God Without Dogma: ... a Path to Reclaiming Your Spiritual Life

By Hugo Fruehauf

This book is in the personal growth and spiritual self-help category. It is all about the ills of religious dogma and how a believer in God can be freed from it. More often than not, when fervent believers become disenchanted with their religious group, chucking it all is the response. These disillusions usually have very justifiable reasons, but because of the believers lack of knowledge, feelings of guilt, and the pressure from faithful peers, the separation is traumatic. However, this life-changing period can be turned into a rewarding spiritual experience and this is where this book comes in. It analyzes religious dogma, how it begins, what perpetuates it, and demonstrates how dogma is the result of man-made religious procedures that in time become God. The outcome of all the analysis is a path for the troubled believer to embrace a new and spiritual walk with God, one not imposed by others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 30, 2004
• ISBN: 9781462807956

Hugo Fruehauf

Hugo Fruehauf came to the United States from Germany in the 1950s. Trained as an electronics engineer, he has enjoyed a fascinating technical career as chief engineer and president of several companies in the communications and aerospace field. Concurrently, he has been a dedicated student and teacher of Judeo-Christian biblical writings and has traveled extensively in the Middle East. Having been a teacher, leader, and elder at several fundamental Christian churches, he is well versed in the topic of his book. He currently is the president of a communications related company in Southern California where he lives with his wife Maureen. He has two children and five grandchildren also living in the same area.

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Copyright © 2004 by Hugo Fruehauf.

Copyright © 2010, Second Edition, by Hugo Fruehauf.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2004090376

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4134-4633-3

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4134-4632-6

                   ebook                                      9781462807956

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Bible quotations are: from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Summary and Conclusion

APPENDICES

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

For Additional Reading

Endnotes

To my friends . . .

T. Pierce Brown, who recently departed, to whom I owe my walk with God; Ray McPeak, who was the first one to encourage me to write; Joseph Shulam, who made me realize the Jewishness of the New Testament; Jeff Walling, who made the Bible come alive for me and taught me much; my fellow elders of my past church: Bob Crawford, Leon Ross, Dave Cantwell, Doug Baker, and again Ray McPeak; who put up with my freewheeling style of Bible class teaching; and last but not least, all my very special friends in my Bible classes, who helped shape my thinking. They were no doubt unwitting participants of the outcome of this book, an outcome probably not anticipated by them. As for editing, there were none more diligent than my past executive assistant Sharon Biggers and my wife Mo; not to imply that they necessarily agreed with what they read and edited. And then, of course, the editing staff of the publisher.

Preface

This book is in the personal growth and spiritual self-help category. It is all about the ills of religious dogma and how a believer in God can be freed from it. More often than not, when fervent believers become disenchanted with their religious group, chucking it all is the response. These disillusions usually have very justifiable reasons, but because of the believer’s lack of knowledge, feelings of guilt, and the pressure from faithful peers, the separation is usually traumatic. However, this life-changing period can be turned into a rewarding spiritual experience and this is where this book comes in. It analyzes religious dogma, how it begins, what perpetuates it, and demonstrates how dogma is the result of man-made religious procedures that in time become God. The outcome of all the analysis is a path for the troubled believer to embrace a new and spiritual walk with God.

I have come full circle in my Christian religious experiences—from the liberal to the conservative expressions of faith and worship and finally arriving at neither—yet it is the right place for me and possibly for you reading this book. After decades of die-hard fundamentalism, I’m on the path of reclaiming my spiritual life, shedding the dogma imposed on me by others. It took me sometime to admit that in good conscience, I could no longer fit my theology into nice and tidy packages as before. This forced me to take a new look at my spirituality and religious approach, sending me on a road of discovery. The process has made me free from what others (past and present) want me to be like. Just as our secular life is a work in progress and inseparable from our spiritual being, so is the road of spiritual discovery—it is natural and should be embraced without fear.

