Fully Alive - by Elizabeth Oldfield

About the Book

Public scholar and popular podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield shows why, in a world stripped of both forgiveness and responsibility but heavy on judgment, she still finds the concept of sin liberating--and how, to her surprise, she keeps finding the themes, rituals, and communities of Christianity a source of spiritual strength when things fall apart.

Book Synopsis

In a world experiencing turbulent change, we need people who are resilient, kind, open, generous, and brave. How do we become those people?

In Fully Alive, popular podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield uses the seven deadly sins as a framework to explore questions such as:

- How can I move from sloth to attention in order to make the most of my short life and stop getting distracted by trivialities?
- Is it possible to move from wrath to peacemaking? How do I become a depolarizing person in an age of outrage, tribalism, and division?
- What might it look like to move from gluttony to awe, finding transcendence in expansive, life-giving ways--not in a tub of ice cream or a bottle of wine?
- How can I move from pride to connection, overcoming the disconnection that keeps me from intimacy, community, and ultimately the divine?

Oldfield shows why, in a world heavy on judgment, she still finds the concept of sin liberating--and how, to her surprise, she keeps finding in her Christian faith ways to feel fully alive. Deeply serious yet amusingly relatable, this book helps us develop spiritual strength for when things fall apart.

From the Back Cover

"A great gift to all in search of a deeper life"

Public scholar and popular podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield shows why, in a world stripped of both forgiveness and responsibility but heavy on judgment, she still finds the concept of sin liberating--and how, to her surprise, she keeps finding the themes, rituals, and communities of Christianity a source of spiritual strength when things fall apart.

"When I was writing Unapologetic more than a decade ago, I knew the job would soon need doing again. And again. Because the bridge between faith and contemporary experience constantly needs to be rebuilt as times change. So here it is, then: the bridge for the present moment, across which seekers for more meaning in their lives can travel in the knowledge that they won't be bullied, browbeaten, or talked down to. This book. This one. In your hand. Right now."
--Francis Spufford, author of Unapologetic and Light Perpetual

"In this beautiful book, Oldfield gives voice and vigor to a paradox of our time--that even as Christianity is officially on the wane, it is a bearer of wisdom, intelligence, and rituals of lavish value to our world in all its pain and promise. This book is for modern humans who, like her, have gone 'off script' in finding religion more relevant, not less so, in this young century. A great gift to all in search of a deeper life, of 'spiritual core strength'--of a full, redemptive aliveness."
--Krista Tippett, president, executive producer, and host of On Being

"Oldfield has a gift for writing about the things that matter most in a way that's honest, warmhearted, and down-to-earth. This remarkable book points not to some unreachable ideal of life but to a deeper, more soulful, and meaningful experience of the life we're actually living."
--Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks

About the Author

Elizabeth Oldfield hosts The Sacred podcast and is the former director and now senior fellow of the think tank Theos. She appears across the media, including BBC Radio and television, UnHerd, the Financial Times, and beyond. Oldfield is also a contributing editor at Comment magazine, chair of Larger Us, and a coach and consultant working with purpose-driven individuals and organizations. She lives in an intentional community in South London with her husband and children.