On afternoon of Wednesday, July 8, 1741, Northampton pastor Jonathan began to preach sermon titled in Hands of an Angry God at second meetinghouse in town of Enfield. Following George Whitefield's visit earlier that year, neighboring town of Suffield was experiencing significant revival, with ninety-five communicants added previous Sunday (Medlicott 218). Such enthusiasm, however, had not reached Enfield. In response to this spiritual lethargy, number of clergy had banded together to stoke fires of revival by instituting series of weekday services, traveling back and forth between pious Suffield and impious Enfield (Marsden 219-20). Those weekday services included visit from Northampton's pastor. What greeted Enfield congregation was sermon of unparalleled logic and vivacious imagery delivered by an orator known not for theatrics but for pulpit voice characterized by a powerful sense of restraint, authority, and discipline (Buckingham 139). Stephen Williams provides contemporary account of congregation's response to Edwards: He preached most awakening Sermon from those words [in] Deut. 32:35 and before [the] Sermon was done there was great moaning & crying out throughout whole house: what Shall I do to be Saved--oh I am going to Hell--of what shall I do for Christ, etc. The Shreiks & crys were piercing & Amazing (qtd. in Medlicott 218). The people of Enfield had just experienced what would be considered the most famous sermon in American history (Minkema 663). It took while, however, before Sinners received attention of literary analysts. Kenneth P. Minkema documents that studies on Edwards's preaching style and sermons began in late eighteenth century as part of larger studies in American sermonic literature and continued into twentieth century in work of literary scholars such as Wilson Kimnach and Helen Westra (663-64). Originally published in 1741 in Boston, Sinners began receiving literary attention only in 1930s with its inclusion in Faust and Johnson Representative Selections of Writings of Jonathan Edwards. But in 1949, three prominent events converged around and Sinners: Edwin Cady published his Artistry of Jonathan Edwards in New England Quarterly (detailing Edwards's masterful use of images of suspension and suppression in Sinners), Perry Miller published his biography of Edwards, and Billy Graham preached Sinners in Los Angeles (Minkema 664). (1) By 1960s, Sinners became proxy for in high school and college early American literary anthologies, though sermon has been balanced with inclusion of other selections of Edwards' writings in Norton Anthology of American Literature and Carla Mulford's Early American Writings. Cady's article was followed by stream of literary analyses of Sinners with sermon receiving attention of two articles in June 2000 issue of New England Quarterly (Minkema 669). (2) In rehearsing various proposals for explaining precisely how Edwards' rhetoric moved his contemporary audience, Edward J. Gallagher concludes that question for literary critics has always been accounting for how and why of sermon's power (220). And yet, in midst of rehearsing various proposals, each observing aspects of Edwards's rhetorical strategies, logic, form, and stylistic artistry, there appears basic assumption that sermon's original power can be accounted for by inherent rhetorical features abstracted from nature of religious discourse and its ritualized context. (3) Several historical factors contribute to implausibility of such an assumption. First, preached sermon earlier to his own congregation in Northampton with no notable effect. Though widely recognized among literary analysts, there is very little account for this discrepancy of reaction between Northampton and Enfield in secondary literature, other than Northampton had perhaps been desensitized having heard sermon content like Sinners before. …