The gist of
the sermon can be found in the sentence
"There is nothing that keeps
wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God."
The sermon's goal was to a) instill a fear of God's omnipotence over the human race, b)
to create an awareness of man's nature as an original sinner, c) to reinstate the Puritan
foundation of pre-determination which argues that men have no control over their fate, and that
it is God who decides whether you will enjoy the company of Grace or the Firepits of
Hades.
The audience for this sermon were people with similar believes, but it
is argued in theCenter at Yale University that such sermon was probably prepared especially
after a specific situation occurred in the congregation that led Edwards to believe that his
sheep were walking in the wrong path. This is supposedly evidenced by the strength of the
message. Why would Edwards be so emphatic in reinstating what everyone already knows if not that
something occurred...
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