Fascinating Facts of the Faith
2008 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-60260-013-3
www.barbourbooks.com
Particularly as you read the first sentence, know the date of its writing was July 1741. Yes, 1741.
Important Sites
Enfield, Connecticut
Epicenter of the Great Awakening
Along the Eastern Seaboard in the early 1700s, the fledging British colonies were quickly sliding away from their religious roots. Many people lived on small farms or plantations miles away from their neighbors. Church membership dropped as families became more self-sufficient and didn’t want to travel a long distance to attend church. Among the dwindling group of still-staunch Puritans, there was concern that the younger generation was becoming too “frivolous” and that morality was on a downhill slide. Then a wave of religious fervor rolled over the colonies. It became known as the “Great Awakening.” Enfield Connecticut, was at the epicenter of the revival.
In July of 1741, Calvinist Congregationalist minister Jonathan Edwards traveled to Enfield to preach at a local church. He’d previously preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at his own church in Northhampton, Massachusetts, with little response. But the Enfield church was different.
When people heard Edwards (who has been described as “monotone” and “boring”) preach on Deuteronomy 32:35, their emotional response to his “fire and brimstone” message was overwhelming. People wept, swooned, went into convulsions, and even barked like dogs. So many people committed their lives to God that Edwards preached the sermon several times. His words were also printed and distributed around the countryside. As a result, a revival took place throughout the churches of New England.
Today, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is frequently used in high school and college English classes as a classic example of Puritan literature.
FACT: Due to a surveyor’s error, Enfield was originally settled as part of the colony of Massachusetts. Though the error was corrected in 1695, the citizens didn’t pursue legally becoming part of the colony of Connecticut until 1750.
It is mine to avenge: I will repay. In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.
Deuteronomy 32:35
Perchance you would like to read ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’, please click HERE.
Thus far I have not read the sermon in its entirety. Truth is I have read only a minute portion, but what I have read is not what I expected — I’m not sure what I did expect. Albeit, the pictures drawn on the walls of my mind, I believe by the HOLY SPIRIT, are scenes of HUGE Amazing love, mercy, and grace. My Savior, my God sends NO ONE to hell — He in His Love and Grace and Mercy keeps us out of hell as long as He can and it is His desire that NO ONE ever go there. And, in truth, no one does other than by their very own choice.
Until then + + +
Kathie