Welcome to my book. I wrote it in hope of serving the believer who has become weary of his or her religious group. Discouragement often begins when things no longer feel right in terms of the group’s theology, relationships, and spiritual values; when a believer simply wants more from the communal element of faith and worship. I have found that believers fitting this description will sooner or later go on with life without the religious side of things. I propose rather than exiting, you too can take the road to reclaim your own spiritual life and drop the one imposed.

The book begins with how man-made religious procedures are created and how these become the overriding rule of law of the religious group and its members. We will then proceed with how these (no matter how well intentioned) take away legitimate spiritual freedom. We then analyze the source elements and documents from which the dogma springs. And finally, from all the analysis emerges a new spiritually rewarding and unencumbered walk with God.

Travel with me through this process and discover the longsuffering of God, waiting for us to learn what a relationship with Him can really be like and He does so without compromising His greatest creation gift of all—our free will.

Introduction

surveying the gamut of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious groups that exist today, we find a common thread—an abundance of man-made, written and unwritten religious standards that go far beyond what God expects from us. This religious dogma comes into being, when faith and spiritual values are turned into religious procedures, and then the procedures become God.

So how did we get here?

1. As believers, zealous in our desire to please God, we codify and institutionalize our faith and spiritual values. Is it possible that freedom from sin is an uncomfortable spot for believers? Are we prone to reject the notion salvation by grace through faith alone? Is there something in us that automatically reacts and says, Is that it? Grace? Don’t I have to do something? Is our procedure making the result of nothing more than lack of faith that God can deliver?

2. While for a time, man-made religious procedures might serve a helpful purpose, they soon become the complete purpose. In fact, most believers equate adherence to rules with faith in God;

3. And the final outcome? The procedure becomes God and anything outside the procedure becomes lack of faith;

4. Should newcomers desire to join a body of believers, we measure them not on the strength of their faith, but by how closely they are willing to align themselves with the written and unwritten procedures of the group.

While this process is well intentioned, few believers recognize the negative impact on their spiritual life, when compliance to religious rigor and procedures takes precedence over love, unity, and common sense—when the level of obedience to the man-made rules defines faith. Over the long run, this produces undesirable brands of fundamentalism and the ills that come along for the ride. The believers well on their way are easy to spot—their seemingly deep faith makes them less tolerant of those who would appear not as spiritually astute; they become more judgmental; they seem to have an inside track on who is saved and lost, intolerant to contrary religious points of view, and their associations narrow to mostly their own kind.

Although most believers who bought into this brand of fundamentalism remain dormant, pushing their narrow points of view only on themselves and those in their circle of influence, a handful will become extreme. Some, fully convinced they cannot please God in their sinful body, turn to suicide to seek relief from their harsh self-imposed standards. In the Heaven’s Gate cult for example, it was not surprising to see members from fundamental Christian churches willing to go all the way—thinking it is a way to attain heaven. On the other hand, others, fully convinced they are pleasing God, turn to suicide to insure their place in heaven by punishing unbelievers for God. These, however, do so at the expense of others, and the involvement of unwitting collaterals is more tragic. Throughout the ages, extremists from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic cults have sought to carry out God’s will on earth—the Jewish zealots to protect the land of Israel for God, the Christians to force conversions for God, and Muslims to punish the imbeciles for God. But the end result is always the same—death and misery inflicted by fundamentalism gone to extremes.

For years, I held very narrow religious views, fully committed to the conclusions reached from my diligent studies. I discovered however, that my work was subject to a preconditioned mindset fostered by close associations of like-minded believers. Not until I was willing to step outside this environment did new discoveries become possible for me. In time, I was no longer able to express my point of view with the previous conviction, having discovered two maxims that for me became spiritually life-changing:

1. The Old and New Testament Bible1 source material that drove my past theology is not as error free as I once thought, and so, must be comprehended in thoughtful reflection, not just black-and-white;

2. As a result, legitimate and compelling alternatives to my previous strongly held religious views now glare at me from every page.

