Editing David Brainerd (section)

===Impact on the church and mission===
[[File:Tomb of David Brainerd.jpg|thumb|Brainerd's tomb in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]].]]

He made a handful of converts, but became widely known in the 1800s due to books about him.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Did You Know? | journal=Christian History & Biography | date=Spring 2006 | volume=90 | page=2 }}</ref> His ''Journal'' was published in two parts in 1746 by the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.{{cn|date=April 2021}}

Much of Brainerd's influence on future generations can be attributed to the biography compiled by Jonathan Edwards and first published in 1749 under the title of ''[[The Life of David Brainerd|An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd]]''.<ref>Pettit, p. 28.</ref><ref name="NollJonathan">Noll, 'Jonathan Edwards'.</ref> It gained immediate recognition, with eighteenth-century theologian [[John Wesley]] urging: 'Let every preacher read carefully over the ''Life of David Brainerd''{{'}}.<ref>Quoted in Piper, p. 131.</ref> From the eighteenth century, missionaries also found inspiration and encouragement from the biography. [[Gideon Hawley]] wrote in the midst of struggles:

<blockquote>'I need, greatly need, something more than humane [human or natural] to support me. I read my Bible and Mr. Brainerd's ''Life'', the only books I brought with me, and from them have a little support'.<ref>Quoted in Piper, p. 132.</ref></blockquote>

Other missionaries who have asserted the influence of Jonathan Edwards's biography of Brainerd on their lives include [[Henry Martyn]], [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]], [[Jim Elliot]],<ref>Piper, pp. 131–132.</ref> and [[Adoniram Judson]].<ref name="NollJonathan" />