Probably the most famous sermon ever delivered in what is now the United States goes back to 1741, delivered by Jonathan Edwards and entitled, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” The theology is Calvinist which possesses a lineage going back to the doctrine of original sin as explained by St. Augustine. This, in turn claims its origin in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans where he said “through one man [Adam] sin entered the world.” But the point that the Apostle is making is not how perverse, how damaged we are. Instead, the Apostle insists that no matter what we have done or what has been done to us, God’s mercy is stronger. “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” That’s Good News.
