No, you are wrong. It was not His goal to scare people. Edwards text was from Deuteronomy 32:35 "their foot shall slide in due time."Still, was it his goal to scare people, which he did accomplish effectively. Was it his job to use fear and hellfire? What was his motivation? Wasn’t he usurping the job of the Holy Ghost? After all, we know that a reprobate will never surrender to Christ ( not in his nature to do so) and a child of God is guaranteed salvation. So what was his goal for presenting a fire & brimstone sermon? Just looking for some clarity here.
*Deuteronomy 32:35-39*
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection! “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
Edwards was praying for God to awaken His dead church. He read the sermon without ever looking up and he spoke with a boring cadence, all because he didn't want to get in the way of the Holy Spirit. Edwards couldn't even get through the whole sermon as people were met with conviction by the Holy Spirit.
For you to insinuate that Edwards attempted to create an emotional fear of his own doing is either a lie or a statement of your own ignorance regarding the history of this awakening. Which one do you choose?
Well Luther answered by siting that this “little bit” was tantamount to the error of the Roman Catholic Church, who insisted that the will of man is the decisive factor in salvation. I don’t know about anyone here on this board but I myself was born, raised and lived Catholicism for a long time and once I recognized this error, as well as a host of many other man made errors to many to deal with here, I abandoned it ought right.
Is that how you operate…and I don’t beat my wife either. Answer the question I posed earlier, what was Edwards motivation for reading the sermon in the first place. Honestly I don’t buy your answer that Edwards was merely praying! Come on, the guys a Yale graduate.. well studied in theology, Bible, doctrine. I believe he was attempting to insight an emotionally charged response from his congregation… which he did quite successfully! Good for him and he did in a deadpan delivery… or was that done because he was half blind and could hardly see his own handwriting. I will further suggest that’s the mark of a Calminian. Anyway, I don’t accept your explanation, But I will give you the last word.