The Bible Refutes Dogmatic Theology

By Maria Seferou

The aim of this book is to guide Christians, who have unanswered questions about their fundamental beliefs and feel logically offended by some of them, to find the truth from the Bible itself and set themselves free from spiritually harmful Dogma.
The author maintains that, since the Bible is a book written by men, it is not God inspired in its entirety. Therefore she does not call the whole Bible “God’s word” or holy. In fact, there are many profoundly unholy narratives there. The student of the Old and the New Testament, who is thirsty for spiritual truth, has the responsibility to prayerfully and fearlessly separate the “meat” of the Scriptures from the “bones” therein.
In this book Maria Seferou addresses the main issues of Christian theology. By quoting scriptures from different writers of the Bible for each particular issue (God, Christ, man, devil, salvation, prophecy, etc.) and commenting on them, the author endeavors to help the readers reevaluate for themselves the basic doctrines of Christianity and find the courage to discard the false of them, in order to be able to grow into personal Christhood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maria Seferou
• Release date: Jan 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370577217

Maria Seferou

Maria Seferou was born in Dendron, a small village of Peloponnese in Greece, during the Second World War. She studied Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, and she had a successful career as a professional Civil Engineer - the first 10 years in Greece and the next 10 years in England.Just before the age of 40 she started searching for God and deeper meaning in her life. Consequently, she joined the local Charismatic Church in Harrow Middlesex, England, where slowly but steadily she experienced an inner transformation that completely changed her personality and outlook on life. Gradually she was feeling the desire to return to Greece. It took her two more years to find the courage to give up her job and step by faith into the unknown.She returned to Greece at the end of 1984, and in 1985 she had already published her first book. Ever since she has written several more books on Christian, social, economic, political and philosophical issues, which are available on her blog: http://seferou-ebooks.blogspot.gr/When her country started falling into a deep economic and humanitarian crisis, about the end of 2007, she felt the need and the duty for more direct and immediate communication with her fellow Greeks. So she set up another blog where she uploads articles on hot issues of the day, trying, as it were, to expose the roots of the problems and suggest common sense solutions, being aware, though, that she is but another voice in the wilderness...

Book preview

The Bible Refutes Dogmatic Theology

An Unprejudiced Interpretation of Scriptures

Maria Seferou

Copyright © 2018 by Maria Seferou

CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Preface

Chapter 1: God

1a: Creator

1b: God is Spirit

1c: God is One

1d: God is Wise

Chapter 2: Man

2a: Man’s spiritual nature

2b: Man’s soul

2c: Man’s body

Chapter 3: Spirits

3a: Spirits of the Dead

3b: Spirits released by prophets

3c: Spirits of Nations

3d: Spirits of virtues or vices

Chapter 4: Christ

4a: Born of a Virgin

4b: Son of God

4c: Redeemer

4d: One with the Father

4e: Inferior to the Father

4f: Prophet

4g: Son of man

Chapter 5: Angels

Chapter 6: Satan

Chapter 7: Demons

Chapter 8: Sin

Chapter 9: Idolatry

Chapter 10: Magic

Chapter 11: Prophecy

Chapter 12: Prayer

12a: Thanksgiving

12b: Supplication

12c: Intercession

12d: Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 13: Salvation

Chapter 14: The Kingdom of God

Epilogue

***********

Abbreviations

O.T., Old Testament N. T., New Testament

Gen., Genesis Matt., Matthew

Ex., Exodus Rom., Romans

Lev., Leviticus Cor., Corinthians

Num., Numbers Gal., Galatians

Deut., Deuteronomy Eph., Ephesians

Jos., Joshua Phil., Philippians

Judg., Judges Col., Colossians

Sam., Samuel Thes., Thessalonians

Chr., Chronicles Tim., Timothy

Neh., Nehemiah Heb., Hebrews

Psa., Psalms Jam., James

Prov., Proverbs Pet., Peter

Ecc., Ecclesiastes Rev., Revelation

Isa., Isaiah

Jer., Jeremiah

Lam., Lamentations

Ez., Ezekiel

Dan., Daniel

Hos., Hosea

Mic., Micah

Hab., Habakkuk

Zech., Zechariah

Mal., Malachi

***********

Note

The Biblical passages quoted in this book have been taken sometimes from the Revised Standard Version, sometimes from the New International Version, and on other occasions from King James Version. Each time, the author chose the version that, in her judgment, gave the meaning of the passage more clearly and precisely.

