Ergun Caner: Does Emir Know? - November 4, 1982

Ergun maintains that he never intentionally misled anyone. What are the odds that I can provide you with three more examples of him claiming he converted the same day that his brother?

The first example was from 2007, here is one from 2005:

Decatur Baptist clip:

“I went home and told my father. I said, ‘Abbi, I am born again. I’m saved. It was November 4, 1982 and it was the last day I saw my father. No, no, don’t feel bad for me. You say, ‘well that’s horrible.’ And yes, on some existential level it might be. But you don’t understand, Hadith volume 9 number 57, Mohammed speaking, ‘Anybody changes his Islamic religion, kill him.’ In 38 countries around our globe that is precisely what takes place. Every Friday Jumu’ah prayer, midday, those who have converted from Islam to Christianity are taken out to the city square, buried up to their waste and stoned to death. And we complain about someone being in our parking spot. My father disowned me as an act of mercy.”

Here is one from 2008:

The Downtown Church clip:

“I went home, November 4, 1982, I went home and told my Babba that I was a believer in Jesus. And of course you can guess what happened. I lost my home, I lost my family, kicked out and disowned. People, ‘ahhh’. Christians you are very sympathetic people. You are very, very empathetic which is a gift. I’m not. I never got that mercy gift, I keep waiting for. But I tell them that and people go ‘ahhh that’s horrible’. ‘We need to fill out a hallmark card’. ‘I tell you what, Monday, I am going to send a Forward about that story.’ Don’t feel sorry for me. 36 countries around the globe, for a Muslim to convert to Christianity, you are put to death. You are buried up to your waist in your burial cloth and stoned to death as a consequence of the capital crime of conversion. Some of the countries I travel in today, all of yall who are on Facebook, on Facebook look at our pictures man. Been to Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan. Put to death for converting. Mine wasn’t that bad. Besides, I had a new family. I was a Christian. Yall became my family.”

Generally Ergun falsely claims to have been a High School Senior in 1982 during his conversion.

Canyon Creek Baptist Sermon 7/31/11

“Jerry Tacket saw me isolated. Started my Freshman year and wouldn’t quit until my Senior year.

C3 Church Sermon 1/1/12

“Finally going into my Senior year, I decide, ‘You know what? I’ll show you.’ And I went, I walked, I said ‘alright, I’ll come, come, come I’ll come.‘ I walked into the Stelzer Road Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio right near the airport.”

Fortress of Faith interview 6/4/12

“Interviewer: So a teenager friend, a Freshman in High School, engaged you with the love of Christ and built a friendship with you, but you rejected his attempts to try to get you to the gospel. You told him know a few times, but he prevailed.

Ergun: Yeah a few times, for three years, I told him, ‘no’. I didn’t want to hear anything about the gospel. I was, we were very devout Muslims. We lived in Columbus. My father was building the mosque that eventually came on Broad Street. We wanted nothing to do with you as Christians. If you can say openly hostile, maybe passively hostile however you want to say that, I wanted nothing to do with this guy, but he wouldn’t quit. You know, again how many of us, if we share the gospel and somebody says ‘no’ we move on. There was no moving on. He kept coming and finally going into my Senior year in High School, I decided I’d take him up on his challenge. And that’s when I became a believer in Jesus.”

If he converted as a High School Senior, the logical inference is that he was a High School graduate a year later when his brothers converted.

What if I can provide you with an example of him claiming to have converted November 4, 1982 with a bonus? What if I can provide you with Ergun saying also that he was in college when his brothers converted? Ergun maintains publicly to this day, that everything was unintentional: Both him saying he converted November 4, 1982 and him saying he converted his Senior year. If all of this is unintentional What are the odds that such an example exists?

Too be continued…

Sources:

Unveiling Islam Google Books

“General Session #2 - Dr. Ergun Caner” -- June 1, 2007 http://evangelism.fbcpearlcity.com/resources.html

“Church House or Jail House?” – North Alabama Bible Conference – 2005, Decatur Baptist Church: Decatur, AL – January 12, 2005 http://sermons.decaturbaptist.org/20050112PM.mp3

“God’s Word,” The Downtown Church: Bellevue, WA – April 19, 2008 http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gods-word/id321185342?i=113186322&mt=2

“The Samaritan Woman” Canyon Creek Baptist Church – July 31, 2011 http://www.canyoncreekbc.org/resources/online-media.html?controller=studylist&task=download&study=13&media=0

