Fear Appeals used in Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God & Hell HouseLacey SolheidSenior Seminar

The ArtifactsSinners at the Hands of an Angry God

Sermon given in 1741 by Jonathan Edwards

Given during the “Great Revival” of Christianity

One of the most well-known and studied sermons

Known for “fire and brimstone” speaking—graphic imagery and extravagant language

Hell HouseChurch’s “Haunted House” put on during Halloween

First started by Trinity Church in Texas

Audience walks through and witnesses how people go to Hell

Homosexual dying of AIDS, school shooting, date rape, abortion, family violence

Seen as controversial

Research Questions

Are fear appeals used?

How do the artifacts fit the EPPM?

Are these logical appeals?

Literature Review

Aristotle: must be perceived as a near threat“Sinners”:

“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart… and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God…that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood”.

Hell House:

Targeted at teens & young adults. Utilize actors that are the same age as the intended audience.

Literature Review

Glassner: fear mongering“Sinners”:

Edwards was seen as one of the leaders of the community. By utilizing these tactics, he is able to keep people coming to his church to listen to his sermons.

Hell House:

Continue to push the envelope to see what they can get away with in their skits. They have had 75000 visitors (according to the video) and have had 15000 people convert or recommit.

Literature Review

Walton: Definition of a fear appeal“Where it is seen as a kind of argument

used to threaten a target audience with a fearful outcome (most typically the outcome is the likelihood of death), in order to get the audience to adopt a recommended response”

Debiec & LeDoux: Learned fearThis type of fear is a learned fear

because religion is socially constructed.

Extended Parallel Process Model

Fear

ThreatSusceptibility

Severity

EfficacyResponse

Self

EPPM & “Sinners”Threat: Established throughout the speech—makes it seem as though it could happen at any moment

Susceptibility: “That they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning”

Severity: “The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them

Efficacy: Response: “And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day where in Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God” (Edwards 14).

Self: Let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old me and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now harken to the loud calls of God’s word and providence” (Edwards 15).

EPPM & Hell House

Threat: Made situations seem very realisticSusceptibility: Show situations that a lot of families and teens deal with; use people audience members can relate to.

Severity: The scene at the end of the show depicts Hell and shows the constant torture, suffering and brutality of Hell.

Efficacy: At the end, created a scene where it could be easy for people to recommit themselves

Self: Audience can do the easy thing and walk through the door and pray.

Response: By going through the door to the prayer room, they will avoid going to Hell.

Logical?

“This type of fear appeal argument tends to be logically weak, because it is based on suggestions instead of hard evidence that the fearful event really will occur”

Not seen as logical. Based on suggestion, not on actual facts

Emotions distort judgmentCannot make sound judgment if you are fearful

Conclusion

Fear appeals are in fact usedSpeakers create a visual of Hell and encourage the audience to take actions to avoid it

Not logical appeals

There are potentially other ways of getting the message across to an audience.

ReferencesAltheide, David. Terrorism and the Politics of Fear. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press, 2006. Print.Aristotle. Aristotle on Rhetoric. 2nd Edition ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.Debiec, Jacek and Joseph LeDoux. "Fear and the Brain." Social Research 71 (2004): 807-818. Print. Dillard, James. Handbook of Communication and Emotion: Research, Theory, Applications, and

Contexts. New York: Academic Press, 1998. Print.Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards." His Glory.com.

Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.hisglory.com/sinners_in_the_hands_of_an_angry_god.htm>. Garrigos, Cristina. "Manipulative Rhetoric in 17th and 18th Century Sermons: Aporia, the Borders of

Reason." Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 22 (2009): 99-114. Print.Glassner, Barry. "Narrative Techniques of Fear Mongering." Social Research 71 (2004): 819-826.

Print. Gordon, Robert . "Fear." The Philosophical Review 89.4 (1980): 560-578. Print."Hell House." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=BbhQsRJ6ARw>.Jackson, Brian. "Jonathan Edwards Goes to Hell (House): Fear Appeals in American

Evanelism." Rhetoric Review26.1 (2007): 42-59. Print.Nussbaum, Martha . Essays on Aristotle's Rhetoric. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.

Print.Pfau, Michael . "Who’s Afraid of Fear Appeals? Contingency, Courage, and Deliberation in Rhetorical

Theory and Practice." Philosophy and Rhetoric. 40.2 (2007): 216-237. Print.Walton, Douglas . "Fear Appeal Arguments." Scare Tactics: Arguments that Appeal to Fear and

Threats. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. 1-29. Print. Walton, Kendall. "Fearing Fictions."The Journal of Philosophy 75.1 (1978): 5-27. Print. Witte, Kim. "Fear as Motivator, Fear as Inhibitor: Using the Extended Parallel Process Model to

Explain Fear Appeals Successes and Failures."Handbook of Communication and Emotion: Research, Theory, Applications, and Contexts IV (1998): 423-450. Print.

Yarbrough, Stephen R. and John C. Adams. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Saints in the Hands of Their Fathers.” Journal of Communication and Religion. (1997): 25-35.

Questions?