In certain cases, the author used a combination of all three English versions, in an effort to get closer to the meaning the writer of the passage was trying to convey. Whenever the meaning of a sentence was evasive, and in order to safeguard herself from error, the author translated directly from the original Greek version of the New Testament and the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament.

Preface

When I seriously started searching for God, at the age of thirty-eight, trying to find enlightenment, strength, meaning and purpose in my life, the Bible was the first book I turned to, with great awe and expectation. This was natural for me, a nominal Greek Orthodox up until that time, as in my school I had been taught that the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament, was the source of Christianity, the very foundation of Eastern Orthodox Christian faith.

Moreover, during the first years of my quest of God in London, I had met many Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, all born again, as they professed, who boasted that the Bible, having survived centuries’ vile persecutions, had steadily been the number one bestseller throughout the world during the 20th century. The same zealously, even fanatically, professed that the Bible, in its entirety, is the inerrant and infallible revealed Word of God. Consequently, in order to belong to the Christian family, I felt compelled to accept this as an axiom, although, I must admit, halfheartedly. From then on, if I wished to personally know Jesus and have what they called a ‘relationship’ with Him, in other words if I wanted to be saved, I ought to believe every word of the Holy Bible. There was no other way to salvation from hell!

As I was gradually taking my salvation more seriously, I began to realize that it was not enough for me simply to listen to the preaching of my pastor on Sundays, or to read the Evangelical books, which I was eagerly buying by the dozen at that time. It wasn’t even enough to listen to the fiery preaching of famous charismatic evangelists from the U.S.A., who used to visit London quite often in those days. Neither was I satisfied with what I was taught at the Pentecostal School of Ministry that I attended in Boston, in 1983. I needed to have firsthand knowledge, in order for my spirit to find peace and rest.

Hungry for spiritual food as I was, I threw myself into studying the Word of God diligently. However, I was soon to realize that a systematic inquiry into the Bible wasn’t going to be an easy task. Particularly the study of the Old Testament proved rather difficult. Quite often I lost patience in the process, as I had to search through lengthy historical accounts and ceremonial descriptions before finding some spiritual germs here and there, which nourished my soul and lifted up my spirit.

There were even instances when I dared to murmur, NO! This cannot be the Word of God, only to repent of my ‘rebellion’ a few minutes later! At times I almost gave up reading the Old Testament. Nevertheless, in spite of the difficulties, I did force myself to thoroughly examine the entire Bible. I was determined to discover the Biblical roots of fundamental Christian doctrines – beliefs that had indeed bewildered my mind and had left so many of my theological questions unanswered…

Thank God, it was through this systematic, unbiased and critical study of the Bible that my eyes were gradually opened to the Truth – the Truth that liberates the soul and unites people!

I must confess that my awakening (de-conversion) was very painful. Occasionally it was devastating… You see, I had already suffered my fair share of Evangelical brainwashing and now it wasn’t easy to free myself from it. Worse still, there was nobody around to share my doubts and my discoveries. I had no one to turn to for encouragement and consultation while I was searching for the Truth. I was in great agony, almost in desperation.

Sometimes I felt as if the ground was sinking under my feet. But NO! I didn’t want to go crazy trying to convince myself that the bones in the Bible were meat, that the black in there was white! NO, I couldn’t tolerate my deception anymore! On the other hand, how could I be happy and grow spiritually without the fellowship of like-minded believers? Perhaps I would be better off returning to the Evangelical family, I often thought.

Yet, I felt I did not belong there any longer. I didn’t accept the fundamental Christian doctrines, and I couldn’t be a hypocrite keeping quiet about them. Besides, if I attempted to be honest with fellow Christians and confessed that I did not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, Trinity, instant salvation by faith in the blood of Jesus, etc., I would be instantly thrown out of their midst as backslidden…

What should I do, then? Giving up my spiritual endeavors and returning to a worldly pattern of living, i.e. simply pursuing my secular interests, through the satisfaction of my instincts and five senses, did not appeal to me as a goal of life. This choice was out of the question. It was too late for turning the clock back now. God had already become very real in my life and this gave peace to my heart; I had seen the Light and enjoyed the experience; I was deeply touched and dramatically transformed by His Spirit, and, in times of intimate fellowship with my Heavenly Father, I had pledged to try living according to His will, to the extent, of course, I was able to accurately discern it.