As a result, my walk with God is now guided by more than just the Old and New Testament writings alone, but the deep messages clearly seen in God’s creation and the whole of Judeo-Christian writings and history. This book might be considered a study guide for those wishing to reclaim their spiritual freedom. To help the process, detailed herein are:

1. The progression that leads to a black-and-white mindset;

2. The reality that religion has elements of gray and unresolved issues;

3. Why it’s okay for believers to question long-held theological notions;

4. And most important, how one can walk with God in faith without the overwhelming influence from the theology of others.

As is often the case, those with a once unwavering faith who become disillusioned find themselves shunning anything religious and leaving the spiritual realm for the more tangible one. This book aims to rescue the disappointed, making the case that leaving dogma is a spiritually rewarding process and that the believer’s walk with God need not be shelved because of this. Instead, the process might take on an unexpected flair, as it did in my case. It usually takes significant agony or crisis for believers to change direction. Hopefully, this book can bring about change without such trauma. I will do my best to point the way to spiritual maturity and realistic religious expectations, to the place where one can feel the acceptance and love of God.

Chapter 1

What’s the Problem?

As people search for and embrace the God of the Universe and begin a walk with Him, they sooner or later find their faith and religious values compromised by rules supposedly defining their walk with God. In time, these rules take precedence over God’s simple truths, becoming restrictive and repressive, while at the same time creating a judgmental and elite worshipper with little tolerance of others. The more fervent one’s faith, the more intense this becomes, counter to the very characteristics the believer is attempting to achieve. But the worst part of all is the fact that the person of faith is blind to this process.

Once sensitized to this, it is easy to see how the vast numbers of religious groups come into being. It is through differences in these man-made procedures, not faith or spiritual values. As a result, the nonreligious have a hard time coming to God until the religious come to God in unity. Likewise, the religious cannot unify until they bury the procedures that divide them. Case in point—how many people say, Yes, I believe in God, but I don’t want to be part of an organized church. In other words, I don’t want to be involved with a group’s religious procedures; the dogma.

No person of faith denies that there are fundamental truths God may want His worshippers to follow, maybe even through a religious procedure of sorts. Consider for example what is recorded in the Hebrew writings, referred to by Christians as the Old Testament and repeated in the less ancient Greek writings of the New Testament: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it—You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 2 Doing this is a first principle of faith, and turning it into a procedure for yourself is certainly fitting. However, making a procedure that tells someone else how this is to be accomplished is the fundamental principle that creates religious dogma. But why would someone want to make a procedure for others to follow? The answer is linked to the well-intentioned mindset of a fundamental believer, whether a Jew, Christian, or Muslim. It is to define and perpetuate the group’s theology in sufficient detail to prevent its members from making religious errors that might be displeasing to God.

To understand this more fully, let’s characterize what might be called a fundamental or conservative believer:

Fundamental from the religious perspective usually refers to someone who believes that his or her religion is the only true one and that the group’s source documents, usually ancient writings, are the infallible Word of God. For the documents to have this distinction, it is believed that their authors were selected and inspired by God and that God insures that these writings are accurately preserved throughout the ages. It can also be said that the fundamental believer will enact his faith in accordance with his group’s understanding and interpretation of these writings.

This process often pushes the believer to think more in terms of black and white, with gray or alternative thinking vigorously discouraged. The problem of black or white procedure making is not limited to just fundamentalists, many so-called denominational and liberal religious groups have it also. I maintain, however, that faiths from Jewish roots, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are the most active in this. Note that all three groups worship the God whom the biblical Abraham3 worshipped and consider these writings (the Bible and others) in part or in total to be their Word of God—yet the diversity of these three groups is phenomenal.

Things to consider:

1. Am I keeping man-made religious procedures, and have they become a substitute for God?

2. Am I a black and white religious thinker, and how does this affect my personal life?

3. Has there been a recent event or interaction with others where my religious paradigm caused problems?

Chapter 2

How Did It All Get Started?

