Presbyterians were selecting hymns for their new hymnal. They asked the originators of the new hymn, “In Christ Alone,” to change the lyrics from “the wrath of God was satisfied” to “the love of God was magnified.” The authors refused the change, so Presbyterians dropped the song from their hymnbook. Nobody cares to talk about God’s wrath anymore, only God’s love. But what is love’s response to evil in the world? Doesn’t love demand justice? God hates evil, the Bible says. God hates what evil does to people. In modern parlance, we call it righteous indignation.
One of the most famous sermons in American history is titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) preached it at the Enfield Congregational Church on July 8, 1741. It’s often cited as an Exhibit A “fire and brimstone” sermon. Jonathan hardly fits the caricature of a hell-fire preacher. He was a reserved intellectual whose method of speaking was gentle and controlled. Granted, he wanted to rattle the status quo and subvert complacency in the congregation. His metaphors were indeed graphic, spiders held over the pit of hell is the one most often cited. Jonathan sought to impress on his listeners the dangers of sin and the dire implications of life lived apart from God. He led people at the sermon’s end to God’s magnanimous offer of salvation. The cross is an ingenious solution to the problems posed by sin. God bears the wrath of sin through Jesus’ death on the cross, thereby exercising justice for sin and mercy for sinners.
Jonathan and his wife Sarah had eleven children. He wrote a letter to Mary, their fifteen-year-old daughter living away from home and concluded with a prayer. I’m struck with his references to this vain world with all its “bubbles, empty shadows and vain amusements.” Yep, nothing has changed: