Ergun Caner

Ergun Mehmet Caner is the president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School at the Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He served under his Chancellor and President, Jerry Falwell Jr., and took Falwell’s place in 2005.  He earned a B.A. from Cumberland College, an MA from Criswell College (where he taught theology and church history), M.Div. and Th.M. degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a D.Min from Emmanuel Baptist University, and a Th.D. from the University of South Africa. He is the author of several books, including Gold Medallion winner Unveiling Islam. Caner is a leading voice for Frontline Apologetics.

Public Dishonesty and Refusal to Repent

Numerous biographies of Ergun Caner (such as the one on his website) state that “Caner has debated Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and other religious leaders in thirteen countries and thirty-five states.” The fact, however, is that Caner has not actually debated anyone. Despite being corrected numerous times regarding this factual error, he refuses to change his credential report to reflect reality.
Caner has stated that, “Let me tell you about my debates. I will debate anyone. I have a standing order that I will debate anyone, anytime, any place. Usually it’s in universities and colleges. You know that I’m talking about; community colleges, state universities. Campus crusade groups will have me in, and I will debate anyone, Hindu, Buddhist, every time of Muslim, Sunni, Shia…Confucianists, anybody.” The fact, however, is that Caner has been offered to publicly debate the subject of Calvinism – which he believes is “a lie from the pit of hell” – but refuses to accept. In fact, Caner and his brother Emir previously accepted the invitation to debate James R. White and Tom Ascol over the subject of “Baptists and Calvinism” in 2006, but essentially bailed out at the last minute (documented here, here, here, and here).
Caner has also lied about his past behind numerous pulpits. Countless personal claims about his birth, upbringing, etc. have been documented by official court documents to be false (e.g. he was born in Sweden, not Turkey). Alpha and Omega Ministries summarized the public dishonesty here in May, 2010:

1) When did Ergun Caner live in Turkey? Dates, locations, must be provided.
2) What madrassa did he train at in jihad? Where was he a member of the Youth Jihad? When? For how long?
3) Why has he claimed in public to have been born in Istanbul, Turkey, when he was born in Stockholm, Sweden?
4) Why does he claim to be 100% Turkish when his mother is Swedish?
5) Why has he plainly implied he could speak Arabic (in response to the Islamic claim that unless you can read the Qur’an you cannot criticize it) when his mother tongue is Swedish, and he cannot, in fact, read or speak Arabic?
6) How does he explain his presence in Ohio by at the very latest age four, and possibly as early as 2 and a half, as indicated by legal documents?
7) How does he explain his claim to have always lived in Muslim majority countries before coming to the United States? Sweden is not today, and surely was not in 1969, a majority Muslim nation.
8) How does he explain his often published claim to have come to the United States in 1978 or 1979? How can this be seen as anything other than a purposeful distortion necessary for his “I came as a jihadist from Turkey” rather than “I came as a son of a Muslim father and a Swedish mother to Ohio as a small child” persona?
9) Can Ergun Caner prove he was a devout, active Muslim in high school? One that even wore traditional Islamic garb (though that is unusual in Turkey)? Does he have evidence of this in the form of pictures? Some of us have seen pictures of Ergun in his high school yearbook, and none of them show him wearing Islamic dress.
10) Dr. Caner claims in some of his talks that he learned English in Brooklyn. When did he live in Brooklyn, rather than Ohio?
11) How does Dr. Caner explain the fact that he claims to have done his prayers in the bathroom in high school, though that would be highly unusual and in fact either the act of an ignorant Muslim or one in fear of his life?
12) Why did Ergun Caner say Ramadan was forty days long when in fact it is a lunar month in length? If he had ever fasted during Ramadan I can assure you he would know the difference.
13) Why did Ergun Caner on video confuse the Shahada with the opening words of Surat al-Fatiha? Given that both are part of the Islamic prayers, and would have been repeated thousands of times during his youth as a devout Muslim, how could he be confused about such a basic thing?
14) Emir Caner says their mother became a “hippy” upon coming to the United States. Yet Ergun says she wore Islamic clothing until he baptized her. Which is true?
15) Dr. Caner often uses derogatory terms like “towel head” and “sand nigger” of himself, excusing these racial slurs because he claims to be of these ethnic groups. Yet, these are slurs mainly of Arabic people, not of Turkish people; and beyond this, he is only half Turkish, as his mother is Swedish. So why does he engage in this behavior?
16) Dr. Caner has repeatedly said “his family” disowned him upon his conversion. Yet, court records indicate he lived with his mother as custodial parent, not his father; and Emir says that while his father did disown his sons who converted, their mother was basically ambivalent, as she was no longer a Muslim anyway. Is having your non-custodial parent, who has remarried, disown you identical to being disowned by your (entire) family?
17) Dr. Caner has claimed to engage in more than sixty Muslim debates. Where is the evidence of these debates? Who has he debated? What are their names? When did the debates take place?
18) Dr. Caner claimed to have debated Shabir Ally in Nebraska. Caner admitted in February, 2010, that he never debated Shabir Ally. Who, then, did he debate in Nebraska? When? On what topic?
19) Dr. Caner claimed to debate Abdul Saleeb. Abdul Saleeb means “servant of the cross.” So why did he claim to debate a Christian along with Shabir Ally? Was he simply putting Arabic-sounding names together in a line as a means of impressing his audience?
20) Ergun Caner has often, in talks, and in print, referred to “Hadith 9:57.” Since any meaningful citation of the hadith literature requires the use of the name of the actual collection (in this case, Sahih al-Bukhari), does this not show a fundamental ignorance of the most basic elements of scholarly inquiry into Islamic studies on Ergun Caner’s part?
21) Ergun Caner holds a Th.D. in Theology. Why has he often changed the degree to a Ph.D.?
22) Dr. Caner heads up the Global Apologetics program. His claim to have engaged leaders of numerous religions in debate in many foreign countries and all across the United States is directly related to his recruiting of students. Why should his false claims about his past, and his apologetic work, not be considered false advertising and fraudulent?