When studying the Hebrew writings (most often referred to as the Old Testament of the Bible), one can conclude that the making of religious procedures started long ago. From the story of Adam and Eve we can tell they were the first to do so. It was in the Garden of Eden, where God began to teach His prized creation the knowledge of good and evil and how to follow His commands in faith. Since Bible believers would conclude that human nature began with Adam and Eve, it should not surprise us that they responded to God’s teaching with logic and procedure. We will discover that Eve made the first religious procedure and, in doing so, became an unwitting contributor to the fall of man. Let’s do a hypothetical analysis of the first three chapters of the Old Testament book of Genesis to get an understanding of what is said to have happened.

It is a bright and beautiful afternoon—Adam and Eve are experiencing life together for the first time. Like newborn babies, they are acclimating little by little to the New World surrounding them. Unlike today, they are starting this process as mature created beings, not as infants. They are racing from place to place trying to take it all in, learning with every moment that passes. Ravished by feelings of hunger and thirst, they discover eating and drinking for the first time. Every smell, taste, sight, sound, and touch exhilarates them as they discover their magnificent physical senses. Exhausted, they fall into a deep sleep as daylight vanishes. Night is also a new experience and frightens them a little, but sleep comes easily from mere exhaustion. The temperature is warm and balmy and a gentle breeze blows over their naked bodies. They are awakened by light that seems to come out of the ground behind the mist. It is all so wonderful and eventful—the splendor of God’s creation, His absolute masterpiece.

Yet with all they have already experienced, God is about to reveal more, much more—the personal knowledge of what makes them human beings. They are already experiencing the power of their choices, and it is awesome. This newfound knowledge of "self’ seems to bond them with their Maker. They realize that God created them in His image with the tools, the freedom, and the ability to be perfect. This of course also includes the propensity for error and wrong. Would Adam and Eve’s different choices lead to arguments? Would they be prepared for this? Would Eve be ready for the consequences of stepping on the wrong rock and falling into a river, off a cliff, being injured, or even die4? Would Adam know that within himself and his choices live the warmth and beauty of good as well as the capacity for evil? Would he realize that, with his arm, he could gently rescue Eve from a fall and, with the same arm, crush her skull in a violent rage?

When and how would God impart this knowledge of choices and consequences? Would He wait for random events to happen so they could experience all this on their own? Would God give them examples of good and bad in the form of a hypothetical stage play? No, God devised a plan, combining divine and human interaction as the best way to transfer this knowledge. How would Adam and Eve react to this plan? Would it frighten them? Would they ask God to end it all? Or would they welcome this power of freedom of choice, not fully comprehending its long-term implications?

An Interview with God

According to the first book in the Old Testament, Genesis 2:16-17, as expected, God selected the ideal method to impart the knowledge of good and evil. It would challenge Adam and Eve to know the full capacity of their free will:

And the Lord God commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

Let’s interview God and ask Him to explain why He selected this approach—Lord! Creator of the Universe, may we have a word with You? Would You be kind enough to explain to us why you selected this means of teaching the knowledge of good and evil?

"Certainly . . . First, let Me remind you that the real issue of the passage in Genesis is not the pros and cons of eating fruit from a tree, but the fundamental principle of choosing right over wrong. Having created humans and human nature, I can tell you, it is not enough for them to understand that they have freedom of choice, they must also realize that several important elements are at work in their decision making process. You see, for obedience and ‘doing right’ to be compelling, three psychological components are required: first, conscience; second, rewards and consequences; and third, faith. Conscience starts the decision making process, reward and consequences are the compelling parts, and faith ends the process. Let Me explain:

"First, Adam and Eve must realize they have a conscience (the starting point); in other words, their self-imposed limits and boundaries in the decision process. When I created them, I gave them a sort of default setting, as computer folk would say. This initial setting is of course under their control and they will change the upper and lower limits as part of their maturing process. As I mentioned before, conscience starts the decision process. With respect to My command about the tree, they will either obey or not obey, based on a host of factors involving their conscience.

