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Banter! It’s all good and fun until you run head first into a retort that knocks you off your feet. This missionary tried to be clever, but soon resigned to quite a dismal reply.
His deflated response was hilarious. He couldn’t reply to the Jesus returning within the lifetime of the disciples quip, and ended up with such a daft reply. Poor guy.
Salaam ‘Alaykum,
The response to Jay will be released tomorrow with certainty on or before Wednesday 12th November. I had intended to release it on Sunday 9th, as the paper itself is finished. The refutation of Jay has been completed for some time. The delay is because of several additions to the paper which have been suggested such as a contents, a definition of terms, a foreward, appendices etc. I hadn’t intended to include any of those things, but as the more learned brothers read through the paper, for it to be understood by the lay man they suggested these updates. Given that some of these brothers live in time zones 12 hours ahead of me, it means that when I’m awake they’re asleep and when I’m asleep they’re awake, thus we have a very short window of time to communicate and exchange information on a daily basis. For a very brief window of time, the paper was made available on Blogging Theology two days ago. Since then, I’ve received quite a number of emails regarding the paper’s contents and it’s been fantastic to say the least. Some of those who’ve read the paper did advise me to add some more terms to the definition of terms, some brothers suggested a summary, etc.
Some missionaries have taken the delay to mean that I’m getting difficulty to respond to Smith’s claims. To the contrary, I’ve had not a single issue responding to Jay. As I’ve said, the response was completed a while ago, I’m just formatting the paper with additions as suggested by those who have already read it. At the back of my mind was a lecture that I knew Jay was going to deliver on the Qur’an at Veritas University, I wanted to see if he’d alter anything he’d said about the Qur’an since his debate with Dr. Ally. Unfortunately, he repeated the same allegations and brought no new allegations and so I didn’t have to add any content to the paper in that regard. The paper continues to grow in length and I’m pretty impressed with how far it’s come along. At first I never intended to write anything about Jay’s allegations, but given the attention the debate got and the questions that were being asked, I took the initiative to write something that’d inform the public about Jay’s gross dishonesty and mistakes. I didn’t know it’d grow into a 50+ page work with over 99 citations. In all honesty, it’s turned into a small book!
Please be patient with me as I finish the paper, it will be worth the wait.
and Allah knows best.
Is this a……joke? Jay Smith is most certainly not a professor at any academic institution. He is the only person I know to have been attempting a PhD for 16 years and to date has no original research to show for it. Now he’s parading himself as a Professor. Increasingly I cannot find myself able to distinguish between him and Ergun Caner.
During the first few minutes of his presentation he holds two books in his hand. The Bible and the Qur’an. He held up the Qur’an and said that Muslims can only read the Qur’an in Arabic therefore it tells him that the God of the Qur’an can only speak Arabic. Then, he held up the Bible and said you can read it in all languages, so this tells him that the God of the Bible can speak all languages. He then called upon the audience to challenge Muslims with this argument to demonstrate that the Christian God is greater than the Islamic God. To my surprise, the audience erupted with cheering! There is no way a sane person would cheer something so insipid and inane, I felt embarrassed that someone can possibly utter such statements in front of an audience.
To clarify why this is a bad argument, both Muslims and Christians agree that the primary text is the most accurate text. All languages have language devices. For example, Arabic has a syntax construct called the dual. There are singular nouns, dual nouns and then plural nouns. The English language only has the singular and plural nouns. Therefore the dual nouns are lost somewhere in translation between the two languages. Muslims therefore only consider the primary revelation to be the word of God, translations are representative of the word of God, but they are not wholly complete given the language device differences. This is why Muslims adhere to the primary text and strive to study it in its original language. Christians also, extract their exegeses and lectionaries from the Greek Critical texts of the New Testament. However, this is done by their scholars who invest in learning the Greek language of the New Testament.
