11/12/11 IM AT A FASCINATING SEMINAR RE "ENGAGING ISLAM" LED BY JAY SMITH

[ this seminar covers all sorts of topics having to do with Islam, for evangelical Christians, fascinating stuff..this guy has an incredible head full of knowledge about anything & everything having to do with Christianity & islam &, here's a few of my notes] "So I'm at this "Engaging Islam" conference, led by Jay Smith at a church in Upland. Jay, apparently, has a lot of experience in debating Muslims with the hope of turning them to Christ, & particularly at "Speakers Corner" in London (I've been there once, back in1988 when I was doing a semester in Spain, & we went to London for spring break). This is a two-day conference, but I missed the opening session last night. This morning Jayintroduced himself to the group, mentioning he grew up in India, and now spends a lot of time in England (but apparently his nationality is American).

Jay began by talking about different types of evangelists: some who never actually do evangelism (couch potatoes),others who are gung-ho & feel guilty when they don't ("rambo evangelists"), then those who think they need to have the answer to every question before they can do evangelism ("professional students"), as well as those who don't think their evangelistic efforts make a difference ("whipped dogs"), among others.

He notes that there are two basic types of evangelism; 1)Irenic (relational) & 2) confrontational, and that most people should be irenic, not confrontational (unless you're specially trained).

Some people object to mentioning Christ to Muslims (who may be co-workers, etc) because they are afraid of losing friends, but Jay says, don't worry, b/c Muslims do not encounter enough positive,moral,Christianity in America. They see a lot of porno &hear profanity, sometimes even amongst so-called Christians & this gives them the wrong impression. 2) afraid you can't answer all questions. Be honest & tell them "I'll get back to you" and recommens Answer-Islam.org, 3) always carry a Bible & give chapter & verse when quoting it. Muslims don't want religious opunion. He mentions Koran 29.46 ("Don't argue w/ Christians") & 4.136 "Believe in the Bible". He mentions that "only 15% of Muslims know Arabic so that when some people claim the only true Koran is the Arabic Koran, ask them if the other 85% are false Muslims.

Importance of "Son of God"in Bible...which is a big sticking point for Muslims. They ask how can Jesus bethe son of God. How can God become a man? They say its "unbecoming." Jay says, conversely, how can God be limited? If he wants to be human, He can do it, & he finds it AWEsome that God would do so. Jay also mentions points in Bible where God did appear on earth, not just as Son of God, but in the burning bush, etc. Jay questions the so-called "Chrislam" movement (an attempt to merge Christianity with Islam). He talks about going to mosques and how some formerMuslims can feel the "demons" when they go back.

Somebody asked a question about Fuller & their attempt to compromise the Bible in order  to reach Muslims (taking out "Sonof God"). Jay mentioned Dudley Woodberry(I remember sitting in afew mission classes led by Dudley). Apparently there's a name for this movement, called EWI (encountering the world of Islam?). I don't remember if Dudley used that acronym when I was there. Jay is absoltely AGAINST removing Son of God (or God as Father) to appease Muslims. He mentions an article in Christianity Today (current issue) that talks about it (with reference to Rick Brown versus George Hushy?)

JAY also takes about "Issa" versus "Yeshua" (names for Jesus in Koran. Says Issa is not arabic, but a borrowed word, and that the Jesus of the Koran doesn't die on the cross, nor does theJesus of the Koran say the right things at the right time (as opposed to the Jesus of the Bible who is chronologically in sequence with events of the place & time he was in) .

He talks about Muslims trying to trap Christians in arguments about the Trinity, asking us where the word is found in the Bible. Jay says don't worry about that argument but turn instead to the fact that "Elohim" in the Old Testament is actually a plural word (ie "gods"" he says it actually means "three or more") and how do Muslims explain that? (He notes its also a tripping point for Jews & the Shema, Deut 6.4?).

He also says its important NOT to use the King James Bible when debating Muslims (even though he loves the King James ) because of 1 John 5.7 which is not found in early manuscrripts (and Muslims know this & will use it to trip up Christians) He says use NIV w/ Muslims. He says the best verse in defense of the Trinity is Matt 28.19-20 "Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit." And also you can counter-argue with Muslims that their word for "oneness" (Tawhid) is not found in the Koran.

The next point is that Muslims accuse the Bible as being more violent than the Koran and quote a verse from Judges(?) Where God gives the command to kill every man, woman, & child. Jay says this was a specific command for that time & place & it was actually God doing the killing. The Muslims also point to verses such as Jesus saying "Î didn't come to bring peace but a sword" (Matt 10.34?) which Jay says is paradoxical because that sword is actually the sword used against us as Christians, not Christians using the sword versus others. It's the guarantee that we will be persecuted for righteousness sake (he also points out that the "sword" is also used simply in reference to a common "dagger" in the Bible that people used for eating & cleaning their fingernails, etc (like a pocket knife?)

Muslims may also point to the "crusades" & the "inquisition" as proof of Christians being violent, but Jay says

...(to be continued)