Life and Diary of David Brainerd
David Brainerd's diary chronicles the brief but intense spiritual journey of a young missionary to Native Americans in colonial New England and Pennsylvania. Writing between 1742 and his death from tuberculosis in 1747 at age twenty-nine, Brainerd documented both his evangelical labors among the Delaware and his relentless examination of his own soul. Jonathan Edwards compiled and published these writings two years after Brainerd's death, recognizing in them a portrait of devoted missionary service wedded to rigorous Puritan introspection.
The diary reveals a man consumed by both missionary zeal and spiritual anxiety. Brainerd records his efforts to learn native languages, his frustrations with slow conversions, and his joy at breakthrough moments when entire communities embraced Christianity. Yet alongside these missionary accounts runs a darker thread of severe self-examination. Brainerd scrutinizes every motive, questions every spiritual emotion, and repeatedly doubts his own salvation even as he preaches to others. His entries oscillate between ecstatic descriptions of God's presence and despairing confessions of spiritual deadness. The work captures the psychological cost of holding together intense evangelical fervor with the Puritan demand for perfect sincerity in all religious experience.
Edwards' publication of Brainerd's diary helped establish the template for evangelical missionary biography, influencing figures from William Carey to Jim Elliot. The work became a touchstone for those wrestling with the relationship between emotional religious experience and authentic faith. Its unflinching portrayal of spiritual struggle, combined with its account of cross-cultural ministry, has continued to resonate with readers seeking models of sacrificial service.
Who should read this: Those interested in early American missions, the psychology of Puritan spirituality, or the development of evangelical biography will find this indispensable. Readers seeking triumphant missionary stories or simple devotional encouragement should look elsewhere—Brainerd's relentless self-scrutiny can be as exhausting as it is instructive.