What this means, is that while Muslims place greater importance on learning and interacting with their scripture in its primary form, this is only relegated for the scholars of the Christ religion, thus their is a schism, a demarcation, a disparity between the scripture and the Christian lay man, while the Muslim has no such disconnect from God’s word. Thus, this is not only a poor argument to use, it’s as if you’re saying your scripture is not important enough to be studied in its primary language and as such, you are comfortable with excluding yourself from having the ability to interact with the scripture in the language it was written in. Muslims do not want to exclude themselves from God’s word, but apparently Jay Smith is comfortable with this and so are the Christians at Veritas Apologetics University. Muslims value their word from God, Christians, do not.
and God knows best!
A bit lengthy, but definitely worth the watch. His citations are in the description of the video.
and God knows best.
Seems like Samuel Green’s angry at me for the article published yesterday. When he saw it, he posted this comment:
I mean, that excuse would work, but yesterday he was involved in another conversation with me (names blurred out for privacy):
So his excuse is that he was too busy to respond, but ends up in a lengthy discussion with me and others the very same day that he alleges he was busy on? I chose to confront him on that, how could you be too busy yesterday to respond if you were also arguing with me yesterday?
After being caught out, he decided to call me a slanderer. Although I’m not sure if he knows what that word means. I said he was unable to respond, he says he was also unable to respond. So I’m not sure where the slander is. This is like the time he got angry at me for asking him to qualify one of his claims, he promised to respond to me, and almost a year later he hasn’t. Will he remember to respond this time, or is he going to repeat his lack of finishing discussions when he’s caught out? You’re better than that Samuel, cheer up mate!
and God knows best.
Islam acknowledges that scripture was given to the Christians and Jews, we call such people, “Ahlul Kitab” or the “People of the Book”. However, where we disagree, begins with the very understanding of what the Bible is. To the Muslim, the Torah was given to Moses and the Gospel to Christ. This is, as the Qur’an says in Surah 5, Verse 44 and Verse 46. The Qur’an explicitly states that the Injeel was a scripture given to Jesus from God. No Christian today believes that the New Testament was given by Jesus to his disciples. These are therefore, distinct books. The New Testament is not the Injeel. As Muslims, we believe that both Christians and Jews today both do not have in their possession the original Torah or the original Gospel.
We don’t make this claim simply because we can, but we make this claim due to the evidences we possess. To begin with, the Qur’an states in Surah 2, Ayah 79 and in Surah 5, Ayah 13 that both the Jews and the Christians corrupted their “scripture” which they wrote of themselves and then claimed those writings to be from God. This might seem odd to some Christians that the Bible is a corrupted, and manufactured “scripture”. You may be asking if the Muslim is able to defend such a claim. We can and it’s simple. One example I am fond of using is the following argument, it goes a little something like this:-
Can you tell me which Old Testament you believe in?
Can you tell me which New Testament you believe in?
The problem is, there is no “one Biblical text” that all Christians agree on. What you call the Bible today is a translated text based on Greek, Arabic, Syriac and even Ethiopian writings. All collected and pieced together. What you call the Bible in 2014, is not what the first Christians called it some 2000 years ago. Namely because the New Testament didn’t exist until the writings of Paul began some 14 years after Christ ascended. At the earliest, the Bible was decided upon by what was called an Ecumenical Council or a “Unity Council”, today known as the Councils of Carthage in 393 and 397 AD. Yet, every Bible since that time, has varied, with no two remaining the same. Thus, what the Bible exists as today, is not considered to be the Bible which Christians in any previous century have believed in. The Bible is still evolving to this day, with both conservative and liberal Christian scholars attempting to define what the Bible “could” have looked like according to what each textual critic’s understanding of the text could have or should have looked like.
