Editing David Brainerd (section)

===Preparing for ministry===
Two months later, he enrolled at [[Yale University|Yale]]. In his second year at Yale, he was sent home because he was suffering from a serious illness, [[tuberculosis]], that caused him to spit blood. When he returned in November 1740, tensions were beginning to emerge at Yale between the faculty staff and the students as the staff considered the spiritual enthusiasm of the students, which had been prompted by visiting preachers such as [[George Whitefield]], [[Gilbert Tennent]], [[Ebenezer Pemberton]] and [[James Davenport (clergyman)|James Davenport]], to be excessive. Brainerd was [[expulsion (academia)|expelled]] because of comments about the impious staff.<ref>Piper, pp. 127–128.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=Jonathan|title=The Life and Diary of the rev'd. David Brainerd|pages=Thursday, September 14, 1743}}</ref>

A recent law forbade the appointment of ministers in Connecticut unless they had graduated from [[Harvard University|Harvard]], Yale, or a European institution, so Brainerd had to reconsider his plans.<ref>Piper, pp. 128–129.</ref> In 1742, Brainerd was licensed to preach by a group of [[evangelicals]] known as [[Old and New Lights|New Lights]]. As a result, he gained the attention of [[Jonathan Dickinson (New Jersey minister)|Jonathan Dickinson]], the leading [[Presbyterian]] in New Jersey, who unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate Brainerd at Yale. Instead, Dickinson suggested that Brainerd devote himself to missionary work among the Native Americans, supported by the [[Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge]]. He was approved for this missionary work on November 25, 1742.<ref>Piper, pp. 129–130.</ref>