We now introduce the 4th and most important of our ten MAPI courses for our ‘Master’s Degree in Apologetics and Polemics to Islam’ program (MAPI). This course is entitled IS504 “The Origins of Islam”, taught by Dr Jay Smith, every Monday night from January 30 – March 20, 2023.This course, using only 7th-8th century material, confronts the ‘Standard Islamic Narrative’ at its very foundations, suggesting that there never was a man named Muhammad who lived in a city called Mecca, who received a book called the Qur’an in the 7th century at all.Beginning on Monday the 30th of January (beginning at 8:00 p.m. – Eastern Time) Jay will be lecturing for 8 weeks, followed by a live discussion and Q&A between the students and him on the material introduced in each lecture.To register for the course just e-mail before January 30th to: info@ves.eduJay will be introducing each lecture ‘live’, via Zoom Webinar, every Monday evening, from 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time – USA), from January 30 – March 20 (inclusive). You can also watch the lectures from the comfort of your own home, anywhere in the world, or at any time, as they will be recorded and the URL will be sent to you the next day by email.But you need to be a Christian to take this course, due to the fact that it is being taught at the ‘Veritas International University’ (VIU) which is a Christian seminary, and, therefore, can only permit Christian students to participate.Every lecture will be recorded, and the URL along with the PowerPoint and PDFs for every lecture will be sent to every registered student, so that those who are asleep in another part of the world and therefore cannot be at the ‘live lectures’ (via the Zoom Webinar), can still watch them wherever they are in the world, and at any time they choose.As we have in the past, we are offering this course for 3 categories of students:1) Full-TIme Master’s or Doctoral Degree Students: The first category are those students who want to take this course for a Master’s or a Doctorate academic credit. This is a 3-credit course, so the fee for each credit is $330, which makes the cost for the whole course around $1,000 (depending on whether you are a returning or a new student). For these full-time students, the full course itself continues for 15 weeks, stretching from January 30 – May 1 (though there are only 8 weeks of lecture). This will give you ample time to read and then write logs of the books required for the course, participate in the discussions, write your Research papers, and write your final ‘open book’ exam.2) Audit Students: The second category are those students who want to simply audit the course. The fee for this 8-week course is $280. An Audit student will have access to the Populi site where the discussions and assignments are found (like the Full-time academic students), and will have access to the lectures and will be sent the PowerPoints and PDFs to download.3) Personal Enrichment Students: The third category are those students who simply want to take this course for their ‘Personal Enrichment’. Their fee for the 8-week course is $200. Unlike the Full-time students or the Audit students, they will not have access to the Populi site, but will still have “live access” to all of the lectures and will be sent the PowerPoints and PDFs to download.To underline the distinctions, while all of the students in all 3 categories will have access to all of the lectures and to all of the PowerPoints and PDFs for the entire course, the full-time Academic as well as the Audit students will also have admission to the Populi site to participate in the ongoing weekly discussions, and will have access to the reading lists and assignments, though the full-time students will only be required to fulfill them.If you are interested in any of these 3 levels, simply e-mail the registrar ‘Noelle’ or ‘Peter’ at: info@ves.eduBut you need to hurry, as the first lecture begins on Monday, January the 30th, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US).Just e-mail: info@ves.eduLecture Topics: Lecture 1: Introduction (What Muslims Claim, Late Dates, and the Revisionists) Lecture 2: Mecca 1 (Geography, Trade Routes, Water, and Debunking False Theories)Lecture 3: Mecca 2 (Qibla, & Gibson vs King) Lecture 4: Muhammad 1 (Claims for Muhammad, Coins, Inscriptions)Lecture 5: Muhammad 2 (7th c. People, The ‘Jerusalem Thesis’, Muhammad Claims debunked)Lecture 6: The Qur’an 1 (Muslim Claims, Early Compilations, Qira’ats) Lecture 7: The Qur’an 2 (Anachronisms, Source Criticism, Manuscripts, Canon, & Shoemaker’s Conclusions)Lecture 8: Conclusion – A Review, “Putting it all Together”, and why we should use it in ministryI’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Monday, January 30th, but you need to register first at: info@ves.edu© Pfander Centre for Apologetics – US, Jan.10, 2023(69,830) Music: “New Beginning” by Rafael Krux, from filmmusic-io