The Diary And Journal Of David Brainerd

"He was one of distinguished natural abilities, as all are sensible who had acquaintance with him. As a minister of the gospel, he was called to unusual services in that work; and his ministry was attended by very remarkable and unusual events ... He had a peculiar opportunity of acquaintance with the false appearances and counterfeits of religion; was the instrument of a most remarkable awakening ...In the following account, the reader will have an opportunity to see not only what were the external circumstances and remarkable incidents of the life of this person, and how he spent his time from day to day, as to his external behavior; but also what passed in his own heart." --Jonathan Edwards David Brainerd, an early missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania, died in 1747 at the age of twenty-nine at the home of his long-time friend and supporter, the eminent Puritan theologian and preacher Jonathan Edwards. It is thanks to Edwards' careful preservation and thoughtful editing of his friend's Diary and Journal that Brainerd has influenced Christians all over the world for over 250 years. As he labored in what was still the untamed American frontier to bring the Gospel to the Indians, Brainerd faced many challenges, including depression, loneliness, and physical illness. Yet his genuine piety and single-minded devotion to God, both in heart and in practice, form a consistent backdrop to his turbulent inner world. This compilation offers a rare glimpse into the life of a man compelled by God to share His love with others in the most difficult of circumstances.

The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd is of much more than merely historical interest. The first internationally recognized biography ever to be published, it has had a profound impact on successive generations of Christians around the world. The Diary covers the period from April 1742 to October 1747, and although written as a private and personal record, was published in abridged form by the great New England pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards in 1749. Brainerd wrote the Journal, which covers the twelve months from June 1745 to June 1746, at the request of the Scottish Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, which was supporting his missionary work amongst the indigenous peoples of North America. Jonathan Edwards' own 'Reflections and Observations' on Brainerd's life, included in this volume, are, according to Iain H. Murray in his Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, 'among the most important descriptive pages on the Christian life which Edwards ever wrote.' Few books have done so much to promote prayer and missionary action as The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd.

The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd (1718-1747) is of much more than merely historical interest. The first internationally recognized biography to be printed in America, the first full missionary biography ever to be published, it has had a profound impact on successive generations of Christians around the world. Few books have done so much to promote prayer and missionary action as the Life of Brainerd, and it is not without good reason that it has remained in print since the great New England pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards first published it in 1749. Between 1742 and his death in 1747 David Brainerd took the gospel to the North American Indians in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He willingly ran any risk and accepted any hardship to fulfill his calling as a missionary. The amount of work which he achieved in such unpromising and difficult circumstances now seems almost incredible. His total dedication to the cause of making Christ known inspired the finest of missionaries who followed in his footsteps.

Volume 1 of this 1902 edition contains the diary of the short life of colonial American missionary David Brainerd.

Frail, prone to depression, Brainerd was an unlikely candidate for missionary work. Yet in the 18th century, he converted hundreds of Native Americans through his example of self-denial, commitment to prayer, and devotion to Christ. Edited by Jonathan Edwards, Brainerd's firsthand account chronicles his amazing ministry-one that continues to shape today's missions.