Slander of the Brethren and Refusal to Repent

In 2006, Dr. Caner said “Calvinists are worse than Muslims.” Realizing that Calvinists make up a great portion of today’s churches, including most Reformed and Presbyterian denominations, many have stood in shock and given him an opportunity to repent, but Caner will not back down. In fact, this took place on an online Q&A interview on Caner’s own website:

Q: DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT CALVINISTS ARE WORSE THAN MUSLIMS?

A: Yes, absolutely. For a small portion of these people, just daring
to question the Bezian movement is heresy. They will blog and
e-mail incessantly. I call it a “Calvinist Jihad”, because just like
Muslims, they believe they are defending the honor of their view.
They can discuss nothing else. I have even had a few call for my
head! Dr. Falwell and I have laughed about it, because they are so
insistent, and they miss the point completely. There are plenty of
schools to which the neo-Calvinists can go, but Liberty will be a
lighthouse for missions and evangelism to the “whosoever wills”.
Period. The difference is, Muslims know when to quit -
for these guys, it is the only topic about which they can talk.

After more rebuke from Christian colleagues, theologians, and scholars, Caner pulled this exchange off his website, which is now only available on a handful of third-party websites (here, here, and here). He has yet to repent from these absurd and divisive remarks.

Phony/Bad Scholarship and Refusal to Repent

Dr. Caner has published books citing references that have never been and can never be verified (see here). For example, he references “Hadith” followed by a number, over a dozen times. This would be the equivalent of saying “Bible 3:16.” No one, including several of his defenders (e.g. Norman Geisler), have ever explained what is being referenced by these citations.

Norman Geisler

Dr. Norman Geisler is the author or co-author of some 70 books and hundreds of articles.  He has taught theology, philosophy, and apologetics on the college or graduate level for 50 years.  He has spoken or debated in some 26 countries on six continents. He has a B.A, M.A., Th.B., and Ph.D (in philosophy). He has taught at some of the top Seminaries in the United States, including Trinity Evangelical and Dallas Seminary and currently he is Distinguished Professor of Apologetics at Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, CA (www.VeritasSeminary.com). He maintains an active writing, speaking, and lecturing ministry across the country.

