The repetition of the words "fly" and "escape" are used to help persuade the audience by given them the idea of freedom and of ease that is associated with those two words. That there will be spiritual freedom in this decision and you will feel lighter and more free after you repent.

Whether this be true or not, this is pressure to "be like everyone else."

Edwards could potentially be pointing to the day of Christ's return here. Yes, he is talking about the door of opportunity for God's forgiveness but the fact that he refers to it as a specific "day" leads me to wonder this.

The strategy of urgency would eventually lead to more people converting on the spot rather than sitting on it or thinking about it because they cannot control even the next 5 minutes in the future.

The term "born again" is used a lot, both in the bible and in sermons and songs even to this day. To be born again in Christ is to have a new life driven by Him and moving past all the sins of your "old life." Considering how long ago this sermon was given, does anyone think that it may have had a different meaning at that point in time? If so, how has it matured into what we interpret it as today?

For those who don't have the resource to look up this verse, Proverbs 1:25-32 says: "since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you- when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. 'Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.'"

Jonathan Edwards refers to this passage because it is a perfect example of the wrath of God. Reading through this passage helps me to further understand that what Edwards is trying to preach is that a life outside of Gods salvation and love is one of risk and malice and challenge and one in which you have no safety net (being suspended in the "air" between the gaping mouth of hell and God's flaming wrath) and that you are living solely by the grace of God despite your disobedience.

When trying to read this from the perspective of a colony member who is actively listening, this section gives me a sense of hopelessness. This hopelessness could even lead to giving up, whether that be morally or even physically. One of the other students in their annotation on the previous paragraph mentioned suicide from people after hearing this sermon and this sentence right here could easily confirm that thought. What I really want to know was how people who heard this interpreted it and what their mental states looked like.

It seems as though Jonathan Edwards is trying to scare everyone into believing in God. If this scare tactic worked so well as to cause an entire awakening, then could other revolutions and massive followings also have been inspired by one's scare tactics? Also, did this make people follow God to please Him or because they are scared of Him and see no other way? In the eyes of the enslaved, was this fear comparable to that of a slave and their owner?

In this phrase, Edwards is talking about what Christians would call "worldly" things. Both your bodily state and your social state have absolutely no influence on your relationship with God. From a Christian stand point, your body is merely a vessel for sharing God's word and living out his plan for you. Devoting time to the wrong thing (in this case your body and worldly view) will only result in "falling." Edwards is reiterating that religion is a passionate and internal process rather than external and that external focus leads you no where.

This statement uses metaphorical analogies to show the delicate balance of where we stand between heaven and hell. The people had all believed that based upon worldly materials and status, that they had been of the saved. However, by taking that ground away, by stating that those things are actually the air between the people and hell and that those things do not promise salvation, it scared many of the people listening to these sermons into making a change.