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Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe
Have you ever referred to God as “the Man upstairs”? Most Christians living in a secular society have unwittingly relegated God and all things spiritual to the “second storey” of the a realm we cannot reach except through death. The effect of this is to banish God, along with the saints and angels, from our everyday lives.In Everywhere Present, popular blogger and podcaster Fr. Stephen Freeman makes a compelling case for becoming aware of God’s living and active presence in every moment of our lives here and now. Learning to practice your Christian faith in a one-storey universe will change your life—and make possible the living, intimate relationship with God you’ve always dreamed of.
116 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
July 23, 2022
After having watched several of Father Stephen Freeman's talks on YouTube, as well as listening to multiple of his podcasts I couldn't but order his book. In "Everywhere Present" Father Stephen shows himself to be a true and eloquent teacher of the Orthodox Christian faith.
The book explains the modern day construct of the two-storey universe in which modern society has abolished God to the so-called "up there" or second storey. Making our lives run indepedendently from him. While secular society might not always necessarily put an anti-religious purpose behind this, that is oftentimes the outcome.
The two-storey universe leads many Christians on a path of "functional atheism" where we forgot that God is everywhere and an unabolishable part of our daily lives. Father Stephen's book will without a doubt restore the reader to a way of thinking based on the one-storey universe.
The wisdom of 10,000 pages packed into 100!
The book explains the modern day construct of the two-storey universe in which modern society has abolished God to the so-called "up there" or second storey. Making our lives run indepedendently from him. While secular society might not always necessarily put an anti-religious purpose behind this, that is oftentimes the outcome.
The two-storey universe leads many Christians on a path of "functional atheism" where we forgot that God is everywhere and an unabolishable part of our daily lives. Father Stephen's book will without a doubt restore the reader to a way of thinking based on the one-storey universe.
The wisdom of 10,000 pages packed into 100!
March 19, 2012
father Stephen is the man who had the most profound impact on my journey to Orthodoxy. This book is a unified vision based on thoughts he has shared in his blog over the years. For me these thoughts are life changing.
October 14, 2012
Excellent, breezy read. Rich content on the Orthodox antidote to the false dichotomy of sacred and secular, introduced by modernity and which infects much of contemporary Christianity in ways blatant and subtle. Highly readable.. knocked it out in a day, and I'm not the fastest reader.
November 9, 2019
A Strong Start but Mostly Forgettable
There is much to like here. I was taken in by the early chapters and quickly grew accustomed to his speaking voice and presentation style. Many moments, notably his journey to a monastery lined with martyrs' skulls, are truly captivating. However, there are issues that prevented me from fully appreciating this first foray into Fr. Freeman's work.
Largely abstract and ruminating, it never really settles into a structure and its themes are covered unsatisfactorily. Though some ideas are repeated endlessly it never quite amounts to a solid thesis. At times I felt lost in the navel-gazing and had a sinking feeling that little of importance was being said. This is not helped by the constant caricature of other communities (especially Protestantism), blaming them for the decline of faith and asserting things about their spirituality and piety that seem to invite a debate. This would all be standard fare and relatively innocuous except he does not often provide arguments for his points, only rather bare assertions.
In defense of holy icons he wisely starts with St. John of Damascus and supplies much food for thought on the Incarnation and its implications. At one point late in the book he unambiguously declares that iconoclasm will lead directly to a secular society, though he gives no clear argument here and seems to ignore the fact that the most iconoclastic faith also tends to be the least secular.
This book is entirely pastoral. While at times captivating, it unfortunately lacks both the scholarship and even the attempt to back up its claims. It is perhaps intended as a purely devotional work; as such I would recommend it to Orthodox Christians and no one else.
There is much to like here. I was taken in by the early chapters and quickly grew accustomed to his speaking voice and presentation style. Many moments, notably his journey to a monastery lined with martyrs' skulls, are truly captivating. However, there are issues that prevented me from fully appreciating this first foray into Fr. Freeman's work.
