Preaching In Puritan Times

              

  During the Puritans Era preaching was considered their type of entertainment.  In an article by Joseph Steele he explains that there are different ways which sets puritans preaching from others.  The first ways was grammar in the Puritans preaching. In the text the puritans, “viewed Scripture as God speaking to them as their Father, giving them the truth they could trust for all eternity"(Steele 1). http://www.reformation21.org/articles/a-classical-analysis-of-puritan-preaching.php Their Bible was what they slept, ate and breathed every day because the words that were coming off of the page were near and dear to their hearts.  The second way is dialect of how the preacher would convey his sermon to the audience of listeners. Puritans like for the sermon that is being taught to them to be well understood. If it is understood then they are able to apply what they have learned to everyday life.  The finally stage about Puritan preaching is rhetoric. This stage shows that what the pastor has written for the congregation were it was supposed to be. It did not matter about the length of time of the sermon; it mattered on the material that would be taught.http://www.reformation21.org/articles/a-classical-analysis-of-puritan-preaching.php

                As for Jonathan Edwards many people including myself feel as though his sermons were kind of scary but at the end of the sermon, you would be able to understand the point that he was trying to get across. In his sermon “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” portrayed his passion for the love of preaching.  From the reading and listening to the sermon he repeated a lot of the concepts over again so that you would be able to comprehend what he was saying.  Also, in that sermon it made you a little scared to know that if you are a sinner what can happen to you. Jonathan Edwards made you open your eyes to the world in today’s time and in past time. Connecting Steele's article to what we know about Jonathan Edwards, you are able to see that he may have used all three different steps in Puritan preaching.

 "Jonathan Edwards' - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Listener's Audio Bible with Max McLean. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <https://www.listenersbible.com/products/mp3-downloads/famous-sermons-speeches/jonathan-edwards-sinners-in-the-hands-of-angry-god?cPath=3>.