Face to Face: Knowing God beyond Our Shame

by Fr Stephen Freeman

From advertising to social media, from trauma survival to keeping up with the Joneses, shame is deeply embedded in our culture and our psyches, directing much of our behavior from far behind the scenes. But is all shame bad? Popular author and speaker Fr. Stephen Freeman explores the roots and meaning of both toxic and healthy shame, revealing the crucial importance of this understanding for our relationship with God.

170 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2023

Reviews

[Laura Wining · Rating 4 out of 5]

Face to Face by Fr Stephen Freeman

I recently listened to the book Face to Face Knowing God Beyond Our Shame by Father Stephen Freeman. He is both the author and the narrator. His narration made it very easy to listen to this short read. It is just about 3 hours in total. Short but yet deep and thought provoking. Father Stephen is an Orthodox priest who shares his own experiences with shame or those he has experienced through his pastoral counseling. He talks at length about the differences between toxic shame and helpful shame that brings humility. Humility is needed for us to be able to know God. This is a book I would recommend taking slow and thoughtfully contemplating each chapter before moving on. Unfortunately as a mom with small kiddos this was a bit of a challenge for me. I definitely will be listening to this audiobook again and possibly purchasing the paperback version to be able to contemplate this even further.

[Laura]

I volunteered to review this book based solely on the author, before I even knew what the subject of the book was. I have read Fr. Stephen's blog for a couple of years and nearly every post speaks to me about a current struggle. His book does the same, I didn't know that I needed to learn more about and understand shame and how it effects one's life. But I did. What I learned is helpful to understand my own struggles in my Christian walk as well as those around me. It's the kind of book that is best read in short bits so the reader can ponder what she has read afterwards. It is a fairly short book but it is packed full of insights and help for helping in our struggle for salvation. I plan to reread it to go back and absorb more from it.

[Tina Manatos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that a gives you a lot to contemplate. I found it very helpful.