Ergun Caner

Ergun M. Caner
Born	Ergun Michael Caner (1966-11-03) November 3, 1966 Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Professor of Theology and Apologist
Employer	Arlington Baptist College
Spouse	Jill Morris ​ (m. 1994)​
Parent(s)	Acar Martin Caner (father) Monica Inez Caner (mother)
Website	erguncaner.com

Ergun Michael Caner was born in 1966 to Acar and Monica Caner in Stockholm, Sweden. Early in his parents' marriage, Caner's mother converted to Islam and the couple chose to raise Caner in the Islamic faith. He emigrated to the United States at a young age and was converted to Christianity in the early 1980's. Ergun Caner is the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Arlington Baptist College. He has authored himself and co-authored with others, several best selling books, many of which deal with Islam and Christianity from and insider's point of view. His most noted book, Unveiling Islam, (co-authored with his brother Emir) has sold more than 200,000 copies and has been translated into six languages. It also received a 2003 Gold Medallion Book award by the Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association.

He is the Provost and Vice President of Academics at Arlington Baptist College.He is a professor of theology and church history, and was the former dean at the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School of Liberty University.

Early biography

Ergun Michael Caner was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1966. His mother, Monica Inez Caner, married Acar and converted to Islam for her husband. In addition, she became a Turkish citizen, Caner already being one due to his father's citizenship. The family travelled to Turkey on occasions to be with and see Acar's family. Caner's devout Sunni upbringing was thus set in place from his birth.

The Caner's emigrated to the United States for the purpose of spreading Islam and making a life for the family. Acar Caner was an architect and gave his talents to designing and improving mosques. Eventually, the Caner family settled in Columbus, Ohio, where Acar helped the Islamic Center on Broad Street in Columbus. The Caners all worshipped at, and were a regular part of the Islamic Center on Broad Street, celebrating the Eids and other cultural events as well.

Through the persistent evangelical efforts of a teenage Christian, Ergun Caner started attending the Stelzer Road Baptist Church and chose to leave Islam and convert to Christianity. His parents had already divorced at the time, but his father, through court order, had established the continued religion for the boys being Islam. When Ergun told his father of his choice to forsake Islam for Christianity, Acar disowned him. The central figure of Ergun's life voluntarily separated himself over the issue of Christianity. Years later, Caner took his father's middle name upon his death. His father died a Muslim.

As Ergun Caner moved on with his spiritual life, and through the efforts of Stelzer Road Baptist Church, Monica, and Ergun's two brothers, all eventually chose Christianity over Islam as well. Acar disowned the other two brothers for their choices, as he had done Ergun.

Ergun and his brother Emir became Baptist ministers and pursued schooling in this field. They both attended Criswell College in Dallas, and both attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina for postgraduate work. Ergun eventually earned his Doctor of Theology degree with the University of South Africa. His dissertation expanded his Islamic expertise, in particular, researching the First Crusade and its impact upon the relationship between Christianity and Islam.

After September 11th

In 2002, the brothers gained national notoriety after publishing Unveiling Islam. IslamOnline's Ali Asadullah called it "a diatribe against Muslims and their faith." The book was an insider's look at being raised as a devout Sunni under their father's tutelage. The book was a commercial success, selling 100,000 copies in a year, and winning a Gold Medallion Award.

In the years after the September 11 attacks, Caner became a well-known and popular speaker at evangelical schools and churches. After teaching at Criswell College for two years, Dr. Jerry Falwell, of Liberty University, asked Caner to join the faculty in Lynchburg, Virginia. Caner quickly became a popular professor with his humor and the ability to tie academic content to real life. In February 2005, Falwell announced that Caner was to be the first former Muslim to become the President and Dean of an evangelical seminary, making Caner head of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.Caner's leadership at Liberty Seminary and with the faculty he built saw the enrollment triple in a relatively short period of time.

