Question

in \sinners in the hands of an angry god,\ edwards uses the image of a spider dangling on a thread over fire to describe

• the horrors of hell.
• a persons unwillingness to avoid damnation.
• gods displeasure with sinners.
• the strength of the faith of many people.

Explanation:

⚡ Using what you learned: inferential comprehension and textual evidence

Step 1: Analyze the imagery

In Jonathan Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", he uses vivid, frightening imagery to emphasize the precarious position of humanity. Specifically, he describes a person as a loathsome insect, like a spider, being held over the fire of hell by a slender thread.

Step 2: Determine the symbolic meaning

The image of a spider dangling on a single thread over a fire represents how easily the thread could break and how much God loathes the sinner's state, holding them up only by His arbitrary pleasure. Edwards writes:

"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked..."

This imagery is directly used to illustrate God's displeasure with sinners and how easily they could be dropped into damnation at any moment.

Answer:

God's displeasure with sinners.