Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel
Back in 2016 Jay Smith lecture at Kensington Temple (KT) on the historical emergence of Islam. This, then is the first part of his lecture (40 minutes long), which is followed in a few days by part 2 (60 minutes long). Jay employs his graphics into his talks, which help the audience follow his train of thought.
[This lecture is provided for your information however it does not represent the standing of the Israelandyou blog.]This first lecture looks at the problems with Islam’s initial history, pointing out just how little we know about this religion in the 7th century, supposedly when it was created. Jay points out that everything we are dependent on for this 7th century period comes from documents compiled after 833 AD, in other words a good 200 years later. He notes just how erroneous much of these later 9th-10th century Islamic Traditions are for this period, because none of the authors were eye-witnesses of anything they write. In this first lecture Jay unpacks what modern day revisionist scholars are saying about this false 9th-10th century narrative, as well as what needs to be done to really know what exactly happened. He is careful to use researched material from the most reputable sources which we have today concerning Islam’s early history, taken from the newly formed ‘revisionist school’.
From his research Jay notes that there are no references anywhere from the early 7th century, at least not from any Arab sources for a man named Muhammad, nor for a city called Mecca, nor for a book called the Qur’an. In fact one can’t find any references at all for any people called Muslims, nor a religion called Islam; that is, not until 691 AD, when the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik introduces these ideas on his coins, on his Caliphal protocols, and on the Dome of the Rock. Yet, this is a good 60 years after the death of Muhammad himself, which is not only problematic, but undermines almost everything known about Islam from the later 9th-10th century Islamic Traditions.
Jay Smith
Jay Smith (born 1953) is a Christian evangelist, apologist and polemicist. Since 1983, he has been a full-time missionary with the Brethren in Christ Mission with a focus on apologetics and polemics among the Muslims of London.
Smith was born in India to Brethren in Christ missionaries and attended Woodstock School in India. His grandparents were also missionaries. He earned a B.A. from Messiah College and then a Masters of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in apologetics. He has also earned an M.A. in Islamics from the Fuller Theological Seminary, and a PhD in apologetics and Polemics from the Melbourne School of Theology.
In 1981, while studying for his masters, Smith attended a seminar on Islam and noting that there were only 1,500 Christians ministering to Muslims worldwide, he decided to become a missionary to the Muslim world and pursued a second master’s degree in Islamic studies from Fuller Theological Seminary.
In 1987, Smith moved to Senegal as a missionary and in 1992, he moved to London where he continued his education at the School of Oriental and African Studies and the London School of Theology. In 2001, he halted his education to concentrate on apologetics following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by Al-Qaed.
In 2010, Smith completed in March of 2017. He helped run the Hyde Park Christian Fellowship, which emphasises the use of Polemics with Muslims alongside Apologetics for over 24 years.