Phony/Bad Scholarship and Refusal to Repent

Dr. Geisler has been shown to be in serious error with regard to Reformed theology, both historical and theological, ever since his anti-Calvinist book Chosen But Free (1999, 2001, 2010) was published. His scholarship has been further compromised in an appendix of his second edition of this work (which contains bogus references, etc.), which mysteriously disappeared in the third edition, without explanation, as well as essentially quote fabrications elsewhere. His integrity has been compromised in his defense of Ergun Caner and Caner’s bogus claims (both teach at Veritas Seminary – Veritas, ironically, means “truth” in Latin). He refuses to apologize for any of his errors or justify any of his factual claims and positions that have continually and publicly been shown to be false.

Wes Widner

Wes Widner, born in 1982, is a computer programmer and the founder of ReasontoStand.org, a Christian apologetics organization.

Slander of the Brethren and Refusal to Repent

On February 13, 2010, Wes made the following remarks on Google Buzz:

I’ve read Dr White’s books and I’ve interacted with him. I found no love, humility, intellectual honesty, or any other defining characteristics of a mature believer. He may be a smart guy, but theres a big difference between being a mature elder in the faith and a smartass prick…since Dr White’s theology posits a malignant and capricious God who kills and tortures people for his own pleasure through no fault of their own, it comes as no surprise that his actions and attitude end up matching what he preaches…Dr White is still a prick. I wish he weren’t but then again, I suppose he was predestined to be one. Interestingly enough, according to the creed from his website, even me calling him a prick is to the glory of God, what an awesome concept.

Dave Hunt

Born in 1926, Dave enjoyed the advantages of a godly upbringing, and placed his trust in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord in his early teens. He received a degree in mathematics from U.C.L.A. Marriage to his wife, Ruth, was followed by the birth of four children, a career as CPA/management consultant and, later, the management of several corporations. Along with church-related activities, Dave initiated and became involved in numerous campus ministries and meetings in his home, with a special outreach to Jewish young people and foreign students. Since 1973 Dave’s desire for fulltime ministry has found fulfillment through authorship of books dealing with the incursion, into Western culture and the church itself, of Eastern, psychological and selfist philosophies, ecumenism, and other unbiblical teachings. Concern over Islamic politics and religion are reflected in current articles, lectures and interviews. At least 4 million copies of his books have been sold and have been translated into more than 50 languages. They include: The Cult Explosion, The God Makers, The New Spirituality, The Seduction of Christianity, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist, Occult Invasion, A Cup of Trembling, In Defense of the Faith, An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith, What Love Is This?, Countdown to the Second Coming, Seeking and Finding God, Honest Doubts, Judgment Day! Islam, Israel, and the Nations, and his latest book Yoga and the Body of Christ.

Phony/Bad Scholarship and Refusal to Repent

Dozens of factual errors have been publicly documented (also, open letter here) from his book What Love is This? (2002). Yet, even after such refutations and corrections, Hunt continued in ignorance in his second edition of the work (2004), repeating many of the same errors as the first edition. One such bogus claim from Hunt’s work is that:

   The Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as comments from early church writers, indicate that the first 15 chapters of Acts were probably written first in Hebrew. The Greek would be a translation. Some scholars claim that going back to a “redacted Hebrew” version, based upon word-for-word Greek-Hebrew equivalents, would render Acts 13:48 more like “as many as submitted to, needed, or wanted salvation, were saved.” Furthermore, even if “ordained” were the correct meaning, these Greeks still would have had to believe the gospel and accept Christ by an act of their own faith and will, as all of Scripture testifies (p. 264)

Obviously, there are no scholars who believe this because it’s impossible (Acts was written in Greek, not Hebrew, and the Dead Sea Scrolls were written centuries before Acts was written). These kinds of absurd claims are never justified or allowed to be challenged, and do not stop to come from Hunt’s work.