For the first time we see through the theological mind of Adomnan the
mission of Columba bringing the Kingdom of God to Pict and Scot. The
question is, was Adomnan simply following fashion (miracles proved
sanctity, and thereby authorized the cult and its politically minded
promoters), or did he also have a more sophisticated understanding of
the nature and function of these authority-providing marvels that he
systematizes uniquely: prophecy, miracles of power, visions? This book
surveys approaches to the marvelous, tracing the intriguing recent
growth in scholarly open-mindedness, and shows Plummer's 1910 hypothesis
of the origin of Irish saga to be inadequate. Adomnan identifies the
phenomena firmly as signs of the inbreaking eschatological Kingdom of
God. Directed by the Spirit of prophecy, in miracles of transforming
power, with angels and glimpses of the glory of God's presence, the
conditions of the new earth are made tantalizingly present in
sixth-century ""Scotland."" The Spirit bringing the Kingdom is the
mission of the church. How this is present in his Life recasts the
missionary identity of Columba from a new perspective and poses
questions for the task of the church today. ""When I first read James
Bruce's volume as a PhD thesis several years ago, I was agreeably struck
by the originality of his clear and readable approach to a subject of
immense complexity. Now that Dr. Bruce's thesis is published my delight
is that others will be similarly able to derive benefit from his
penetrating insight."" --Robert Gillies, Rector, St. Andrew's ""Bruce
provides a scintillating, elegant, and methodologically exemplary
reading of the nature and function of charismata in Adomnan's Life of St
Columba, showing they were to be understood as expressions of the
biblical Spirit of prophecy, and as the flowering in his day of the
coming Kingdom of God. Bruce's study not only throws light on this
fascinating charismatic missionary and his earliest biographer, but also
illuminates a spirituality that offers an implicit challenge to our
day."" --Max Turner, London School of Theology James Bruce is married
with four children and is Rector of the New Forest parishes of
Lyndhurst, Emery Down, and Minstead in England.
