the Old Testament God is a God of wrath and anger, but the New Testament features a God of mercy and love. Once again, this is a severe misreading of the New Testament.  

Jesus wasn’t a PR professional who came to clean up God’s image. In fact, Jesus talks about hell more than any other subject and more than any other person in the Bible. Jesus describes hell as . . .

  • a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23),
  • unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43),
  • where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48),
  • where people will gnash their teeth in anguish (Matt. 13:42),
  • a place where there is no escape, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31)
  • a place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30),
  • comparing it to a trash dump outside the walls of Jerusalem called “Gehenna” where rubbish was burned and maggots abounded (Matt. 10:28)  

The truth is Jonathan Edwards was right. If we’re going to take the Bible seriously, we must admit that God is an angry God.  

But why is He angry? Tune into the blog this week to learn more.