Signs Amid the Rubble

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 Nowthat he is gone, there is a call for his unpublished writings to be madeavailable.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.