Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Edwards asserts that being spared from immediate punishment is unexpected and should prompt deep reflection on one's spiritual state.
In plain terms
You should be surprised you are still safe.
What can you take from it?
Consider your choices seriously before it is too late.

Where it applies

  • spiritual reflection
  • moral reckoning
  • preaching

Putting it to work

  • evaluate your priorities
  • prepare for the future

Questions to consider

  • What gives you a sense of security?
  • How do you view your choices?

Another view

The metaphor of hell relies on specific religious beliefs not held by all.

More from Jonathan Edwards

  1. Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would …

    Permalink to quote #13
  2. I assert that nothing ever comes to pass without a cause.

    Permalink to quote #15
  3. 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: his wr…

    Permalink to quote #12

Related quotes

  1. The Spirit does not accept volunteers.

    Carlos CastanedaCarlos Castaneda quote #1
  2. When the Knock of the Spirit sounds we follow or perish

    Carlos CastanedaCarlos Castaneda quote #4
  3. 'He who is satisfied has never truly craved, and he who craves for the light of God neglects his ease for ardor.'

    Abraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua Heschel quote #4