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c h r i s t i a n u n i o n : : t h e m a g a z i n e
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Christian Union : The Magazine recently interviewed Dr . Doug Sweeney about the life and long-lasting impact of David Brainerd , a missionary to Native Americans during the 18 th century . Sweeney is Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought , Chair of the Department , and Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School . He has been published widely on Jonathan Edwards , early modern Protestant thought , and the history of evangelicalism . His books include two volumes in the Yale Edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards ( Yale , 1999 , 2004 ); Nathaniel Taylor , New Haven Theology , and the Legacy of Jonathan Edwards ( Oxford , 2003 ); and Edwards the Exegete : Biblical Interpretation and Anglo-Protestant Culture on the Edge of the Enlightenment ( Oxford , 2016 ). In 2015 , Sweeney and other theologians were interviewed for Church Works Media ’ s DVD , The Life of David Brainerd , A Documentary . Although he died at 29 , Brainerd ’ s passion for the Lord and lost souls inspired generations of missionaries , especially after Edwards published his biography , An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr . David Brainerd . His legacy was also recognized by Yale — despite being expelled , the university later named a building after him , Brainerd Hall at Yale Divinity School .
CU MAGAZINE : What were the circumstances that led to David Brainerd ’ s expulsion from Yale in 1741 ?
DOUG SWEENEY : Brainerd was 21 when he began to study at Yale , several years older than most freshmen in his day , all of whom were required to defer to upper classmen , no matter what their age . He had
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just been converted and was an immature Christian who struggled with pride amid the spiritual excitement of New England ’ s Great Awakening .
Worried about the potential for spiritual arrogance among students taken by
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Dr . Doug Sweeney
the revivals , Yale ’ s leaders passed a rule in September 1740 , requiring that if “ any Student of this College shall directly or indirectly say , that the Rector , either of the Trustees or Tutors are Hypocrites , carnall or unconverted Men , he shall for the first offence make a publick confession in the Hall , and for the Second Offence be expelled .”
Sometime during the fall of 1741 ( we ’ re not exactly sure when ), Brainerd stayed in the chapel with some friends after a service in which their tutor , Chauncey Whittlesey , had offered a tepid prayer . “ He has no more grace than this chair ,” Brainerd complained about Whittlesey . A freshman overheard him and told a woman living nearby , who reported the incident to Yale ’ s Thomas Clap , then rector of the College . Clap demanded that Brainerd make a “ public
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confession , and . . . humble himself before the whole college .” Brainerd refused — an act for which he later repented to Clap and others — and thus was kicked out of Yale .
CU : How did this expulsion impact his ministry ?
DS : His expulsion made it difficult for Brainerd to prepare for and function as a standing order minister in Connecticut . In April 1742 , he moved to Ripton , Connecticut and studied for the ministry with Jedediah Mills , a pro-revival pastor . In July of that year , he earned a license to preach from the Fairfield East Ministerial Association , a largely evangelical body . But Brainerd had been branded as a spiritual trouble maker .
As the revivals continued , Brainerd also grew concerned about the plight of Native Americans . So as his prospects for regular pastoral ministry declined , he began to contemplate the possibility of ministry to Native Americans living west of the Hudson . In November 1742 , he was appointed as a missionary by the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge . In March 1743 , he trained as a missionary in Stockbridge , Massachusetts with the Rev . John Sergeant , who ran a mission there ( the one Jonathan Edwards later served ). And in April 1743 , he traveled to New York to serve the Native Americans at Kaunaumeek . From May 1744 through 1746 , he served the Delawares ( Leni Lenape ) of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey . He was ordained for this work by the New York Presbytery in June 1744 ( finding clerical redemption among friendly Presbyterians ), but his life had been forever transformed by his expulsion .
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