Often times, when you close read a piece too closely, the lines blur and then you can't even make out the whole shape of the piece. Take a microscope and cells for example. Too far away: what are they? Too close: what are they? You have to get the just right balance. Edwards did not get that just right balance. You can select any section of the Bible to support your cause, whatever it may be, but that's too narrow of a scope. The trouble arises when you forget to not just listen to the parts you want to hear. The Bible says God is a jealous god. There are instances where he does things out of wrath; he is what hold you up from Hell (All of this according to the Bible), but it does not say he wants nothing more than your ultimate destruction, but rather your salvation, hence Jesus.
Edwards read this. And then he probably read it again, and again and had this idea of repentance and almighty power so lodged in his mind he forgot about the actual message. He scared his congregation close to suicide in his descriptions of God's wrath, but that clearly isn't what the Bible is or says. In fact, Edwards may not have even noticed his fixation, but once you're in too deep, you can't back out. He analyzed the passages so vehemently that he added in his own meaning and subtracted the actual substance.
***Keep in mind, I'm just doing this from the point of the Bible to disprove Edwards and do not intend to disrespect or invalidate any other religions, beliefs, etc***
I wholeheartedly agree that there is a loss of main messages and themes when one focuses on small details and takes them out of context. Still, I think what one reads is also often a reflection of what one is feeling and who one is. As J.K. Rowling once said, “Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out.”
ReplyDeletelast paragraph: that* clearly isn't
ReplyDeleteyour title is misleading
I'm also going to disagree with the "figured out by seventh grade" thing, because I know people that still haven't figured those things out.
Another thing, don't apologize for being Christian.
And, actually, it does say God is angry in the Old Testament. Edwards uses that and explains that God loves you too much to kill you, or maybe you were too focused on your thoughts that you didn't get the big picture. He takes his last paragraph to bring in the New Testament, to tell you that God loved you so much that he provided a way out. He gave Jesus so that you could escape from sin. His whole point is not to scare the bejeezus out of his audience, his point is to convince his readers that God could be hating on you write now, but instead he is loving you, and you're just abusing his love by not being "born again."
Jeez, look at the bigger picture!
No doubt Edwards went overboard with the whole God's wrath thing, but keep in mind he grew up in a Puritan society with Puritan values.
ReplyDeleteAnd that the Puritans in question ended up doing some crazy for-God things like the Salem witch trials.