So, the only option I had now was to follow my own spirit and travel the spiritual journey alone. If my heart was after God, I was sure He would always be with me. He would accept me even if I were wrong in my theological discoveries. I reasoned, Would my loving heavenly Father give up on me because, in my thirst for truth and in all my honesty, I misunderstood certain concepts? Would He reject me because by studying the Bible diligently I had arrived at certain conclusions that contradicted the basic Christian doctrines?

Of course not! My Creator equipped me with a mind in order to use it, and this was exactly what I did. After all, even if I were wrong, it would be more acceptable to Him to follow my own deception than somebody else’s! Besides, I knew by now that spiritual fruit would manifest in my life only according to the love and purity of my heart and not according to theological doctrines and theories that I nurtured in my mind. If I loved Him and His Creation with all my heart, that was enough to be in touch with the Spirit, never mind how accurate or inaccurate my religious beliefs and doctrines were. Right doctrines without right heart wouldn’t lead me to the realization of God, i.e. my Higher Self or the Spirit within.

So, eventually, after a period of many months, I came to terms with my new beliefs, which I still considered to be Christian! Christ’s teaching was still central in my life and I even believed that he continued to love me dearly. A new period in my spiritual evolution had dawned. From now on I didn’t have any pastor or teacher, save the Holy Spirit. Nor did I want to have any followers. I had concluded that the Great Teacher is inside us and each one of us has the responsibility to seek and find God for himself. And the purpose of this book is exactly this: first to encourage people to examine and evaluate what religious leaders would have them believe unquestionably, and second to encourage them to think and seek God for themselves.

Which, then, were my conclusions on the inspiration of the Bible? Well, eventually it became very clear to me that the Old Testament was simply the history of a people who, individually and collectively, longed to know the living God and His precepts and tried to involve Him in their daily life. What had impressed me mostly, however, was the deep soul agony, even the desperation, of the O.T. prophets and sages as they endeavored to make the Jews behave as God’s chosen people, a light to the Gentiles.

Quite often, I felt great sympathy towards the Israelites, who suffered as a result of the merciless curses delivered against them by their own prophets, in the name of Jehovah, whenever they fell short of the great standards they had set up before them, thereby breaking God’s Covenant! I didn’t understand this kind of prophets’ love nor was I ever convinced that it was God who inspired them to bring, through the word of their mouth, such calamities upon the chosen people.

I also found some messages there that were not simply man’s distorted ideas about good and evil, but also very harmful, if taken seriously. I am talking about instances where Jehovah supposedly instructed the chosen people to kill human beings belonging to other nations, causing them to violate one of His Ten Commandments! Nevertheless, while I couldn’t accept that the entire O.T. was God inspired, I had been greatly blessed by studying the many undoubtedly wholesome messages, visions and prayers of the great prophets therein. For this I feel deeply indebted towards the Jewish people who devoutly kept and passed down to the whole world the books of the Old Testament.

As regards the New Testament, well, its God was so different to the O.T. Jehovah that made me wonder how He had suddenly changed so much! It took me quite a while to conclude that it was the people’s understanding of God that had improved and not the Almighty. Studying the N.T., I gradually realized that it, too, contained many discrepancies and contradictions that, again, forbade me to take all of it as God inspired. This explains why so many different Christian denominations, cults and sects have derived from the same Bible! It also explains why so much intolerance, divisions, fanaticism and bloodshed have, alas, been inspired by the Bible…

But God cannot be the author of confusion, divisions and hatred. Impossible! If a holy scripture can be interpreted in so many different and contradicting ways as to cause divisions and hatred among its believers, then it is not holy at all. It is as simple as that, and Christians must find the courage to admit it, if Christianity were to lead the world into a brighter future.

The shaking off of deeply embedded old religious deceptions is absolutely necessary, if humanity were to enter an era of love and reconciliation among all Christian denominations and even among other religions. The time has now arrived when Christians should abandon spiritual infancy, gradually getting rid of their toys, and grow into adulthood, if they want to make a positive difference in the world.

I am not saying that such a change is easy. Not at all! As I said, I have personally gone through the pain and agony of uprooting comfortable old beliefs, doctrines and religious traditions deeply weaved in our collective subconscious, and I know that it is absolutely excruciating. Traditions, sweet religious memories from our childhood, have become a second nature to us. It is like a drug to which we have long been addicted. This applies not just to Christianity, but also to all the other religions.

