이동춘,  기적을 통해 본 비드의『영국민의 교회사』 page(s): 257-285  (28 pages)
(Dongchoon Lee,  Bede"s Ecclesiastical History of English People in Terms of Miracle )

Abstract

At first sight, the miracle stories are hardly compatible with the scholarly approach to history which Bede displays in the Ecclesiastical History of English People. For Bede, however, the meaning of miracles remains crucial. Bede believed that miracles were necessary in the early days of the church, and he declares that the cessation of miracles is largely due to man"s sin. Above all, Bede"s inclusion of miracle stories provides the readers with the key to understanding his intention of edifying his posterity. For Bede, miracles are similar to illustrative anecdotes with which preachers brighten their sermons. In addition, miracles provide unequivocal evidence of God"s active role in human history. Miracles also confirm the status of the English as a chosen people, whose conversion to Christianity earns them sovereignty of the island of Britain. In a broader sense, miracles in the Ecclesiastical History of English People connect the specific history of England to the universal history of the Roman Church and Christian eternity.
  With Caedmon"s miracle as well as with Oswald"s kingship and relics, Bede presents positive models for the function of a miracle and the interpretation of history in the Ecclesiastical History of English People. Bede emphasizes the role of inspiration in his account of Caedmon in such a way as to mark the inadequacy of human study unaided by grace. Bede"s focus on the gift of God calls attention to the ultimate inadequacy of the human pursuit of knowledge and salvation without grace. While Edwin"s successor, Oswald, grounds his own success in his Christianity, Edwin does not. While all the pieces of Oswald, including even shards of the cross he erected or dirt from the place he died, manifest Oswald"s sanctity, the fragments of Edwin do not. While miracles prove that Oswald"s death at the hands of pagans was a martyrdom, no miracles attest to Edwin"s sanctity. Edwin"s repeated hesitation in his acceptance of Christianity and the absence of miracles can be construed within the terms of Bede"s paradigm as a sign of his ultimate lack of grace. Edwin"s delayed conversion can be understood as a deferral of the grace of God.  

저자 키워드   Keywords 
   
 『영국민의 교회사』, 기적, 「캐드먼의 찬가」, 에드윈, 오스왈드, Ecclesiastical History of English People, Miracle, “Caedmon's Hymn,” Edwin, Oswald