Nathan E. Lewis

Mayor Rob Drake of Beaverton, joined Pastor Nathan Lewis and St. Stephen’s Academy Chairman of the Directors, Michael Kane, in the cutting of the ribbon at the building dedication ceremony this past January 18, 2008. Principal Raelene Meeker and teacher, Susan Stopoulos also appear helping the children in attendance. Eight members of the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce attended the event along with many parents of the 85+ students. The new building, on the premises of Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, provides adequate space for 140 students. St. Stephen’s Academy is a ministry of Evergreen Presbyterian Church. It is a Classical and Christian school.

Read this BBC article about the Goth who was kicked off the bus for leading his girlfriend around by a dog leash. Tell me, what kind of a community, society, and world view produced such oppressive treatment of a woman (if even symbolic oppression)? Is it the same view and practice that has given to us S&M? Now S&M is going public, out of the dungeon and onto public transit. Do you think these two learned their antics in a fundamentalist, Christian home? Do you think that this oppression is bred by anyone who thinks that we should submit to authority? By the way, I am not in favor of throwing such people off public transit. Where are my feminist friends? Are they fighting sex trafficking, the new slave trade in developing nations? I join them. But not at the expense of abandoning our own children. Our sons are growing up, calling young women their pets (not tolerated by women of the 70’s and 80’s), and leading them around like first century slaves. (Bob Herbert of the NY Times writes of the sex trafficking, the hidden slave trade of our day, “This human merchandise — whether imported or domestic — is still paraded, inspected and treated like animals.” Hey, Dani Graves - stop treating your partner like an animal!)

My friend, Chad, sent to me this article published in The Economist, titled, “The Battle of the Books.” It is a fascinating comparison. Thanks, Chad. Not a week goes by in my life without a person misquoting either the Bible or the Koran to me. Often I speak to individuals who speak dogmatically against Christianity or Islam yet they have read little to none of either of the holy books. If you are a Christian, pick up a copy of the Koran and read it in 2008. I assure you that you will discover a huge difference between it and the Christian Bible. If you are Muslim, then I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Christian Bible and read at least the New Testament, or read the Five Books of Moses. (You may read the whole Bible, but it is roughly three times as long as the Koran.) I assure you that you will discover it to be quite different than the Koran. The first difference most readers of these two books notice is the literary difference. Literarily, the two are quite different. To notice this difference one does not have to read the Koran in Arabic or the Bible in Hebrew and Greek. The beauty and some of the meaning is diminished when any of us read these books in English or another vernacular. Christians believe that the words of God speak clearly even when translated faithfully into other languages. Muslims often insist on the Koran being read in Arabic. The second difference most readers notice is the redemptive theme and thread in the Bible in contrast to the wisdom/moral/legal thread in the Koran. (By the way, the photo was taken by my fourteen year old son. The photos on my blog have been taken by my children, and occasionally by me.)

On March 15 I began to read the Koran again (using the online browser I have provided at this site. In the comments below I supply a few notes concerning each sura. I do not read Arabic and so, I realize that many Muslims would discount any of my observations. Nevertheless I welcome any responses to my comments, especially from Muslims who would correct my understanding of what I have read in this English translation.

(sermon preached by Nathan E. Lewis at Chehalem Valley Presbyterian Church in Newberg and Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, January 6, 2008.) Listen to the sermon.

Paul commands us twice to rid our lives of idolatry. Elsewhere in our studies of the Bible we have learned that idolatry is the worship of anything but God. We can devote ourselves to a good gift of God, worshipping it instead of God. Money is good, but when it is elevated above God as the greatest pursuit of my life, then it becomes Mammon, perhaps the greatest of all idols in our world. In our modern world, potential idols are innumerable and thus we are often tempted to privately worship human achievements along with all of its amazing results. In our postmodern world we have returned to the ancient world dominated by paganism, the outright establishment of idolatrous worship. Continue reading »