One of the most notable historical events in the pre-revolutionary history of Britain’s colonies in North America was the First Great Awakening. Sermons delivered by charismatic preachers, such as Jonathan Edwards, offered the audience answers to the questions that mattered to them most – those about saving their souls from eternal damnation. At the same time, the British colonists were not the only fervent believers on the Northern American continent. Native American tribes of the Great Lakes, seeking ways to counter growing European influence, turned to their religion for answers as well. Responding to the visions of self-proclaimed prophet Neolin, the Delaware chieftain Pontiac insisted on resisting the British to fulfill the will of the Master of Life. Interestingly, while professing different faiths and belonging to profoundly different religious traditions, Edwards and Pontiac demonstrated a common theme in their addresses. Both painted the deity as relishing at the suffering of those who deserved it and both insisted that god’s benevolent attention is not guaranteed but conditional and will only extend to the righteous.
Discussing Edwards as a religious figure inevitably necessitates discussing “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God.” This sermon, first delivered in 1741 in Massachusetts, is, by far, the best-known work by one of the most notable preachers of the First Great Awakening. It offers a vivid depiction of hellish suffering that awaits the wicked people in the afterlife. Moreover, the sermon spares no effort to emphasize that this fate is not merely unavoidable for all sinners but can also come at any moment, including when they expect it the least. The best summary of the preacher’s thesis is in his own words: “men are held… over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it” (Edwards). After painting this picture of the dreadful afterlife in hell that awaits any unrepentant sinner, the author stresses that there is not and can be no salvation apart from accepting the faith in Christ and the covenant of Grace. At its core, “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God” seeks to mobilize the laypeople and forcefully rekindle their faith, if by admittedly frightening means.
As for Pontiac, his religious position is best assessed through the speech he delivered in Detroit in 1763 while addressing Ottawa Indians. Even though the speech is only available to the modern audience through multiple translations from the Native American languages to French and then English, it is still the best option to assess Pontiac’s religious convictions. Much as Edwards twenty-two years earlier, Pontiac addressed the audience to shame it for indiscretions by invoking the image of the supreme deity, the Master of Life. According to Pontiac’s speech, which was itself a retelling of the Delaware prophet Neolin, the Master of Life was angry with his people for succumbing to the British influence and European ways of life. Native Americans have erred in using European implements and weapons and forgetting their traditional garments and arms. The chieftain insisted that Native Americans should go back to using skins instead of blankets and “bows and arrows, and the stone-pointed lances” instead of guns (Parkman 155). Apart from that, they also had to wage war on the British, whose influence corrupted good Indians, but not on the French, whom Pontiac viewed as allies.
One of the central premises of Edwards’s sermon is that Christian God is not necessarily merciful and benevolent. If anything, the Almighty, as represented in the sermon, is a harsh, unforgiving, and vengeful entity eager to deliver suffering upon those who, either through action or inaction, would deny him. The title itself is indication enough – Edwards outright states that God is angry – but the text of the sermon proper does not lack in the examples of God’s violent disposition either. As the text puts it, the multitude of sinners who failed to embrace the Lord “feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath” in hell, and the exact same fate awaits today’s sinners (Edwards). God, as portrayed in the sermon, is anything but forgiving and merciful – he actively relishes in the suffering of the wicked and, in his anger, inflicts one violent torment after the other upon them.
The Master of Life, as represented in Pontiac’s speech, develops the same theme of a violent supreme deity that is by no means benevolent to all. Admittedly, the speech does not refer to the suffering inflicted according to his will quite as often as “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God” invokes the topic of hell. When it comes to the imagery, Pontiac’s speech is also not nearly as vivid in its portrayal of violence exercised with divine sanction. Still, there is no arguing that the Master of Life endorses violence and wants at least some people to suffer. When speaking of the British soldiers and colonists, the Master of Life urges Native Americans to “lift the hatchet against them” and wipe them out, presenting it as a necessary prerequisite for prosperity (Parkman 155). While belonging to different faiths, Edwards’ God and Pontiac’s Master of Life are both violent deities who actively endorse and sanction violence and suffering when delivered upon certain groups.
