Apologies to Jonathan Edwards: Spinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards

Read the whole thing. “Their polls shall slide in due time.”

The public that holds you over the wilderness, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: its wrath burns like fire; it looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; they are of purer eyes than to bear to have you in their sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in their eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in yours. You have offended them infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince. Yet it is nothing but their whim and indifference that hold you from falling from grace every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you was suffered to awake again to the political game this morning, after you closed your eyes to sleep. . . .

The wrath of the voters is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of the voters’ vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. . . .

Therefore, let every one that is in office, now awake and turn from the wrath to come. The wrath of the people is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this delegation. Let every one fly out of Washington: “Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.”