I have been teaching the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, in West Seattle at our church, over the past three years. It's a four week class wherein a schedule is provided to help the students read straight through the entire Qur'an in a brief time.

Ever since September 11, 2001, people have wondered if the Qur'an teaches Muslims to kill people they disagree with. This is because the leader of those 9/11 terrorists, Mohamed Atta, included in his directions to the other 18 terrorists, some 20 quotes from the Qur'an to inspire their dastardly deeds. (You get a handout on those quotes in my class, by the way, so you can see what Atta actually wrote down.) But did he have it right, or did he twist the Qur'an for his own evil purposes?

Because this is such a sensitive and contested matter, it's better for you to find out yourself. So people have been coming to class to do just that.

What I do is provide eight worksheets with some 25 questions on each one, asking about a particular verse from the Qur'an. So after completing the class you will have discussed some two hundred verses from throughout the entire Qur'an. What I look for are verses that either coincide with historic Christian teachings or don't. Both types are noted. That is because I'm a Christian pastor from a Lutheran church leading the discussion, and not a Muslim hoping you will take up Islam as your way of life.

What I'm doing, then, is reading the Qur'an as literature, rather than as God speaking to us. I know how difficult this can be for some Muslims. They would rather wish for the Qur'an only to be read devotionally, with fervent faith in Allah and his prophet, Muhammad.

When I was in a secular college and took a class on the Bible as Literature, I remember some Christians protesting the class. But I liked the class, even though I didn't share the professor's cynical and skeptical conclusions about the Bible. In that class I learned to see what the eyes of unbelief saw in the Bible - something I just didn't have. That class helped me learn how to talk to unbelievers about the Bible. Nothing wicked about that, I thought, despite what I heard other Christians on campus saying.

I would hope Muslims could appreciate the same in my class. This month my class was scheduled for the first time to be taught through the continuing education program at South Seattle Community College. But because of the complaints of many local Muslims, the class had to be canceled at the college and transferred to my church. Too bad for us all.

One of the surprises in my classes is that I find more verses in the Qur'an to agree with than to question - making my literary method more than simply negative.

For instance, when Qur'an 2:45 says we should try to be patient even though it's hard to do, I say amen to that. No problem there. There are many other passages in the Qur'an like that one which I also endorse. But when Qur'an 4:157 says Jesus Christ wasn't crucified, I raise an eyebrow. I have serious questions there because historic Christianity teaches that it's only through faith in the crucifixion of Christ that we are saved from our sins for all of eternity.

Sometimes my students have been surprised that I don't let my disagreements with the Qur'an wipe away all the good that I see in it. But honesty forces me to avoid that. Even so, I still know that such a respectful selective reading of the Qur'an isn't always pleasing to all Muslims because Qur'an 15:91 stands directly against such a reading.

But even so, my classes are still lead in a spirit of discovery and respect. For I'm against all hostility and ridicule of Islam. My classes aren't about tearing down the Qur'an. They're about learning the differences between the Bible and the Qur'an on a wide range of issues. As such many of my students have said they learned more about the Bible in my classes on the Qur'an than they ever imagined possible.

So my class is about the difficult task of building bridges between two religions. I don't do this by saying the two books are the same. No, I do it by exposing the differences and respecting them all the same. In our tense, polarize climate, such simple fact-finding builds bridges, I believe.

My class will not solve the big issues of the day, like the Israeli-Palestinian one, or the Iraq civil war. But it will clarify what divides us. By so doing the world will be a better place. For when there's clarity, there's less misunderstanding, and that makes for less hurt feelings. All that is to the good.

But can you really learn anything from me about the Qur'an since I'm not a Muslim? Well, I've studied with Muslims over the last 20 years and they have helped me understand the Qur'an. I've also studied world religions in graduate school and that has helped. I've read a lot about the Qur'an in McAuliffe's four volume Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, as well as in the voluminous notes in Muhammad Asad's classic thousand page commentary on the Qur'an. These studies I'm glad to share with my students who usually haven't had the time or wherewithal to do it themselves.

In my class I have some fifty handouts from other writers - many Muslim - to supplement my instruction. That also helps balance-out what I have to say. Twice I have had Muslims take the class which has also enriched my understanding of the Qur'an. Presently I'm talking with a Muslim teacher in the University district.

As you can see this is just an introductory class on the Qur'an. I don't know the Arabic language of the original Qur'an. I don't know the entire history of Islam. I've never traveled to any of the Islamic centers of the world.

At most what I can do it help you get started on a respectful understanding of Islam's holy book from an historic Christian perspective. I can help you ask informed, kind questions if you ever happen to chat with a Muslim about the Qur'an.

From what my former students tell me, my class has actually help with just that - right here in West Seattle. That makes all the extra hours I've spent teaching this class worth it. Wouldn't you agree?

The classes are open to the public. Some one hundred people from all over the Puget Sound area have attended my classes. The next four week session begins Thursday night at 7 p.m., April 20. I offer these four week sessions every January, April, June and October.

If you're interested in signing up for my class, call me at 935-6530 or email me at deogloria@foxinternet.com. There's also more about it on our church web page at www.flcws.org.

The Rev. Ronald F. Marshall is pastor of First Lutheran Church of West Seattle and can be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com