This theme of deities as not necessarily benevolent entities whose favor is far from guaranteed goes beyond their approach to violence and also manifests in the way they offer help to their respective believers. Edwards spares no effort to make it exceedingly clear that nothing at all obligates God to save sinners from their eternal damnation and suffering in hell. According to the preacher, it would be an immense fallacy to assume that God would extend his saving grace to the wicked on his own volition. In the preacher’s own words, “God has laid himself under no obligation by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment” (Edwards). As far as Edwards is concerned, unconditional forgiveness is not something God even considers, and it would be extremely naïve, not to mention entirely futile, to hope for one. While the possibility of forgiveness exists, it is strictly conditional, and God is not willing to extend it to anyone who does not fulfill the necessary requirements.
Pontiac’s speech in Detroit develops the same theme of conditional salvation and stresses that the supreme deity is under no universal obligation to help his people whatever the circumstances might be. If Neolin and Pontiac are to be believed, the Master of Life had all but abandoned his people for their transgressions and is in no hurry to save them from the hardship they constantly endure. Pontiac’s speech makes it clear that Native Americans have to deserve the deity’s benevolent attention, and it is far from granted. The Master of Life urges his wards to “win [his] favor back again,” and this wording evidently implies that no such favor is currently present (Parkman 155). Just like his Christian counterpart depicted in “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God,” the Master of Life deliberately waits for the people to earn his support and approval rather than provide it immediately. Salvation at the hands of the supreme deity is not something taken for granted – it is strictly conditional and has to be earned, and this theme unites Edwards’ and Pontiac’s approach to religion.
Casting God in such a light as Edwards does necessitates providing a specific recipe for redemption, and “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God” does it in a fairly blatant and unequivocal manner. The preacher openly claims that there is only one possible hope for the wicked people to avoid eternal torment in hell that awaits them otherwise. In Edwards’ words, the only possibility of salvation is “contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ” – in other words, wholeheartedly endorsing the right denomination of Christian faith. Edwards’ God is certainly angry, as the title reminds the audience, but there is still a divinely prescribed path on which the opportunity for salvation lies.
The situation is exactly the same with the Master of Life as portrayed in Pontiac’s speech. According to the text, Native Americans have dissatisfied their deity by conversing with the British and falling under their influence. The speech lists a considerable list of specific misdemeanors, ranging from forsaking skins and bows for blankets and guns to consuming alcohol. Put together, this list emphasizes that allowing the British to infiltrate Native American society is a grave transgression and the reason for the Master of Life’s disappointment. Fortunately, as Pontiac immediately points out, there is a way to win the deity’s approval back. According to the speech, Indians should reject the implements of European civilization and “wipe [the British] from the face of the earth” (Parkman 155). As far as the chieftain is concerned, returning to the old ways and destroying those who have disturbed them should suffice to earn the Master of Life’s benevolence once again. Ultimately, Pontiac’s speech develops the theme of an angry god in much the same manner as Edwards’ sermon. Dissatisfied as he is, the supreme deity is willing to forgive those who follow a strictly outlined righteous course of action.
As one can see, the vast difference in religious convictions does not prevent Pontiac’s speech in Detroit and Edwards’ “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God” from demonstrating remarkable stylistic consistencies. First of all, both pieces depict the supreme deities of their respective religions as violent and outright cruel beings who cherish the suffering and eliminating of those they deem worthy of such fate. Edwards and Pontiac alike posit that salvation in the hands of such a god can only be strictly conditional. Finally, both Edwards’ God and Pontiac’s Master of Life offer a single and strictly outlined way to earn divine benevolence and escape the otherwise impending doom. Thus, for all their differences, ad colonial Puritan preacher and an Ottawa chieftain provided fairly similar accounts of earning divine favor in the face of real or perceived catastrophe.
Works Cited
Edwards, Jonathan. “Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God.” Blue Letter Bible, Web.
Parkman, Francis. “The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada.” Project Gutenberg, Web.