Life of David Brainerd

Jonathan Edwards compiled this spiritual biography from the diary and letters of David Brainerd, a young missionary who died of tuberculosis in 1747 at age twenty-nine. Brainerd had served as a missionary to Native Americans in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania under the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. Edwards, who had taken Brainerd into his home during his final illness and had access to his private papers, shaped this material into what became one of the most influential missionary biographies in Protestant history.

Edwards presents Brainerd's life as a study in evangelical conversion, intense personal piety, and sacrificial mission work. The biography traces Brainerd's spiritual struggles at Yale College, his eventual conversion experience, his calling to missionary work, and his tireless efforts among the Delaware and other tribes despite poverty, illness, and frequent discouragement. Edwards highlights Brainerd's rigorous self-examination, his commitment to prayer and fasting, his theological growth from legalism toward gospel freedom, and his perseverance through depression and physical suffering. The work emphasizes how genuine Christian experience produces both inward holiness and outward service, even when that service appears to bear little visible fruit.

The Life of David Brainerd became a cornerstone text for the modern Protestant missionary movement, inspiring figures like William Carey, Henry Martyn, and countless others to pursue cross-cultural evangelism. Its influence extended beyond missions to shape evangelical spirituality more broadly, particularly in its portrait of serious Christian discipleship marked by rigorous self-examination and sacrificial service. Who should read this: Those interested in missionary biography, the history of Christian missions to Native Americans, or models of evangelical piety will find this essential reading, though readers should be prepared for Edwards' demanding theological framework and Brainerd's intense introspectiveness.