Apprising Ministries last mentioned Dr. Ergun Caner in James White On A Sad Two Year Anniversary Concerning Ergun Caner And Norman Geisler involving legitimate questions concerning Caner.

You might also recall Liberty University Ergun Caner Investigation Results from 2 years earlier. At the time Ergun Caner was still “Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.” ((http://sbctoday.com/2010/06/25/dr-ergun-caner-investigation-completed/, accessed 12/4/13.))

That post contained Dr. Ergun Caner Investigation Completed from SBC Today where we were given “the statement that Liberty University ha[d] released concerning their investigation” into those questions:

“After a thorough and exhaustive review of Dr. Ergun Caner’s public statements, a committee consisting of four members of Liberty University’s Board of Trustees has concluded that Dr. Caner has made factual statements that are self-contradictory.  However, the committee found no evidence to suggest that Dr. Caner was not a Muslim who converted to Christianity as a teenager, but, instead, found discrepancies related to matters such as dates, names and places of residence.

Dr. Caner has cooperated with the board committee and has apologized for the discrepancies and misstatements that led to this review.  Dr. Caner’s current contractual term as Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary expires on June, 30, 2010.  Dr. Caner will no longer serve as Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.  The university has offered, and Dr. Caner has accepted, an employment contract for the 2010-2011 academic year. Dr. Caner will remain on the faculty of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary as a professor.“ (source)

As I pointed out at the time, respected apologist and published author Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries was one of those pointing out “the discrepancies and misstatements” by then LBTS Dean Caner.

I take the time to point this out because below you’ll see the claim by reporter Bob Allen of ABP News that it was merely “bloggers” who were questioning “Caner’s academic credentials and apparent embellishment[s].” ((http://bit.ly/1cXeOo0, accessed 12/4/13.))

However, as a legitimate Bible scholar, James White cannot be summarily dismissed as merely a blogger. And White would respond by asking the same question I had when I read the above statement from LU.

Factual statements that are self-contradictory? Isn’t that the same as a lie? White wondered:

1) When was the issue ever whether Caner had been a Muslim? How many times does this canard have to be put down?
2) Factual statements that are self-contradictory. Is that the same as a “lie”? If I said to my kids (when they were young), “Did you lie to me?” and they responded, “No, we gave factual statements that are self-contradictory,” would that save them from discipline? It seems the folks at SBC Today think so, since they say Caner has now been exonerated. Seriously, I can’t make that kind of thing up. In other breaking news, Nixon was not a crook, and “is” actually has 48 meanings, just as Bill Clinton said.
3) “Discrepancies about dates, names and places of residence” is the PC way of saying, “Ergun Caner lied to everyone and their second cousin about being a jihadi from Turkey, and we all bought it, hook, line, and sinker, until…THOSE people pointed out the obvious.”
4) If Dr. Caner has cooperated, then I call upon the Board of Liberty University to release the entirety of its findings, not a short statement, including providing answers to the questions I sent to them in my open letter of May, 2010.
5) Dr. Caner has apologized for exactly what?… Aside from the “we really have no touch with reality” responses of Ergun Caner’s supporters, we are still left with a non-statement here… (source)

The reason I bring this to your attention once again is because yesterday we were informed that Ergun Caner to lead Ga. Baptist college:

Ergun Caner, former head of Liberty University’s seminary found guilty three years ago of “factual statements that are self-contradictory” in a popular testimony claiming he received terrorist training before converting from Islam to Christianity, has been named president of Brewton-Parker College, one of three colleges affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Caner, 48, comes to the post in Mount Vernon, Ga., from Arlington Baptist College in Texas, where he served as provost and academic dean since 2011. Before that Caner was the dean of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va., named by the school’s founder, Jerry Falwell, in 2004.

Controversy arose in 2010, when bloggers questioned written descriptions of Caner’s academic credentials and apparent embellishments in recorded versions of his “Jihad to Jesus” testimony popular with evangelical audiences in the aftermath of 9/11.

“Jesus strapped a cross on his back so I wouldn’t have to strap a bomb on mine,” Caner said in a sermon at the Southern Baptist Convention pastors’ conference in 2004. He preached in high-profile pulpits including First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, claiming he came to America to do what the 9/11 terrorists did before being saved from a martyr’s death by accepting Christ.

Bloggers investigating the story found documents indicating that Caner in fact grew up in Ohio the son of a divorced Muslim father and Lutheran mother. After viewing online videos, Liberty trustees found “discrepancies related to matters such as dates, names and places of residence” but “no evidence to suggest that Dr. Caner was not a Muslim who converted to Christianity as a teenager.”

An unnamed Brewton-Parker trustee quoted in a press release summarized the unanimous vote: “We didn’t consider Dr. Caner in spite of the attacks. We elected him because of them. He has endured relentless and pagan attacks like a warrior. We need a warrior as our next president.” (source)

HT: Discern The Time

Further reading

• WHERE IS THE CHURCH IN THE ERGUN CANER SCANDAL?
•  GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS
• BRIEF UPDATE