Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God

      This sermon by Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards shows the strict, conformist beliefs of the Puritan faith. Using pleasant metaphors like the bow of God's wrath pointed at your heart, or hanging by a thread over over hell, could easily scare someone who believes strongly in God to not make the slightest slip. Edwards was  a very smart man; he graduated from Yale when he was sixteen. He knew how to manipulate people very well. If reading this in modern day can still spark such a strong reaction, imagine it being read by him, in a Puritan church, in 1741.

      Though he was good at what he did I don't believe that he was using it the right way. Having so much fear and ignorance is no way to live. One good thing that Christianity usually has is the idea that good deeds can help you go to heaven, but they threw out this idea believing they are the chosen ones. This, to me, is a selfish act that defeats the most important feature of religion. Maybe religion originally, at least in part, was motivation to to good things and be a good citizen. Its simple: if you're a good person you're rewarded.

      Besides that, I don't believe that there's an all-powerful God with your fate in his hands, and there can't be a VIP reserved seat in heaven with your name on it. It is your actions that shape your life and only you can make life how you want to live it.