Nathan E. Lewis

I met an honest Mormon today. My doorbell rang and I greeted two Mormon elders. The one in control of the conversation held the Book of Mormon prominently before him, asking me if I had ever read it. I told him that I owned a copy and that I had read it several times. He asked me, “Have you found it to be warm and engaging?” I kindly told him that I had discovered it to be a complex historical read, quite different from the earthy historical narratives of Moses and Samuel. I must have said too much betraying my level of biblical knowledge because he asked me, “Are you a Minister?” When I confessed that I was, he promptly told me that I was not under proper authority, the succession of the Prophethood, and so I was going to hell! How refreshing to finally meet an honest Mormon! Continue reading »

Yesterday evening while I was on my daily walk, stopping to complete a set of push-ups, two Mormon missionaries on bicycles stopped to talk with me. They were pleasant and soon into the conversation, I realized that they were mainstream, following their training to the “T” unlike the honest Mormon who came to my doorstep, October 2006, prompting me to write, “I Met an Honest Mormon Today.” The honest Mormon Elder on my doorstep told me that I was going to hell because I was an ordained minister under false authority.
Last night, the two polite Mormon elders were typically pushing the Book of Mormon hard. It’s not the Bible or Christ that they push. Only if someone, like myself, asks them about the Bible, do they say, “Yes, we believe the Bible to be God’s word….” Only if called to testify about Christ do they say, “Yes, Christ is important.” In the training of these hard-working, committed young men, the Book of Mormon must be showcased, a starting point in the presentation of the gospel of the restoration that occurred through Joseph Smith.
I keep the discussion with Mormon elders pleasantly congenial. (read “I Met an Honest Mormon Today,“) I am intrigued by the Mormon religion and apologetic. So many Americans consider it to be quite similar to Christianity, but the contrasts outweigh the comparisons. The Mormon worldview is intriguing to me as it is exotically different than the Christian worldview. When I meet Mormon elders I have questions, many questions, simples questions. I frame them politely and clearly. And so I am often humored at the consistent dodging technique that must be part of their training. Why Don’t Mormon elders answer my simple questions?
Last night I asked the following simple questions. The one missionary fell silent and the appointed spokesman asked me unrelated questions in place of answering my simple questions. Continue reading »

Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer PCA in Manhattan is on a book tour, including a stop in Portland at the downtown Borders in the Mohawk Building. His book is titled, “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.” He will lead a discussion from 7:00 - 10:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 18. Invite your friends who are skeptics to hear Tim and to purchase his book, then invite them to join you in a book reading and discussion group. Go to www.monergism.com to get free access to Tim’s writing about the Gospel.

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.

“Most cherished in this mundane world is a place with no traffic; truly in the city there can be mountain and forest.”
Wen Zhengming (1470-1559)

One of my friends, Rod, told me at Ava Coffee this morning that he read about Portland described as “the nation’s biggest small town.” For years I have discussed with Portland enthusiasts, flocking to our city, their glowing descriptions of Portland as a “city.” Many of us who have lived here for some time have an aversion to the urban sprawl and to the cold, brash feel of large, American cities. Our thinking and contributions have produced “the biggest small town.”
Today, I received a prayer update from Pat Roach and Jason Little, who are planting a new congregation in Southest Portland. Pat has discovered in the little time he has lived here that Oregonians are candid when it comes to spiritual issues. When people discover that he is a minister of the gospel, they will say, “Well, I’m not religious.” Continue reading »

Check out my three videos on Youtube: 1) “The Creator/creature Distinction; 2) “Transcendence/immanence; 3) “How Can We Know God?” Continue reading »

I have been teaching a workshop at RYM camp, helping teens listen to popular music, analyzing the worldviews of the songwriters. Overwhelmingly, the alternative rock and folk music of the past decade has presented humanity as vile and broken. The biblical doctrine of the total depravity of humanity has little to no correction to the views presented in the music of Limp Bizkit, Stain’d, Cake, Brett Dennen, Steven Sufjan, and U2. The humanism of the modern era is dead.
The Christian/biblical view of humanity is founded on two pillars: 1) God made man, male and female in his own image; 2) Humanity fell into sin and death and is irreparable apart from divine and gracious work. Any Christian seeking to present the gospel to the prevailing worldviews of our present culture must emphasize that humanity is made in God’s image.
I asked the students to shout out the names of the most vile people. Quite a few names were shouted including Marilyn Manson. I asked the campers to raise their hands if they believed that Marilyn Manson was made in God’s image. Continue reading »

read this candid interview with an influential American leader close to death

A Calvinist Faces Death
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007 By DAVID VAN BIEMA
Continue reading »

In preparation to teach a group of teens a course on worldviews, I discovered Albert Wolters in his book, “Creation Regained,” citing Leslie Newbigin, missionary to India: “Leslie Newbigin tells the story of a learned Hindu scholar who once complained that Christians have misrepresented the Bible: ‘I can’t understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as a book of religion. It is not a book of religion - and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India. We don’t need any more! Continue reading »

Blaise Paschal (1623-1662), a French scientist and religious philosopher, wrote his “Pensees,” fragments, if not little gems presenting his view of the world. His thoughts trace the universal search for God as he cuts across doctrine and into the very heart of the moral problem. When I am tired or distracted, Paschal’s terse sentences can re-start my thinking. He wrote, “Two extremes: to exclude reason, to admit reason only.” Continue reading »