Evangelism Summer 2001

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The evangelical fervor and emphatic piety of eighteenth-century New England produced many remarkable saints, including the preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards. During the 1740s it also brought a twenty-four-year-old Yale dropout turned ordained missionary named David Brainerd to the remote Indian settlements of New Jersey. Plagued by severe bouts of depression and illness, Brainerd long ago earned his place in revival lore as the "melancholy missionary." In Edwards's preface to Brainerd's posthumously published journals, which Edwards edited and championed, he allowed that his young friend suffered "some mixture of what was natural with that which was spiritual; as it evermore is in the best saints in this world."

What Edwards sought to preserve, and what inspires readers of Brainerd today, is the vital story of a person consumed with yearning for Christ's gospel to move in and among the lost.-Christopher Yates

I poured out my soul for all the world, friends and enemies. My soul was concerned, not so much for souls as such, but rather for Christ's kingdom that it might appear in the world, that God might be known to be God in the whole earth.

In prayer my soul was enlarged, and my faith drawn into sensible exercise. Was enabled to cry to God for my poor Indians; though the work of their conversion appeared impossible with man, yet with God I saw all things were possible. My faith was much strengthened by observing the wonderful assistance God afforded His servants Nehemiah and Ezra in reforming His people and re-establishing His ancient church. I was much assisted in prayer for dear Christian friends and for others that I apprehended to be Christless. But was more especially concerned for the poor heathen and those of ...

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