The Religion Forum in Beaverton, Oregon

“No one ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument.”
Phillip Yancey in “Rumors of Another World”

The Religion Forum is a monthly gathering of atheists, Muslims, and Christians making space for presentations and discussions of differing world views in the spirit of education and kind apologetics. The coordinators are Bernie Dehler of the Westside Science & Religion Discussion Group, Sylvia Benner of the Center for Inquiry Portland, Mohammed Rahman of the Portland Islamic Center, and Nathan Lewis, Pastor of Evergreen Presbyterian Church.

The leaders of these groups are interested in presenting their world views in clear contrast to differing world views all the while extending respect and kindness to each other. The Religion Forum is not so interested in reducing all world views to commonly shared elements as if all religions and ideologies are essentially the same. Participants are encouraged to learn from all presenters and to contribute to the making of space for neighborly interaction.

Recent topics include: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead? Do You Celebrate Halloween? Must You Believe in God to Celebrate Thanksgiving Day? Did Jesus Have No Biological Father? What is Your View of the Israel-Palestinian Conflict? Is There a Conflict between Modern Science and Religion? Upcoming Topics = Death: The Final Frontier – Is There Life After Death? Was Jesus Perfect? Is There Any Evidence that God Exists?

Check the postings on the Evergreen front page for information about the next meeting. Bernie Dehler, our MC, provides pizza and beverages at 6:30 p.m. to promote the building of relationships and we begin our presentations and discussion at 7:00 p.m.)

“You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott in “Grace (Eventually)”

“…naturalistic liberalism is not Christianity at all. That does not mean that conservatives and liberals must live in personal animosity. It does not involve any lack of sympathy on our part for those who have felt obliged by the current of the times to relinquish their confidence in the strange message of the Cross. Many ties – ties of blood, of citizenship, of ethical aims, of humanitarian endeavor – unite us to those who have abandoned the gospel. We trust that those ties may never be weakened, and that ultimately they may serve some purpose in the propagation of the Christian faith. But Christian service consist primarily in the propagation of a message, and specifically Christian fellowship exists only between those to whom the message has become the very basis for all life.”
J. Gresham Machen in “Christianity and Liberalism”