A new critical edition of the New Testament, means that textual critics examine the manuscript variants which occur in words and passages. They examine these variants and then through a select criteria, they attempt to ascertain which variant is the most authentic. In some cases, as in the Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament, when scholars do not find any of the variants to be accurate, authentic or valid they invent their own reading which has no manuscript basis. This is known as “conjectural emendation”. In the Westcott and Hort New Testament, this was done some 65 times. As such, this would mean that as variant words and passages continue to be argued over, the New Testament text continues to evolve every few years as the critical editions are released, as with the latest Nestle Aland and United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testaments. This is due to the textual critics employing what we know as the “eclectic method”. As a consequence of this method, there is not a single codex on the face of the earth that has existed with in the form of the New Testament we have today. The New Testament we have today is based on variants from hundreds of differing manuscripts and variant codices. The truth is, if the Christian scholars of today and those of the past still cannot decide on what the Bible is or what it was or what it will be, why should Muslims accept it as their scripture?
This case begets another problem, as the God of the Old Testament, proclaims that there is one eternal word of God, in Psalms 119:89, it reads:
“Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”
Which word is it referring to? There are so many canons and codices to choose from, none being the same from the first complete codices in the third century to those of today. How can you ask the Muslim to accept, what the Christian faith itself cannot decide upon?
wa Allaahu ‘Alam,
First Published: 6/ 8/ 12. Error noted by the missionary Paulus in which I wrote KJV Codex. I’m not sure on which basis I made that error, but it has since been corrected.
Not his best moment…..
Since then, he’s been unable to respond. Is this another case of a Muslim knowing the Bible better than a Pastor? You decide.
and God knows best.
It is with great sadness that I write on the passing of Br. Michael Samuel, a Roman Catholic stalwart, school principal, teacher and community leader.
The high school (British: secondary school), I attended just a few short years ago would not be the institution it is today without his contribution. A school that’s considered to be the best in the Caribbean, producing two of Trinidad and Tobago’s most recent Prime Ministers, our current President, countless lawyers, doctors, judges, businessmen, scientists, clergymen, music artists, football stars and more, is due to the hard work Brother Michael put into the development of Presentation College, San Fernando.
You can read more on Brother Michael and his contribution to the development of the Caribbean’s premier educational institution, via the Trinidad Express’ article on his passing. The President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago had this to say on his passing:
I am shattered by his sudden death although I was very much aware of his health challenges. He was a guiding light in my life, like so many others, not only as a principal but as a teacher and he was someone I felt proud to call a mentor and a friend.
At Presentation College, San Fernando, he was a firm disciplinarian but someone who cared genuinely for the welfare and upliftment of his charges. There was never a dull moment in his disposition and interaction with others. I can still see that broad engaging smile and recall the magic of his laughter. His joie de vivre was infectious.
Personally, over the years as a state prosecutor, judge and now President, his words of encouragement inspired me. Brother Michael always felt an enormous sense of pride by virtue of his association with Presentation College, San Fernando. His legacy, as an educational luminary that carved and moulded students into men of calibre and substance, is assured. It was an unforgettable and touching honour for me to present him with a national award last year. He never spoke ill of anyone and believed in the best of us. I am simply shattered by his loss.
We are always, Proud to be Pres.
and God knows best.
Salaam ‘Alaykum,
I’ve just replied to a significant amount of emails from the callingchristians@gmail.com email address and from the contact us page on the website. If you’ve sent an email/ submitted a message through the contact form within the last three months and did not receive a reply, please do check and see if you have now received one. If you still have not received a response, please check your spam/ junk mail folder, if no response can be found, then you are encouraged to re-send your email.
I’ve now finished my response to Jay and I am in the process of checking my sources and quotes for errors before publication. Du’as for the improvement of my health are requested.
Your brother in Islam,
Br. Ijaz.
and Allaah knows best.
Without giving away too much personal details, it’s been quite a hectic week health wise and so this is the sole reason for the delay of the PDF’s publication:
The good news, is if I delay much longer, Br. Sami Zataari who has already read it will most likely leak it to the missionaries, so one way or the other it’s going to be published:
The PDF is already done, I just have to add in one or two additions to clarify some dates mentioned and that’s basically it. Not long again inshaAllaah.
and Allaah knows best.
Calling Christians 
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