BOOK OF THE MONTH: Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times by Elizabeth Oldfield
/FEBRUARY BOOK OF THE MONTH
REVIEWER: Peter Crumpler
BOOK: Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times
Author: Elizabeth Oldfield
(Hodder & Stoughton, 2024), 224pp, hardcover
Preachers, or anyone who communicates the Christian gospel on behalf of the Church could learn a great deal from studying this valuable and engaging book. In it, Elizabeth Oldfield, the host of ‘The Sacred’ podcast and former director of the religion thinktank Theos, sets out a compelling case for Christianity in a 21st century world.
Using wide research, humour, self-deprecation and deep insight into contemporary culture, Oldfield writes engagingly about her faith, as if she is in conversation with you at your favourite coffee shop.
She takes the ancient tradition of the ‘seven deadly sins’ and reimagines them for the modern day, seeking to set out how connection – in all its forms – is the key to being ‘fully alive.’
So, to counter Wrath, we move from polarisation to peacemaking; to counter Avarice we move from ‘stuffocation’ to gratitude and generosity; Envy is countered by moving from status anxiety to belovedness, and Pride by moving from individualism to community. And so on.
Oldfield writes with a broad audience in mind, especially perhaps people who have rejected Christianity, without really examining what Christ actually said. She describes God as the ‘G-bomb’ and only brings the Almighty fully into play in the final chapter.
She yearns to be ‘fully alive,’ and aims to be ‘not, now living a big glitzy hedonist life, nor staying within the tram tracks of a tidy conformist life. I want depth. I feel the need for roots, for spiritual core strength.’
Actor and comedian Sally Phillips describes the book as “deep stuff, personal yet learned, funny and vulnerable,” and I’m with her.
Oldfield’s voice, while unique to her, is one that many preachers might seek to emulate. She communicates profound truth with insights from scripture and a range of writers, contemporary and historic. She also reveals much about herself, drawing the reader into her life experiences, and admitting her shortcomings. ‘I am” she declares, “a contentedly failed atheist, who retains a soft spot for those who would still call themselves that.’
This book was a joy to read, and immediately I sat down to read it through again. I much enjoyed the writer’s company, as she shared her journey and talked about how Christ’s life and message, and the Bible’s ancient teachings can address many of today’s strivings.
An insightful commendation of Christianity, written with an easy, yet polished style, that speaks to a generation that has found the faith wanting, without actually considering it.
Reviewer: Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, and a former communications director with the CofE.