Following my retirement from the pastoral office in October 2024, my wife and I moved out of the church manse to our present house. We spent the next three months unpacking our things and sorting out our files and other paraphernalia. Among my hand-written notes — made before the widespread use of the desktop, followed by the laptop, computers — I found these notes on David Brainerd, taken from “The Life and Diary of David Brainerd”, found in the two volumes of “The Works of Jonathan Edwards”, published by the Banner of Truth Trust.
David Brainerd (1718-1747) was a Presbyterian minister and missionary among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey in America. A close friend of the older preacher, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), Brainerd died at the young age of 29 years. Edwards published Brainerd’s journal which inspired many missionaries in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I thought these brief notes should be posted so that it might benefit some individuals somewhere. The page numbers and dates are as found in one of the two volumes of “The Works of Jonathan Edwards” which I once had, but was loaned out and never returned.
From the last point in my Notes, it would appear that David Brainerd held to Amyraldism, i.e. a belief in ‘Four Points of Calvinism’ instead of the ‘Five Points of Calvinism’ of classical Reformed theology. The doctrine of Particular Redemption (or Limited Atonement) is modified by claiming that Christ’s death is sufficient for all and efficient to some, viz. the elect. It is known that some Puritans, e.g. Richard Baxter, held to that view, and so did some men of subsequent ages, e.g. JC Ryle. It has been claimed that Matthew Henry held to the same belief but his comments on John 3:16 debunks this. (The Bible Presbyterian churches in Singapore, with the exception of a few of the ministers, hold to Amyraldism.)
An incident in the life of David Brainerd has left an indelible impression on me. He was in the final year of study at Yale College in Connecticut when this occurred. Yale College was operated by the Congregational churches to train ministers of the gospel. It later evolved into the Ivy League university of today — the Yale University. In an unguarded moment, David Brainerd made a negative remark concerning the rector, which was overheard and reported. Despite a written apology from Brainerd, the college administration decided to expel him. This was, of course, a severe blow to the young man who, nevertheless accepted it meekly as a providence from God, as shown in his diary. David Brainerd died of disease at the tender age of 29 years while engaging in a fruitful missions among the Delaware Indians. As noted already, Jonathan Edwards published ‘The Life and Diary of David Brainerd’ which became very influential. Yale University posthumously reinstated David Brainerd in later years, acknowledging that he had been too severely disciplined. This is sad, is it not? The lesson to institutions, and churches, is to temper discipline with compassion and understanding.