Largely abstract and ruminating, it never really settles into a structure and its themes are covered unsatisfactorily. Though some ideas are repeated endlessly it never quite amounts to a solid thesis. At times I felt lost in the navel-gazing and had a sinking feeling that little of importance was being said. This is not helped by the constant caricature of other communities (especially Protestantism), blaming them for the decline of faith and asserting things about their spirituality and piety that seem to invite a debate. This would all be standard fare and relatively innocuous except he does not often provide arguments for his points, only rather bare assertions.
In defense of holy icons he wisely starts with St. John of Damascus and supplies much food for thought on the Incarnation and its implications. At one point late in the book he unambiguously declares that iconoclasm will lead directly to a secular society, though he gives no clear argument here and seems to ignore the fact that the most iconoclastic faith also tends to be the least secular.
This book is entirely pastoral. While at times captivating, it unfortunately lacks both the scholarship and even the attempt to back up its claims. It is perhaps intended as a purely devotional work; as such I would recommend it to Orthodox Christians and no one else.
December 4, 2020
This book was excellent. The basic premise of this book is that God is not separate from us, he is everywhere present and always with us. He is not upstairs, he is right here. As an Orthodox Christian this is something that I understood intellectually, but reading Father Stephen’s book really bought this message home for me viscerally. I was especially touched by his recounting of the monks of Mar Saba who see the monks who have fallen asleep all the time as they move about the monastery – because it is one storey universe and they are still truly with us.
I was also blown away by Father Stephen’s chapter on iconography, “The Literal Truth,” where he writes about icons being painted to “open out” so that icons do with color what Scripture does with words. His explanation of the symbols in the icons of Christ’s baptism and resurrection really did blow my mind. And I loved his conclusion to this particular chapter – quoting St. Nikolai Velimirovich, “A man is not that which can be put into a grave, but is rather that which the universe cannot contain.” He adds, “The universe itself is not the sort of thing that can be “contained”; it has layers upon layers of meaning and possibilities that are only revealed in the presence of Christ. We are meant for more than we can literally imagine.”
Father Stephen’s final chapter on “The Mystery of Persons,” was not only an excellent way to end the book, but a much needed reminder in this fraught times that “you only know God to the extent that you love your enemies.” He goes on to note that the modern world has a tendency to erode the fullness of what it means to be a person created in God’s image. And aren’t we seeing this most awfully this year? I needed and was grateful for this line: “The truth of a person is always more than the person himself knows and always more than anyone else knows. Created in the image of God, human beings have an inherent transcendence. The soul is a mystery.”
If that is not enough of a punch in the gut to wake you up, then Father goes on to say, “for not to love someone is to deny our own true existence,” and “every act of love extends the very fabric of our being.” He ends the chapter thus: “My enemy is not only someone I am commanded to forgive and to love – he is also the means of my existence. The commandment to love your enemies is a voice in the darkness crying, “Let there be light.”” I pray this is a message we can not only remember but embrace in the coming days.
I was also blown away by Father Stephen’s chapter on iconography, “The Literal Truth,” where he writes about icons being painted to “open out” so that icons do with color what Scripture does with words. His explanation of the symbols in the icons of Christ’s baptism and resurrection really did blow my mind. And I loved his conclusion to this particular chapter – quoting St. Nikolai Velimirovich, “A man is not that which can be put into a grave, but is rather that which the universe cannot contain.” He adds, “The universe itself is not the sort of thing that can be “contained”; it has layers upon layers of meaning and possibilities that are only revealed in the presence of Christ. We are meant for more than we can literally imagine.”
Father Stephen’s final chapter on “The Mystery of Persons,” was not only an excellent way to end the book, but a much needed reminder in this fraught times that “you only know God to the extent that you love your enemies.” He goes on to note that the modern world has a tendency to erode the fullness of what it means to be a person created in God’s image. And aren’t we seeing this most awfully this year? I needed and was grateful for this line: “The truth of a person is always more than the person himself knows and always more than anyone else knows. Created in the image of God, human beings have an inherent transcendence. The soul is a mystery.”
If that is not enough of a punch in the gut to wake you up, then Father goes on to say, “for not to love someone is to deny our own true existence,” and “every act of love extends the very fabric of our being.” He ends the chapter thus: “My enemy is not only someone I am commanded to forgive and to love – he is also the means of my existence. The commandment to love your enemies is a voice in the darkness crying, “Let there be light.”” I pray this is a message we can not only remember but embrace in the coming days.