"Second, they must learn that all decisions include rewards and consequences (the compelling part). For this reason, decisions must be weighed in terms of the potential positives and negatives. The proper balance between these usually adds up to a right decision. My command about the tree will be compelling if some form of reward or believable promise is involved, as well as the threat of problems or consequences for a wrong decision. This should motivate a person to do right.

"Third, Adam and Eve must realize that decisions involve faith, because they lack foreknowledge—they do not know the future, nor the potential outcome of their decisions. Because of this, obeying My commands and making decisions will be on the basis of faith, that is, making a decision on something that is not predictable or where the outcome is not obvious. In other words, the depth of faith required to do what I say depends on the length of time before an expected event occurs. For example, an event expected to occur just around the corner takes less of the faith part, because, there is possibly more reality to the event. Conversely, to make a decision by faith on an event that may occur a long time from now, takes a lot more faith, because, less reality is available; say, the resurrection of the dead.

"Why then are lack of foreknowledge and faith interlinked? Consider the definition of faith: Faith is the assurance, the ‘self-convincing’ of an expected outcome, a conviction of things not presently touchable or seen.5 Therefore, ‘faith’ stops the pro and con decision-making process because a person living by faith and knowing My word will simply do as I have commanded, because he or she trusts Me. Let Me illustrate: a person of faith walking in My ways sees an injustice about to occur: a stranger has broken into his neighbor’s home and is about to abuse his neighbor’s wife. Since he loves his neighbor as himself, his conscience will be pricked to take action. He feels compelled to obey My word and do the right thing because he knows he will receive a reward of some kind—spiritually, emotionally, or even physically. Also, he fears the potential negative consequences if he fails to act, even though he could be injured in the process. All this will cause him to exhibit extraordinary bravery, acting by faith, uncertain of the outcome of his actions. Having insufficient time to analyze the pros and cons of getting involved, he moves by faith, fully assured he is serving Me and doing the right thing. So, faith overrides the analytical decision process and lets the chips fall where they may. "Now let’s return to the issue of ‘not eating the fruit of a particular tree,’ in order to show you how this command teaches them the knowledge of good and evil, or better stated—the knowledge of faith and faithlessness.

Conscience—telling Adam and Eve not to do something challenges their conscience. This may not happen immediately, but over time they will reason: ‘Should I?’ ‘Should I not?’ ‘Why not?’ ‘How good will I feel if I obey?’ ‘How bad will I feel if I don’t?’ ‘What are the real consequences?’ These questions begin the process of weighing the pros and cons as Adam and Eve compare these against the limits and boundaries of their conscience.

Reward and Consequences—The command is compelling, because the reward is the permission to eat from all the trees in the Garden, including the Tree of Life, which gives them the joy of eternal, everlasting life. The consequences or punishment part is the threat of death, the absence of life, as they know it.6

Faith—Not eating the fruit from a particular tree among thousands of beautiful, nonthreatening trees demands obedience by faith. It demands faith because of its simplicity. Consider the fact that little faith is required if I ask them not to jump into a fire, or from a high cliff. They would have no problem obeying such a command. Reason? The consequences are immediately discernible. But the practice of faith is at its ultimate when the outcome is not so clear, far in the future, or appears nonthreatening. Thus, obedience by faith eliminates the need for logic and analysis—’Just do it because I said so, for I Am God.’

Any more questions?

Yes . . . what are You going to do if they do not obey? Will You wipe them out as You have threatened to do and start all over again?

Well . . . I will do exactly what I said—but how I will do it, let’s leave that till later.

An Interview with Eve

Now that we understand what God is trying to accomplish with His command about the tree, let’s find out how Eve responded to it. Her response is recorded in Genesis 3:1-5:

Now the serpent (understood to be referring to Satan)7 was