Alexander Balmain Bruce
Alexander Balmain Bruce (31 January 18317 August 1899) was a Scottish churchman and theologian. He was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. Life He was born at Aberdalgie in the parish of Abernethy, Perthshire, on 13 January 1831, was the son of David Bruce, a farmer. His elder brother was the Presbyterian minister David Bruce. He was educated at Auchterarder parish school. At the Disruption of 1843 his father relocated with his family to Edinburgh. Bruce entered Edinburgh University in 1845 and the divinity hall of the Free Church of Scotland in 1849. His early faith was subjected to severe trials during his studies, and he was at times 'precipitated down to the ground floor of the primaeval abyss.' These doubts, however, he surmounted and entered the Free Church ministry. After acting as assistant, first at Ancrum and then at Lochwinnoch, he was called to Cardross in Dumbartonshire in 1859. In 1868, he was translated to the east Free Church at Broughty Ferry in Forfarshire, and in 1871 he published his studies on the gospels entitled The Training of the Twelve, which established his reputation as a biblical scholar and a writer of ability. They were originally delivered