Jonathan Edwards’s "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
Question 11 • AL-English Language Arts 11 Critical Standards
Read the excerpt from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is!Edwards uses the phrase “Oh who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is!” in order to
Answer
A
show what might happen if the reader disobeys Edwards.
B
describe what endless suffering looks and feels like.
C
illustrate that this type of suffering is unimaginable.
D
prove that very few people have survived limitless suffering.
Explanation
Edwards says the punishment lasts for ages and then emphasizes that those ages are only “a point” compared with what remains. His question, “who can express” the soul’s state, suggests that such endless suffering is beyond words or human understanding. Therefore, the phrase illustrates that this type of suffering is unimaginable.
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