Freedom of Simplicity: Revised Edition

Written in the same warm, accessible style as Richard Foster’s best-selling Celebration of Discipline, Freedom of Simplicity articulates a creative, more human style of living and points the way for Christians to make their lives “models of simplicity.” Foster’s manifesto shows how simplicity is not merely the state of having less stress and more leisure, but instead is a spiritual discipline that is essential for the health of our soul.


Foster explores the discipline of simplicity throughout Christian history and the Bible, as well as examining simplicity in practice. Freedom of Simplicity provides a way to rethink our priorities and to “seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.” This work shows us how to live in harmony with the rich complexity of life while stressing the relation of simplicity to prayer, solitude, and all the classic Disciplines.

Richard J. Foster is the author of several bestselling books, including Celebration of Discipline, Streams of Living Water, and Prayer, which in 1993 was Christianity Today’s Book of the Year and the winner of the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He is the founder of Renovaré, an intrachurch movement committed to the renewal of the Church in all her multifaceted expressions, and the editor of the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible.

“Foster’s personal honesty, forthrightness, and literary courage are compelling. . . . [He] leads us carefully and candidly along in a reevaluation of our Christian guidelines.” - Ted Engstrom, president emeritus, World Vision