Topic outline

  • WELCOME

     

    Welcome to the Course "Islam".  We hope and pray you will have a wonderful experience studying with us and complete this course successfully!

    There are sound theological reasons for committing ourselves to understand other cultures and appreciate them. To learn of them and from them with an open mind is to discover how God reveals something of himself through their distinct world and life view.This course is designed to help you see that cross-cultural relationships take place in the realities of everyday life. It will give you some insights and principles to prepare for cross-cultural ministry at home or abroad.

    We hope that you will enjoy this course and you will successfully complete it. This is a simplified course, but it has all the video lectures, and you also have the opportunity to check yourself and pass the final exam if you choose to. This course is self-paced and is not intended to be assisted by a teacher. But if you have any questions, you can ask our instructor using the discussion forum "ASK A QUESTION" below or writing at tvsstudent@gmail.com (in the subject of the letter, specify the course code A206_001). Our teacher will be happy to answer all your questions. Also, you can choose to study this course at a deeper level along with the course facilitator. To move to that version of a class, please register on the en.tvseminary.org website or write about your desire at: tvs.student@gmail.com

  • COURSE LECTURES

    You can both view lectures in video format and listen to them in audio format. You can view video lectures only online (when connecting to the Internet), and you can listen to lectures in an audio form both online and offline (without connecting to the Internet). If you do not want to download the entire course, but only individual lectures, then open the "AUDIO LECTURES" section and select those lectures that you want to download. After that audio lectures will be available to you offline.

    CAUTION: You will need about 100 MB of free space to download this course fully. You can permanently delete downloaded files later by selecting the "MANAGE STORAGE" menu item.

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      VIDEO LECTURES  (you can watch lectures only when connected to the Internet) 

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      TOPIC 1. Journey with Muslims

      David W. Shenk tells us about his personal journey with Muslims which is the background for what he'll be sharing during the course about. He believed that God was calling him to the world missions, but it didn't occur to him that he would work with Muslims. You will learn about David Shenks's ministry in Somalia and Kenya and  enjoy his inspirational stories. 

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      TOPIC 2. Quiz - What Do You Know About Islam? 

      Right at the beginning of this course you are going to have a quiz just to see what you know about Islam. There are 10 brief questions and you need to decide if the answers are true or false. You should stop your video, take the quiz and then listen to the correct answers. David W. Shenk dwells on each of ten questions. 

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      TOPIC 3. Early Theological Formation in the Arabian Background  

      In this lecture you are going to look at the early theological formation of Islam in the Arabian background and start with the Christian context and the dynamic interaction of Christian communities and the emerging Muslim community. Then you will look at the second dimention of the Arabian context in which Ummah developed, namely the Jewish context, and then the Jahiliyya and the hanif contexts. The Muslim ummah demonstrates a lively interaction with Christian, Jewish, the hanif and the Jahiliyya streams within the culture of the 7th century. 

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      TOPIC 4. The Muslim Community (Ummah)

      In this lecture David Shenk speaks about the historical background which is important to know to understand the formation of theology. This Muslim community is the part of the communities of faith which trace their spiritual origin back to Abraham and sees itself as a continuation of other Abrahamic  faith movements.

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      TOPIC 5. Muslim Theology and Praxis

      In this lecture you will look at the pillars of theology and belief of the Islam and try to look at the worldview which these pillars reflect. The teacher shares how Christians can work within that worldview as faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ. 

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      TOPIC 6. Adam and Eve

      In this lecture David Shenk will move into a different direction and talk about Adam and Eve. The first three chapters of Genesis are extremely important to understand the Christian worldview. These chapters are very pertinent in understanding who we are as human beings. The islamic understanding of the first family of Adam and Eve is also important for their theology and mission. You will discover convergence and divergence within the Biblical account and Islamic understanding. 

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      TOPIC 7. Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac

      In this lecture you're going to look at Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that Abraham is the father of faith and are very impressed by the call of God to Abraham recorded in Genesis 12. All of them believe that they are spiritual progeny of that call to Abraham. David Shenk invites you to explore that idea.  

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      TOPIC 8. Muhammad and Jesus

      Muslims and Christians are so close in many ways. But often when we find a convergence, within that convergence we find a divergence. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the seal of the prophets and Jesus is just one of the prophets. We both believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but for a Muslim it means that he had a limited mission for a limited period of time. In this lecture David Shenk talks about Muhammad's role in Islam and also about Jesus.