His popularity and status also brought criticism. In 2010, an unusual alliance of Muslim and Calvinist bloggers, accused Caner of making up and lying about his life story by citing details that were incongruent with his regularly stated, printed, and often repeated story. On May 10, 2010, Liberty University announced that it would launch a formal inquiry into allegations of discrepancies in the claimed background of Ergun Caner, the Dean and President of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School. Ergun Caner has stated "I am thrilled that Liberty University is forming this committee, and I look forward to this entire process coming to a close." On June 25, 2010, Liberty University removed Caner from his position as Dean of the seminary after finding "discrepancies related to the matters such as dates, names and places of residence." , Liberty University did decide to retain Caner as a full time faculty member of the seminary for the 2010-2011 school year.

September 24, 2010, Ergun Caner was the keynote speaker for the Twin City's 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast in Bristol, Virginia. When interviewed about the controversy, the chairman of the local prayer breakfast committee said that members were aware of the controversy, but the invitation had been issued before the controversy became apparent. He also noted that the Community Prayer Breakfast does not delve into the backgrounds of their motivation/inspiration speakers. At the meeting, Caner claimed that he and his brother had seen the controversy coming for years. The bloggers were simply "frustrated people in their basements", he said. He claimed that it would take more than edited videos to take him down. All of his false statements explained by the fact that he has more than 200 hours of combined sermons which would yield random misstatements.

He left LU in June 2011 to become Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs for the Arlington Baptist College. The President of Arlington Baptist College, Dr. Dan Moody stated that Ergun Caner's controversy was in the past and the new Vice President had his full confidence. However, one anonymous faculty member told WFAA-TV: "I find it reprehensible that the leadership of the Arlington Baptist College would hire a man who is very clearly profiteering from the tragedy of September 11."

File:Ergun-caner-o-club.jpg

Ergun Caner instructs Marines in New River, North Carolina

Books

• Caner, Ergun, and Emir Fethi Caner. Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs. Updated and Expanded ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2009. ISBN 0825424283
• Caner, Emir Fethi, and Ergun Mehmet Caner. More Than a Prophet: an Insider's Response to Muslim Beliefs About Jesus and Christianity. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2003. ISBN 0825424011
• Caner Emir, and Ergun Caner. The Sacred Trust: Sketches of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidents. Nashville, Tenn.: B&H Academic, 2003. ISBN 080542668X
• Caner, Ergun Mehmet, and Emir Fethi Caner, eds. The Sacred Desk: Sermons of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidents. Nashville, Tenn.: B&H Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0805430598
• Caner, Ergun Mehmet, ed. Voices Behind the Veil: the World of Islam through the Eyes of Women. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 2004. ISBN 082542402X
• Caner, Ergun Mehmet, and Emir Fethi Caner. Christian Jihad: Two Former Muslims Look at the Crusades and Killing in the Name of Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 2004. ISBN 0825424038
• Brunson, Mac & Caner, Ergun. Why Churches Die: Diagnosing Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ. Nashville: B&H Books, 2005. ISBN 0805431810
• Hoffman, Paul K., and Norman L. Geisler, eds. Why I Am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe. Rev. and expanded ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2006. ISBN 080106712X
• Cabal, Ted, ed. The Apologetics Study Bible: Understand Why You Believe. Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007. ISBN 158640024X
• Pollock, Forrest. The Last Sermon I Would Preach If Jesus Were Coming Tomorrow. Encouraging Word, 2007. ISBN 0615159400
• Hindson, Ed, and Caner, Ergun, general editors. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, 2008. ISBN 0736920846
• Falwell, Jonathan, general editor. InnovateChurch. Nashville, Tenn.: B&H Books, 2008. ISBN 0805448268
• Caner, Ergun Mehmet. Holier Than Thou: When Faith Becomes Toxic. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009. ISBN 0687658403
• Allen, David L., and Steve W Lemke, eds. The Return of Christ: A Premillennial Perspective. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2011. ISBN 1433669722

See also

• Southern Baptist Convention
• List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people
• World Baptist Fellowship

External links

• Official site of Ergun Caner
• In Defense of Dr. Ergun Caner, by Norman Geisler
• "Ergun Caner Out as Seminary Dean", from Christianity Today
• Mohammad Khan's blog, one of the sites that started the controversy about Caner's background.