Alive in God

How can Christianity touch the imagination of our contemporaries when ever fewer people in the West identify as religious? Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe argues we must show how everything we believe is an invitation to live fully. God says: 'I put before you life and death: choose life'. Anyone who understands the beauty and messiness of human life - novelists, poets, filmmakers and so on - can be our allies, whether they believe or not. The challenge is not today's secularism but its banality. We accompany the disciples as they struggle to understand this strange man who heals, casts out demons and offers endless forgiveness. In the face of death, he teaches them what it means to be alive in God. Then he embraces all that afflicts and crushes humanity. Finally, Cardinal Radcliffe explores what it means for us to be alive spiritually, physically, sacramentally, justly and prayerfully. The result is a compelling new understanding of the words of Jesus: 'I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.'

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe is a former Master of the Dominican Order. Educated at Oxford and Paris, he joined the Dominicans in 1965, and taught scripture at Blackfriars, Oxford, for many years. His bestselling books published by Bloomsbury include What is the Point of Being a Christian?, Why Go to Church? and I Call You Friends. He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Francis in December 2024.

IMAGINATION 1 Wingless and Three-Legged Chickens 2 Choose Life JOURNEYING 3 The Transcendent Adventure 4 A God for Our Aches and Pains 5 Initial Skirmishes 6 Growing Up 7 Skin and Forgiveness TEACHING 8 Teaching: The Dogmatic Imagination 9 Impossible Friendships 10 The Non-Violent Imagination 11 At Home 12 The Ecology of Faith 13 Affliction THE RISEN LIFE Introduction 14 The Spiritual Life: Fresh Air 15 The Bodily Life: Hallowing the Senses 16 The Sacramental versus the Technocratic Imagination 17 The Liturgical Imagination: God's Providence 18 The Life of Prayer: The Poetry of Hope Conclusion Notes Acknowledgements Bibliography