May 14, 2023
Notes:
+ symbol is from the Greek: "that which is thrown or cast together," from assimilated form of syn- "together" + bole "a throwing, a casting, the stroke of a missile, bolt, beam," from bol-, nominative stem of ballein "to throw"
+ diabolic is from the Greek: “dia” meaning apart or separate and “ballein” meaning to throw
Potent Quotables:
We are faced with the task of overcoming the delusion of our own autonomy and surrendering to Him who rules over all things. Indeed, the compartmentalized world is a delusion of our own creation. It is the ascendency of the rational mind over spiritual intuition, of the head over the heart.
Jesus did not come to make bad men good, He came to make dead men live.
God makes himself present to us through the very things of this world.
“For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.” St. Irenaeus
April 12, 2012
The book is alright, mighty short but the information it provides ought to help inform the correct way of looking at the spiritual realm rather than the modern way which is a poison on the persons spiritual health and development. I liked this book for its support of Classical Christianity over than modern and Protestant understanding that has lost ALL bearing resembling anything that Christ taught and sought to show us.
November 29, 2016
The first time I read this, I thought it was remarkable but put it aside after awhile. Some of the concepts were difficult and I didn't fully grasp them.
Now I have re-read it . I am careful not to give five stars except on the rarest of occasions. This is one. It isn't necessary to be Eastern Orthodox to find this book meaningful. It has given me a new perspective -- not of the head, but the heart and soul. I will always treasure it and I know I have been changed by it.
February 5, 2015
This is a fantastic, enjoyable, profound and yet brief little book. I would highly suggest it to anyone who calls themselves a Christian in today's world. Fr. Stephen Freeman shows how secularist thought has crept its way into much of our modern theology. This is one that you should not pass up.
July 26, 2016
A wonderful book about the direct presence of God in our lives. Highly recommended. A short book which I read slowly over months to absorb.
November 10, 2011
Short yet pithy, and merits the back-to-back readings I gave it.
August 23, 2025
A Universe Without Upstairs: Reclaiming a Grounded Faith
Stephen Freeman’s Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe serves as a necessary corrective to a distinctly modern, and distinctly unworkable, conception of faith. The book’s central project is to dismantle the "two-storey universe" in which many Western Christians unwittingly live: a reality where the material, rational world of daily life occupies the ground floor, while God, the saints, and all things "spiritual" are relegated to a distant and largely inaccessible second floor. Freeman argues, with compelling simplicity, that this division is a fabrication that starves faith of its vitality, rendering it an abstract set of propositions rather than a lived reality.
The great strength of Freeman’s work is its relentless focus on the particular. He rightly identifies that the modern flight to the abstract—viewing religion as a system of ethics or a political identity—is precisely what makes it so flimsy. A faith that exists only in the "upstairs" realm of ideas offers little defense against the chaos of the passions and the allure of fleeting ideologies. By insisting on a "one-storey" universe, Freeman calls for a radical reintegration of the sacred and the secular. This is not a call to mysticism in the sentimental sense, but a demand for a grounded, incarnational reality where every action, from washing dishes to balancing a budget, is an arena for divine encounter. The world, in this view, is not a profane space from which we must escape to find God, but the very place where He is most present.
This perspective offers a powerful antidote to the spiritual malaise that follows when reason is divorced from revelation. When a culture attempts to build its moral framework exclusively on the foundation of human intellect, it inevitably finds itself adrift, creating meaning from moment to moment and substituting transient emotional fervor for enduring truth. Freeman’s "one-storey" model implicitly argues that a meaningful life requires the coherent integration of the physical and the metaphysical. A world where God is truly "everywhere present and filling all things" is a world where objective moral truths are embedded in the fabric of reality itself, not merely asserted by it. Consequently, human flourishing is not found in the unrestrained pursuit of individual desire, but in aligning oneself with the created order and its inherent purpose.
