One of the most renowned theologians of our time tells the story of the Bible in a way that everyone can understand. Shortly before he died in 1998, Lesslie Newbigin recorded a series of eight radio addresses on basic themes and central figures in the Bible. These addresses, which form the basis of this book, affirm the Bible as the story of the history of humankind. Newbigin invites readers to join him on a journey from Genesis through Revelation, introducing the great biblical figures along the way - Abraham, Moses, Noah, the prophets, Paul, and of course, Jesus. His characteristically lucid prose, reflecting a lifetime of faithful teaching and preaching, both challenges and inspires the reader to a deeper level of Christian discipleship. This authoritative, powerful summary of the Bible story is indispensable reading for individuals, teachers, clergy, and adult study groups. Lesslie Newbigin was a founding bishop of the Church of South India and associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches. He authored numerous books, including Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship; The Gospel in a Pluralist Society; and Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture.

How does the gospel relate to a pluralist society? What is the Christian message in a society marked by religious pluralism, ethnic diversity and cultural relativism? Should Christians concentrate on evangelism or dialogue? The Gospel in a Pluralist Society addresses these kinds of questions - providing an excellent analysis of contemporary culture and suggests how Christians can more confidently affirm their faith in such a context. While drawing on scholars such as Michael Polanyi, Alasdair MacIntyre, Hendrikus Berkof, Walter Wink and Robert Wuthnow, this heartfelt work by a missionary pastor and preacher is not only suited to an academic readership; it also offers to Christian leaders and lay people many thoughtful, helpful and provocative reflections. When Lesslie Newbigin died in 1998, The Times' obituary writer described him as 'one of the foremost missionary statesmen of his generation', and amongst 'the outstanding figures on the world Christian stage of the second half of the century'. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society has been widely influential and deserves to be reissued as an SPCK Classic.

"The issue . . . in the multicultural millennium is not so much the 'Islamization' of a once-Christian culture as the emergence, with state collusion, of discrete territories where vastly different norms prevail, shut off and resentful, a breeding ground for ferment and a target for hostility." In the aftermath of the London suicide bombings, this unusual book seems more prophetic than ever. Begun six years before 9/11, it examined the roots of political Islam and its offshoots in Britain. In describing the indifference of policy makers and government officials to religion, it warned of extremism taking root among disaffected young Muslims--and offered a vision of hope tempered with realism that might have helped avert tragedy had it been more widely heeded. The book's timely republication offers another chance to understand the roots of our present crisis--and a way out of it. Lamin Sanneh, himself a former Muslim, explores the history of Islam's always controversial accommodations with the West. Jenny Taylor's debut contribution engages critically at the grassroots level, looking in detail at Islam in Britain, its mission and tactics, and the State's inadequate response to them. "Neglect would appear to have been government policy." Lesslie Newbigin describes the loss of a sense of direction in the West as bankrupt secular ideologies confront fundamentalism with politically correct platitudes or coercive legislation that is destroying the West's historic freedoms. All three authors call for a radical Christian critique to replace the false and evidently failed policies of neutrality of the State.

The late Lesslie Newbigin was widely regarded as one of this generation'smost significant voices on Christianity in relation to modern society. Nowthat he is gone, there is a call for his unpublished writings to be madeavailable. To that end "Signs amid the Rubble gathers some of Newbigin'sfinest statements on issues of continuing relevance.

The first set of chapters consists of the 1941Bangalore Lectures, in which Newbigin speaks powerfully of the kingdomof God in relation to the modern -- severely deficient -- idea of "progress." The second group of writings, the Henry Martyn Lectures of 1986, deals mainly with the importance of Christian mission. In the last piece, his address to the World Council of Churches conference on mission andevangelism in Brazil in 1996 -- which editor Geoffrey Wainwright calls his "swan song on the ecumenical stage" -- Newbigin wondersaloud how future generations will judge today's practice of abortion.

Respected missiologist Lesslie Newbigin's commentary on John is unique both in its power to prepare pastors and teachers to declare the Word of God to others and in its ability to communicate John's message to contemporary readers.

'In this short by acute book, Bishop Newbigin unmasks the unspoken and concealed conditions that have intimidated and effectively held Christians in check, making their taming by modern cultural forces easy and comprehensive. It follows from this that any home for renewal of mainline Christianity cannot take place without the kind of critical probing of those unspoken conditions that Bishop Newbigin presents here. This book begins the process by turning the searchlight on Christians themselves, charting a course between the fundamentalist reaction and postmodernist radical nihilism. Whether or not the book results in the long-overdue shake-up Newbigin calls for, it is bound to be included in the arsenal of any meaningful response to the contemporary challenge.

This collection of seventeen never-before-published essays, sermons, and addresses by Lesslie Newbigin, one of the premier missiologists of the twentieth century, puts forth his developing view of the agenda for Christian mission from 1960 to 1992. Considered "the quintessence of Newbigin's thought" by editor Eleanor Jackson, these papers record the dynamics of Newbigin's ideas about mission as he confronted new issues in the church and society. Newbigin's sermon at Riverside Church in New York City in 1960 opens discussion on the themes of unity in mission, changes in the missionary enterprise, and developments in the theology of mission. A second group of articles addresses specific "frontline" situations: mission in the modern city, the pastor's role in the inner city, and the future of the parish church. Newbigin then moves to frontier concerns: the resistance of modern society to the gospel, the cultural captivity of the church, and the consequences of witness in a world of religious and ideological pluralism - themes central to many of his full-length books. Finally, Newbigin sets the agenda for mission as the church approaches a new millennium. Spanning three significant decades in the history of church outreach, A Word in Season offers an important perspective on the course of Christian mission and provides valuable instruction to those who struggle with the missionary task today.

Aimed at bringing contemporary concerns in mission theology to a wide-reading public, this volume flows from Newbigin's extensive experience in the mission field and from lectures developed especially to prepare men and women for missionary service. Newbigin describes the Christian mission as the declaration of an open secret--open in that it is preached to all nations, secret in that it is manifest only to the eyes of faith. The result is a thoroughly biblical attempt to lead the church to embrace its Christ-given task of presenting the gospel in our complex modern world. This revised edition includes a helpful index and a new preface.