Which 18th-century preacher is famous for the sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'?

• A. George Whitefield
• B. John Wesley
• C. Jonathan Edwards
• D. Cotton Mather

Answer: (C)

Jonathan Edwards, an 18th-century Congregationalist minister, is the preacher behind this famous sermon. Delivered in 1741 during the Great Awakening in Enfield, Connecticut, it typifies the intense hellfire style of revival preaching of the era. Edwards paints a stark picture of human sinfulness and the imminent danger of God's wrath, insisting that salvation comes only through God’s grace. A memorable image from the piece describes sinners as being held over the pit of hell by a fragile thread, underscoring how precarious life is without repentance. This message aimed to awaken conscience and spur personal conversion, fueling the revivalist momentum of colonial New England. While other prominent revivalists of the time—George Whitefield and John Wesley—were also part of the era, and Cotton Mather was a notable Puritan writer, Edwards is the one associated with this specific sermon.