The book’s argument resonates with a deep, almost primal, understanding of the human person. It posits that we are not disembodied minds but integrated beings whose salvation is worked out in the grime and glory of the material world. The path to a virtuous life is not through abstract contemplation alone, but through the difficult, daily practice of seeing the divine imprint in the mundane. This is a call to repentance in its truest sense: a change of mind (metanoia) that reorients one’s entire perception of reality. It challenges the notion that man can perfect himself or his society through political engineering or social utopianism, redirecting the focus toward the slow, arduous, and ultimately more rewarding work of personal transformation through cooperation with a grace that pervades all of creation.
While Freeman’s prose is accessible and his thesis clear, the book is more of a potent primer than an exhaustive theological treatise. Its brevity leaves the reader wishing for a more detailed application of its principles to the complex moral and social questions that arise from a fully integrated worldview. However, its purpose is not to provide a comprehensive manual, but to shatter a false idol: the clean, sterile, and ultimately empty "upstairs" god of modernity.
Everywhere Present is a quiet but firm rebuttal to a faith that has become too intellectual, too political, and too divorced from the gritty business of living. It calls its readers back to a more ancient and logically sound understanding of the cosmos, one in which there is no division between the sacred and the secular, because all of creation is charged with the grandeur of God. It is a vital reminder that a faith that does not manifest in the here and now is no faith at all.
Stephen Freeman’s Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe serves as a necessary corrective to a distinctly modern, and distinctly unworkable, conception of faith. The book’s central project is to dismantle the "two-storey universe" in which many Western Christians unwittingly live: a reality where the material, rational world of daily life occupies the ground floor, while God, the saints, and all things "spiritual" are relegated to a distant and largely inaccessible second floor. Freeman argues, with compelling simplicity, that this division is a fabrication that starves faith of its vitality, rendering it an abstract set of propositions rather than a lived reality.
The great strength of Freeman’s work is its relentless focus on the particular. He rightly identifies that the modern flight to the abstract—viewing religion as a system of ethics or a political identity—is precisely what makes it so flimsy. A faith that exists only in the "upstairs" realm of ideas offers little defense against the chaos of the passions and the allure of fleeting ideologies. By insisting on a "one-storey" universe, Freeman calls for a radical reintegration of the sacred and the secular. This is not a call to mysticism in the sentimental sense, but a demand for a grounded, incarnational reality where every action, from washing dishes to balancing a budget, is an arena for divine encounter. The world, in this view, is not a profane space from which we must escape to find God, but the very place where He is most present.
This perspective offers a powerful antidote to the spiritual malaise that follows when reason is divorced from revelation. When a culture attempts to build its moral framework exclusively on the foundation of human intellect, it inevitably finds itself adrift, creating meaning from moment to moment and substituting transient emotional fervor for enduring truth. Freeman’s "one-storey" model implicitly argues that a meaningful life requires the coherent integration of the physical and the metaphysical. A world where God is truly "everywhere present and filling all things" is a world where objective moral truths are embedded in the fabric of reality itself, not merely asserted by it. Consequently, human flourishing is not found in the unrestrained pursuit of individual desire, but in aligning oneself with the created order and its inherent purpose.
The book’s argument resonates with a deep, almost primal, understanding of the human person. It posits that we are not disembodied minds but integrated beings whose salvation is worked out in the grime and glory of the material world. The path to a virtuous life is not through abstract contemplation alone, but through the difficult, daily practice of seeing the divine imprint in the mundane. This is a call to repentance in its truest sense: a change of mind (metanoia) that reorients one’s entire perception of reality. It challenges the notion that man can perfect himself or his society through political engineering or social utopianism, redirecting the focus toward the slow, arduous, and ultimately more rewarding work of personal transformation through cooperation with a grace that pervades all of creation.
While Freeman’s prose is accessible and his thesis clear, the book is more of a potent primer than an exhaustive theological treatise. Its brevity leaves the reader wishing for a more detailed application of its principles to the complex moral and social questions that arise from a fully integrated worldview. However, its purpose is not to provide a comprehensive manual, but to shatter a false idol: the clean, sterile, and ultimately empty "upstairs" god of modernity.
Everywhere Present is a quiet but firm rebuttal to a faith that has become too intellectual, too political, and too divorced from the gritty business of living. It calls its readers back to a more ancient and logically sound understanding of the cosmos, one in which there is no division between the sacred and the secular, because all of creation is charged with the grandeur of God. It is a vital reminder that a faith that does not manifest in the here and now is no faith at all.