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      TOPIC 9. The Qur'an and the Bible

      Within the Muslim understanding revelation comes down and so it transcends history. After reading the Bible a muslim might say that it is corrupted because it has historical narratives.  David Shenk shows how different our understanding in regard to the nature of revelation is. You will also learn what the Qur'an has to say about the Bible. 

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      TOPIC 10. Tanzil and Incarnation 

      The teacher looks at some issues and challenges connected with tanzil and incarnation and helps us explore those realities. 

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      TOPIC 11. The Hijrah and the Cross

      This lecture continues the discussion related to the Gospel and Islam, Christian and Islamic theology and praxis. David Shenk uses the method of telling narratives to show the difference between two journeys: the Hijrah of Muhammad and Jesus's journey to the cross. Both narratives significantly form the theologies of both of these communities and they go in different direction.

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      TOPIC 12. Medina and Jerusalem

      In this lecture you will push a little bit more on the implications of the two journeys in terms of the way the communities of faith were put together. In Medina Muhammad became both a prophet and a statesman. The Hijra is the beginning of the Muslim era. In the second part of this lecture you are going to learn about the beginning of the church as a very vulnerable movement without political power. 

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      TOPIC 13. Tawhid and Trinity.

      In this lecture you will learn about Tawhid which refers to oneness of God and His will. Muslims believe that the political and religious order must be integrated. David Shenk explains what it means for Christians when they attempt to share  their witness concerning the Trinity and the diversity within the church and the relationship between the church and the state.  

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      TOPIC 14. The Hajj and the Eucharist 

      The Hajj refers to the pilgrimage to Mecca and Muhammad transformed the polytheistic Arabian experience into the Muslim experience as only Muslims are invited to come to that region. In this lecture David Shenk looks at some significant dimensions of the pilgrimage and then he compares it with Christian Eucharist. 

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      TOPIC 15. Shari'a is Muslim Law

      In this lecture you will learn about the formation of Shari'a, the system of Muslim law. David Shenk also talks about the law of Christ which is love. 

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      TOPIC 16. The Shi'a or Shi'ite Muslims. 

      After the death of Muhammad it was necessary to decide who would be the leader of the community. David Shenk talks about different leaders of the community and how the struggle between different camps led to civil war. 

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      TOPIC 17. Sufi Mystics.

      There were the mystics among the Muslim movements. David Shenk talks about the Sufi who want to experience God and to know and meet Him. As they search the Qur'an they find some helpful themes. They discover that Abraham is a wali, a friend of God. In this lecture you will learn more about the mystics and their theology. 

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      TOPIC 18. Folk and Secularist Islam.

      There are a lot of Muslims who are folk Muslims and can be interested in spirit veneration and magic. David Shenk talks about the phenomena of marabout in West Africa. You will hear interesting stories about dealing with demons. The teacher says that in Jesus we have the authority over demons and this became one of the reasons people began to follow Jesus in some countries. There is a difference in a Muslim way of negotiating with demons and the Christian way of dealing with demons.

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      TOPIC 19. Principles for Ministry Among Muslims.

      In this lecture you will turn to 1 Peter 3 to learn some principles for ministry among Muslims and discover characteristics which are important for a church that wants to engage in this ministry. As usual, David Shenk tells us interesting stories.  

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      TOPIC 20. An Open Door (Revelation 3:7-12).

      David Shenk begins this last lecture with the message to the church in Philadelphia from Revelation Ch. 3 to explain what can open the door for Christians to minister among the Muslims. Some interesting insights and illustrations from personal life help us understand that message better. 

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      AUDIO LECTURES  (you can download lectures on your device and then you can listen  them without connecting to the Internet) 

  • CHECK YOURSELF (optional)

     

    заключительная неделя

    If you have reviewed all the course lectures, you can test yourself if you wish and see how well you understand the course material. The test has ten questions. The time and the number of attempts are unlimited. You need to get more than 70% to qualify for the course certificate.

  • ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

    Here you can find presentations and other materials used in the course. If you want to study this course on a deeper level, you can refer to these materials or take this course at the undergraduate level for credits under the supervision of the facilitator. To do this, register on the en.tvseminary.org website or write to us: tvs.student@gmail.com