Description
We are happy to introduce the 3rd of our Ten MAPI courses beginning in a few days!
This course is entitled IS503[26] "An Assessment of Muhammad", which will be taught by Dr Daniel Janosik and Dr Jay Smith every Monday evening, from 8:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. (EST) beginning on Monday, October 26 and continuing until December 14, 2026.
Dr Janosik and Dr Smith will take a look at Muhammad, assessing who Muslims claim he was, whether their prophet was historical or not, what kind of impact he has had on their faith in the last 1400 years, how he is viewed by Christians today, and what some of the controversies surrounding him are, as well as whether his example is relevant for today.
Note: this course is for Christians only. 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 our registrar "Eliott Davis" at: edavis@ves.edu
Beginning on Monday the 26th of October (starting at 8:00 p.m. - EST) Daniel and Jay will lecture for 8 weeks, with each lecture followed by a 'live' Q&A between students and the professors on the material introduced that week.
Both Dr Janosik and Dr Smith have promised that they will be "live" so that you as the students can have "live" and personal access to them. Often the Q&A time following the lectures can go for another hour or two, but only those who are 'live' will be able to participate in those Q&A sessions.
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 of the lecture, along with the accompanying PowerPoints, and the PDFs will be sent to you by Dr Smith the next day (usually Tuesdays) 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 $1,350 - $1,500 (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 October 26, 2026 until February 1, 2026 (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 $340. 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 $240. Unlike the Full-time students or the Audit students, they will not have access to the Populi Internet platform, 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 Internet Platform 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, October 26, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US).
LECTURE TOPICS:
Week 1: Introduction of the Students, and of Muhammad (Janosik)
Week 2: The 'Classical' account of Muhammad's life (Janosik)
Week 3: Muhammad and the 'People of the Book' (Janosik)
Week 4: A Christian Assessment of Muhammad (Janosik)
Week 5: The Relevancy of Muhammad (Smith)
Week 6: Looking at the Historical Muhammad (Smith)
Week 7: Modern Controversies surrounding Muhammad (Smith)
Week 8: A comparison of Jesus vs Muhammad (Smith)
© Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, October 15, 2026