Yet, it is for our own good and for the sake of the world’s spiritual evolution, peace and prosperity that we should set ourselves free from our deceptions, no matter how precious and how important to our emotions these are. Nobody else can do it for us! We must be our own saviors, responsible for our lives and the international affairs of our planet, so that we may build a peaceful and brighter future for the generations to come.

The aim of this book is not to create yet another religion. God forbid! There are too many already! Humanity cannot afford more religious fragmentations. My endeavor is to address controversial Christian issues by quoting and analyzing characteristic verses from the Bible – verses that liberate the soul, revive and feed the spirit, edify the personality, sustain the body and unite believers.

I firmly believe that the truth which Revives, Unites, Liberates, Edifies and Sustains the whole man – spirit, soul and body – is the truth that RULES supreme in the Universe! This Truth I am prayerfully trying to unfold within the pages of this book.

Of course, the verses I shall quote here, in order to substantiate and support each issue, may not be the only relevant ones in the Bible. However, for practical reasons, I must keep this book reasonably short. I want this work to be a kind of Biblical manual for busy people. The others, those who could spend the time, should undertake a similar research for themselves, studying the entire Bible prayerfully, with an unbiased and critical mind. The Bible is there for us all, with hundreds of dictionaries, commentaries, analyses and other reading aids. No one has any excuse to be misled.

Furthermore, since the Biblical truths that I shall unfold here are truths that unite, readers of different religious persuasion could also benefit from this book without being threatened in their own faith. Especially the other Children of Abraham, Jews and Muslims, will feel at home while reading this work.

Regarding the Christian fundamentalists who might be offended by this book, since it challenges the basic doctrines of Christianity, I feel sorry, but I must say that it is not my fault that the Bible contains also verses that contradict their beliefs. Nor do I feel guilty for trying to present the universal spiritual meaning of the Scriptures, disregarding some dividing and questionable doctrines based on the letter that killeth. On the contrary, I am at peace trying to discharge my duty for the benefit of unprejudiced people of every faith.

Surely I do not claim to be the wisest person for undertaking such a high task, or to be infallible in my evaluation and analysis. As St. Paul said, I also admit, I know in part. However, I trust the Spirit of God to enlighten the mind of the reader and guide the sincere and devout seeker, so that he/she knows with certainty which of my claims is of the Truth.

I confess that I proceed to this task responsibly and prayerfully, with love and respect for the reader. I hope that this book may become a humble instrument of blessing, reconciliation and understanding among people.

Chapter 1: God

To rightly describe God, the Ultimate Reality, the Absolute Light, the basis of all existence, requires divine wisdom, communion and perfect union with the Almighty. It requires entering into the very Essence of God! This, of course, presupposes absolute purity of one’s heart and mind, something that can be attained by freeing ourselves of everything that is born of ignorance.

Being aware of my current personal limitations, I proceed to the first chapter of this book with awe. Anyway, I am convinced that nobody can really know God through the description of others – even if those were some of the Bible writers – although all this admittedly helps. We can enter into the true knowledge of God only when we transcend the ego-consciousness, stop identifying ourselves with the body and become conscious of our own essential divine nature. This should be the Goal of our life, if we are to experience constant bliss, regardless of the circumstances we are facing.

From the beginning of time, man sought to know and communicate with his maker and the maker of all visible creation. He took it for granted that God existed. His assumption was reasonable. Everything that exists, even a tiny pin, has its maker and a purpose. So, beholding the majesty, the order and the wisdom of Creation, we would be fools to assume that the Universe was formed by chance, by nobody. Such an assumption would defile common sense. For sure, then, there must exist a Creator, a Supreme Being that conceived and laid out the wonders of this Universe. We cannot prove it, but it makes sense; it satisfies our logic far more than the opposite.

Let us now see what the Bible says about God.

1a: Creator

By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, said St. Paul (Heb. 11: 3a).

By faith, then, we understand that someone created the Universe, someone who was from the beginning, a self-existent Supreme Mind, Spiritual Energy with intelligence, a Spirit without beginning or end! Every other assumption is illogical and leads to absurdities and confusion. The Greek word for God is Theos and derives from the past tense of the ancient verb tithimi, which means: to decide, define, place. So, God is the One who decided the creation of the Universe, defined the sovereign laws by which it would be governed and placed the world in its place!

And how did God create the world? By His word,