Read
May 17, 2021For decades now, modern churchmen have regularly reminded Christians how deeply our faith has been compromised by our capitulation to the pervasive secularism of
the larger culture. Fr. Freeman is, as his bio states, especially interested in “engaging modern culture from within the Traditions of the Church” and Everywhere Present is
part of what he sees as a missionary effort.
He stakes out his position early on:
"I have come to think of this modern cultural construct as the “two-storey universe.” It is as though the universe were a twostorey house: We live here on earth, the first floor, where things are simply things and everything operates accord to the normal, natural laws, while God lives in heaven upstairs, and is largely removed from the storey in which we live. To effect anything here, God must interrupt the laws of nature and perform a miracle. Exactly how often He does this is a matter of debate among Christians and many others within our culture – often measured by just how conservative or liberal their religion may be. The effects of this distance are all-encompassing
in the area of religious experience and belief, and frequently in other areas as well." (p. 7)
In a chapter titled “Christian Atheism,” he calls out the consequences to the culture when Christians buy into the “two-storey” construct:
"Christianity that has purged the Church of the sacraments, and of the sacramental, has only ideas to substitute in their place. The result is the eradication of God from the world in all ways
other the theoretical. … [S]ince much of modern Christianity functions on the ideological level rather that the level of communion with the God-who-is-among-us, much of Christianity
functions in a mode of practical atheism." (p. 51)
And Fr. Freeman eloquently describes his concept of a proper “one-storey” Faith:
"True Christianity is not a faith in abstractions, nor is it about a reward, up there, someday. It is as real as the Incarnation of the Word. It is as real as the leper healed by Christ. … It is as
real as the nails that held His flesh on the cross. No abstractions. Christ’s resurrection is … the victory of Reality over the delusion of death and all its kingdom. It is the union of earth
and heaven, created and uncreated. In such a union, there cannot be two metaphysical floors of reality." (p. 96)
As a therapist, Fr. Freeman is an skilled diagnostician and inspires with his vision of a restored Christianity. Yet in his limited prescriptions for healing, he falls short in acknowledging the impact of recovering one’s sense of the omnipresent Godhead. Embracing a God “everywhere present and filling all things” is in fact a radical and risky act. Both God and man will extract a cost for such a glorious choice.
the larger culture. Fr. Freeman is, as his bio states, especially interested in “engaging modern culture from within the Traditions of the Church” and Everywhere Present is
part of what he sees as a missionary effort.
He stakes out his position early on:
"I have come to think of this modern cultural construct as the “two-storey universe.” It is as though the universe were a twostorey house: We live here on earth, the first floor, where things are simply things and everything operates accord to the normal, natural laws, while God lives in heaven upstairs, and is largely removed from the storey in which we live. To effect anything here, God must interrupt the laws of nature and perform a miracle. Exactly how often He does this is a matter of debate among Christians and many others within our culture – often measured by just how conservative or liberal their religion may be. The effects of this distance are all-encompassing
in the area of religious experience and belief, and frequently in other areas as well." (p. 7)
In a chapter titled “Christian Atheism,” he calls out the consequences to the culture when Christians buy into the “two-storey” construct:
"Christianity that has purged the Church of the sacraments, and of the sacramental, has only ideas to substitute in their place. The result is the eradication of God from the world in all ways
other the theoretical. … [S]ince much of modern Christianity functions on the ideological level rather that the level of communion with the God-who-is-among-us, much of Christianity
functions in a mode of practical atheism." (p. 51)
And Fr. Freeman eloquently describes his concept of a proper “one-storey” Faith:
"True Christianity is not a faith in abstractions, nor is it about a reward, up there, someday. It is as real as the Incarnation of the Word. It is as real as the leper healed by Christ. … It is as
real as the nails that held His flesh on the cross. No abstractions. Christ’s resurrection is … the victory of Reality over the delusion of death and all its kingdom. It is the union of earth
and heaven, created and uncreated. In such a union, there cannot be two metaphysical floors of reality." (p. 96)
As a therapist, Fr. Freeman is an skilled diagnostician and inspires with his vision of a restored Christianity. Yet in his limited prescriptions for healing, he falls short in acknowledging the impact of recovering one’s sense of the omnipresent Godhead. Embracing a God “everywhere present and filling all things” is in fact a radical and risky act. Both God and man will extract a cost for such a glorious choice.
