New MAPI Course: "Apologetics and Polemics" (Aug.25-Oct.13) Dr Jay Smith

We are proud to introduce the 7th of our Ten MAPI courses for our 'Master's Degree in "Apologetics and Polemics to Islam" program (MAPI). This course is entitled IS507[25] "Apologetics and Polemics", which will be taught by Dr Jay Smith (with additional help from Dr Daniel Janosik) every Monday evening, from August 25 - October 13, 2025. This is the signature course for the whole degree program, zeroing in on the very practical needs concerning how and why we need to use Apologetics and Polemics in our evangelism of Muslims today. Note: this course is for Christians alone. Why? Because it is being taught at the Veritas International University (VIU), which is an academic seminary belonging to the Calvary Chapel Denomination. If you would like to take this course, just e-mail "Eliott Davis" before August 25 at: edavis@ves.edu Beginning on Monday the 25th of August (starting at 8:00 p.m. - East Coast Time) Jay will lecture for 8 weeks, with each lecture followed by a 'live' Q&A between students and Dr Jay Smith and Dr Daniel Janosik on the material introduced that week. Both professors have promised that they will be "live" so that you as students can have "live" and personal access to them. Often the Q&A time following the lectures can go for another hour or two. The Lectures will be 'live', via Zoom Webinar, every Monday evening from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time - USA), followed by Q&As until October the 13th. Since all of our teaching is by Zoom Webinar, those of you who have registered can watch the lectures from the comfort of your own home, anywhere in the world, or at any time, as every lecture will be recorded and the URL along with the accompanying PowerPoint, and the PDFs will be sent to you by Dr Smith the next day by a Mailchimp email. 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, coupled with administration costs makes the total for the whole course around $1,530 (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 August 25 until December 5, 2025 (though there are only 8 weeks of lecture). This will give you ample time to read and then write logs on 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 the entire 8-week course is $325. An Audit student will not have any assignments, but will have access to the Populi site where the discussions and assignments are found (like the Full-time academic students), and will be able to listen to the lectures and will be sent the Power-points 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 only $225. Unlike the Full-time students or the Audit students, they will not have access to the Populi site, but they will still have "live access" to all of the lectures, and they will be sent the Power-points and PDFs to download and use in their own ministries. To underline the distinctions, while all of the students in all 3 categories will have access to all of the lectures, the Power-points and the PDFs for the entire 8-week 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 be the only ones required to fulfill them. If you are interested in any of these 3 levels, simply e-mail the registrar 'Eliott Davis' at: edavis@ves.edu But hurry, as the first lecture begins on Monday, August 25, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US). LECTURE TOPICS: Week #1: Defining the Need for Apologetics and Polemics Week #2: An historical overview of Islam's Polemical Agenda Week #3: Major Missiological Methods employed by Christians with Muslims Week #4: Biblical and Historical Support for Apologetics and Polemics Week #5: Modern 21st century examples of Apologetics and Polemics Week #6: FAQs (Apologetics) 'Frequently Asked Questions' by Muslims to Christians Week #7: FAQs (Polemics) 'Frequently Asked Questions' by Christians to Muslims Week #8: Conclusions: Bringing it all together © Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, 2025 (122,940) Music: Del-Rio-Bravo, by Kevin Macleod, from filmmusic-io