Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Puritan Sermons, Paperback/Jonathan Edwards

A sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards to his Enfield, Connecticut, congregation in July 1741, ``Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God`` is particularly noted for its vivid descriptions of the torments of Hell and mankind's natural depravity. At the same time, it was also an appeal to man's need for salvation and a reminder of the agonies that awaited the unreformed. Coming during the height of the Great Awakening -- a period of religious fervor in the first half of the eighteenth century -- the homily was at once regarded by many as the greatest ever given on American soil and vehemently attacked by others as puritanical ``fire and brimstone.`` One thing seems certain: it made a lasting impact on American Christianity. Accompanying this landmark document are sermons by nine other influential Puritans of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, among them Thomas Shepard's ``The Parable of the Ten Virgins,`` Cotton Mather's ``An Hortatory and Necessary Address,`` John Cotton's ``The Way of Life,`` as well as sermons by John Winthrop, Increase Mather, Jonathan Mayhew, Thomas Hooker, Peter Bulkeley, and Samuel Willard. Enlightening and thought-provoking, the volume will serve as primary source material in many American history and literature courses.