November 28, 2021
Chapters 10 and 11 are the climax of this book. Here's a very thought-provoking quote from the book, where Fr. Stephen Freeman asks, "Why are our enemies more important than God? They must be, else we would forgive them in accordance with His commandment. I could take this question and apply it across the board in our Christian lives. God is less important to us than many things, because we believe in the reality of those things more than the Reality of God. It is the habit of two-storey thinking" (Chapter 11, Location 1200 on Kindle).
I really like how he tied in practical Christian practices (i.e., forgiving enemies) into understanding that God is everywhere present. The author is an Eastern Orthodox priest, but the book is beneficial to Christians of all traditions.
I really like how he tied in practical Christian practices (i.e., forgiving enemies) into understanding that God is everywhere present. The author is an Eastern Orthodox priest, but the book is beneficial to Christians of all traditions.
October 19, 2018
Fr. Freeman has a theory that most (non-Orthodox) Christians live in a two-story world, where people are on the first floor, and God is in there second, and the twain don’t meet. There are some good points about living in a secular world (which he sometimes equates with Protestantism), but as a whole, I don’t think he proves his point. It’s a short, but not a particularly interesting read. If this wasn’t chosen by a book club member, I wouldn’t have finished reading it.
November 12, 2024
The secularized heaven “above” contradicts traditional Christian teaching. Fr. Freeman reminds us that God is in all things and fillest on places. The presence of God here on this earth is fundamental to our living a Christian life. The themes in this book help tackle the continued persecution of the traditional Christian faith and re-state our true purpose of being: theosis. I recommend this book to any Christian interest in learning why the world is “feels” empty.
October 19, 2019
Although this is a slim volume, it is dense with Orthodox Theology. Prepared to be challenged to integrate your everyday life more fully with your Christian life. As Father Stephen asserts, to grow in Christ, the two cannot be compartmentalized but, rather, they must be integrated if we are to be truly human.
June 19, 2020
I appreciated the opportunity to hear an argument in favor of iconography within Christianity (similar to James Martin writing My Life with the Saints.) I remain unconvinced of the value he ascribes, but found it valuable seeing through his perspective.
March 8, 2021
Fr. Stephen blows apart the dualistic, Cartesian view of the cosmos as two separate realms--the realm of God, and the realm of earth--heaven as some other plane of existence fundamentally separated from ours: the two stories from the title. No, God is everywhere present and filling all things.
March 2, 2022
This was a really thought-provoking book; more than I expected it to be actually. It made me recognize many ways in which I compartmentalize and live my life as if I don't genuinely believe that God is 'everywhere present'. I will probably re‐listen to it.
April 13, 2020
Fantastic book! Another book I'd recommend if you are a Christian and in need of a more integrated view of the cosmos and what it means to be a follower of Christ.
May 16, 2020
A really good theme and much to think about, but I didn’t really enjoy the book as a whole. I listened it to it rather than read it. Might have something to do with that.
August 5, 2020
I read this book very slowly: Not because it's especially tough going, but because on nearly every page were passages that merited stopping to think about. I am richer for having read it.
February 28, 2021
Really really cool read. The closest to pure Christianity one can get. An examination of the infiltration of secularism in the modern western church.
December 17, 2021
Great read. This book had a strong impact on they way I think about God.
February 12, 2022
Fr. Stephen Freeman explains the modern innovation of the "secular."
October 3, 2022
I personally struggled with the theological writing but I am very inexperienced. I appreciate the laying out of practices to help myself live in a "one-storey universe" and some very profound bits.
May 10, 2023
Few words packing a powerful punch. Pair with Paul Tyson's Seven Lessons on Magic.
June 12, 2023
Excellent.
December 22, 2023
This book served as a great reminder that we don’t see in full at all times and it takes effort and practice. God is everywhere present.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews