The Life and Diary of David Brainerd

by Jonathan Edwards and David Brainerd

Book Overview

Taken from Jonathan Edwards's edited versions of David Brainerd's 'Diary' and 'Journal', this compilation makes available a 'fairly complete' record of the self-denying life and strenuous labors of David Brainerd as he presented the gospel to American Indians.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801009766
• ISBN13: 9780801009761
• Release Date: August 1989
• Publisher: Baker Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 15 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 10

Customer Reviews

Native Rescuer

David Brainerd's recorded life speaks my heart and breath--my longings for my heavenly home. This is a must read for all as it washes away the deceiving beguilement of trendy Christianity. Traveling through his pages of life, you witness his true mission that of only knowing Christ and Him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:1-2. He was one of few who despised this vile world with its entertaining ways. His soul displayed was that of a faithful, humble, loyal pastor who ministered to the natives in isolated areas of New England. He never set himself above these socially rejected ones who he found to be quite refreshing in contrast to snobbish white folk. He became known among fur trappers as "the man who trapped Indians with love." Below are experts from David Brainerd's diary. The initial are the quotes of "His Heart." The following are observances of "His Natives." His Heart: "I know I long for God and conformity to His will, in inward purity and holiness, ten thousand times more than for anything here below." "God was so precious to my soul, that the world, with all its enjoyments, was infinitely vile. I had no more value for the favor of men, than for pebbles." "Spent the day mainly in conversing with friends; yet enjoyed little satisfaction, because I could not find but few disposed to converse on divine and heavenly things. Alas, what are the things of this world, to afford satisfaction to the soul! In secret, I blessed the God for retirement, and that I am not always exposed to the company and conversation of the world. Oh, that I could live in the secret of God's presence!" His Natives: "Discoursed from John 4:13, 14. There was a great attention, a desirable affection, and an unaffected melting in the assembly. It is surprising to see how eager they are to hear the Word of God. I have oftentimes thought that they would cheerfully and diligently attend divine worship twenty-four hours together if they had an opportunity so to do." "I never saw any appearance of bitterness or censoriousness (being critical) in these, nor any disposition to `esteem themselves better than others.'"

from the back of the book

This is a rare, almost forgotten document depicting life in pre-Revolutionary America during the period when religious enthusiasm swept the colonial frontier. From 1743 to 1747 Brainerd had been a missionary to the Indians. Riding alone, thousands of miles on horseback, he kept a journal of daily events that he continued until the week before he died, at the age of twenty-nine, in Edwards' house. First published in 1749, the book became a spiritual classic in its own time. As the first popular biography to be published in America, it went through numerous editions and has been reprinted more frequently than has any other of Edwards' works. But what has not until now been known is that Edwards made drastic alterations in the original text. He shaped the narrative events to fit his own needs, presenting Brainerd as an example of a man who by example and deed opposed the rationalist, Arminian stance. Because the Yale edition is the first to print that portion of Brainerd's manuscript that survives, set in parallel columns with Edwards' text, these alterations can readily be discerned.

Read and Weep at the Passion!

David Brainerd was an incrediable man of God. The son-in-law of the great theologian Jonathan Edwards, Brainerd combined sound theology with a deep passion for Jesus. His story is one that should be told to our children's children. Brainerd's diary is a wealth of the spiritual passion of a man who longed to see American Indians won to Christ. His hatred for his own sinfulness is found throughout the book. Some days Brainerd is on the mountain of God and the next he is in the valley of despair. With the exception of the dairies of the late Keith Green, have I seen a man who truly wrestled with his own flesh by the power of the Spirit. For those longing to be all that God wants them to be (Philippians 3:7-12), I would urge you to purchase this book. You will be blessed and challenged.

Must Read

We live in a day of "easy belevism". The days we live in are also sadly characterized by a christianity, which implies when it doesn't declare, that life is supossed to be easy for the child of God. The reader will see both of these dilusions dispelled in the life story of David Brainerd. Brainerd,was willing to undergo great hardship to take the true gospel to the natives of his day. His life shows all christians what happens when "glorifing God and enjoing Him forever" becomes ones chief aim in life. This certainly is not a chicken soup for the soul book that can be read with little thought. This book, however, will challenge every christian to live for the glory of God.

"There Is Laid Up For Him A Crown Of Righteousness."

Beware! Danger ahead! This man's life and death will change you.Are you comfortable with your "lot" Christian reader? Content with your religious practice? Satisfied with your progress in things spiritual? Should you be led to feast on the diary of David Brainerd with mind open (to God) and heart sensitive, you won't be. Do you sense that God must be quite pleased with you and all of the efforts you expend for His kingdom? Should you persevere and finish the book, such a sense will be dismantled by God's Spirit!Buried within the private, personal journals of a young missionary (chronologically speaking - he went home to heaven at age 29) is a depth of spiritual wisdom, fervor for God's kingdom and glory, and love for the Savior, quite unparalleled (if not unrecognizable) in modern Christianity. The mystics would acknowledge in Brainerd what they themselves longed for, a wholesale abandonment to God - His purposes and His will. Brainerd's growth in grace began with his conversion in 1739. His own words best describe: "My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious divine Being...My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in Him...I wondered that all the world did not see and comply with this way of salvation, entirely by the righteousness of Christ."One who has been so entirely apprehended by the Almighty is enabled to see his own soul very clearly; and this Brainerd did. The depth of his own depravity was before his eyes each day of his new life and most certainly played a part in his frequent melancholy. But it was balanced and fueled by the awareness of Christ's perfection and the beauty of His perfect remedy for sin.The missionary was fixated on the promotion of God's kingdom; among the heathen Indians in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, ignorant settlers, and even the clergy, whom he endeavored to instruct, exhort and encourage, even on his deathbed. The hardships and privations he endured in the preaching of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ are quite beyond our ability to imagine. Total self-denial marked him clearly. He faced death at many turns. He was willingly and joyfully spent for his Savior. But, oh what fruit God brought forth! Read and see.Listen, as he describes for us the essence of true Christianity and its counterfeit, from his journal entry on the Lord's day, May 24, 1746: "Could not but think, as I have often remarked to others, that much more of true religion consists in deep humility, brokenness of heart, and an abasing sense of barrenness and want of grace and holiness, than most who are called Christians imagine; especially those who have been esteemed the converts of the late day. Many seem to know of no other religion but elevated joys and affections, arising only from some flights of imagination, or some suggestion made to their mind, of Christ's being their's, God loving them,