“New Years Day Service” C3 Church: Clayton, North Carolina – January 1, 2012 http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-years-day-service-special/id125373478?i=109068443&mt=2

“Interview with Dr Canner Part 2 – Audio” Fortress of Faith – June 3, 2012 http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-years-day-service-special/id125373478?i=109068443&mt=2

Music:
"Monster" by Peach Stealing Monkeys from PeachStealingMonkeys.com
"Tuba Waddle" and "Hot Salsa" from AudioNautix.com
“Ashes” and "The Bottom" by Josh Woodward from joshwoodward.com

Cited Links

Tim Lee's statements
http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/05/after-11-months-liberty-university.html

September 25, 2010 article where Ergun says he did not lie.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2010/sep/25/caner-defends-background-bristol-speech-ar-524525/

The unedited Marine videos on Viddler
http://www.viddler.com/explore/jsin/videos/2/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/jsin/videos/1/

Unedited Marine Videos on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxmIMR1LNos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpDm3Z9tI-M

Ergun Caner's Apology
http://sbctoday.com/2010/02/25/statement-from-dr-ergun-caner/

Norman Geisler's statements
http://www.normangeisler.net/articles/ErgunCaner/

C3 Church 1/1/2012: You're making things up again Ergun...

New Years Day Service - Special Guest Dr. Ergun Caner from C3 Church on Vimeo.

January 1, 2012, Ergun Caner spoke at C3 church.  During his sermon, he made the following statement:

[28:40] “And entering in to High School, that is exactly what I was.  I was, no questions, your biggest critic.  I was your enemy.  And you know what reached me for the gospel?  It wasn’t a guy on TV.  It wasn’t somebody with purple hair crying purple tears…or some singer…or someone who had written books.  It was one High School kid who wouldn’t shut up.  One kid who was never scared.  Jerry Tackett hunted me…Freshman year…Sophomore year…Junior year. ‘Dude you want to come with me to fourth quarter?’ ‘Dude you want to come to fifth quarter?’  ‘Want to come to the hotdog hog out…the pizza pig out?’ ‘Want to come to our church Youth Group meeting?’  ‘Want to come roller skating?’  I said ‘no’ a thousand different ways; a thousand different times; and a thousand different permutations.  ‘No! No! Shut up! Leave me alone!’  He never shut up.  He had the eyes that Elisha talked about.  Greater resources do we have than all the chariots they’ve got.  He knew his God was real, mine was fake and all he had to do was keep hunting me down. 

How many of us, if we go to somebody’s door and…or if we share with a colleague or friend …you knock on the door and oh God help you if you know on the door and you face hostility…and they slam the door in your face… Most people would go ‘huh, well he must not be one of the elect’.  ‘I will mark him off my list.’  ‘Enjoy Hell.’  ‘Move on.’ Not Jerry Tackett…he kept coming. 

Finally going into my Senior year, I decide, ‘You know what? I’ll show you.’  And I went, I walked, I said ‘alright, I’ll come, come, come I’ll come.‘” 

According to Unveiling Islam, Emir Caner converted a year later than Ergun, November 4, 1982.  Ergun was born, November 3, 1966 and graduated eighteen years later in 1984.  If Emir’s date is correct he converted during the Fall of Ergun’s Junior year in High School.  About a year before Emir’s conversion would have been from January 1981-till maybe May 1982 (the Spring of Ergun’s Freshman year and his entire Sophomore year).  Even Emir’s conversion date is a far cry from Ergun’s Senior year (Fall 1983-Spring 1984).  The point is, we don’t when Ergun converted, but it definitely was not his Senior year or even his Junior year. 

Later he also the following:

[34:17] “Year later, I’m disowned.  A year later, I am studying for the ministry.  I loss my family and I find out my church is my family.   Both brothers got saved.”

This whole quote seems to give the wrong idea.  After claiming to be a Senior, he say he was “studying for the ministry.”  This may be so, but he was studying as a Junior in High School.  He seems to give the impression that he was a High School graduate.  

He also says he was “disowned” and he loss his family.  This also is at the very least misleading.  He was disowned by his father, but he continued to live with his mother and brothers.  His parents’ divorce was finalized in 1978.  His mother had primary custody of him and his brothers.  When Ergun was disowned, his church may have been his family, but so were his mother and brothers.  

I am sadden to see that Ergun's truce with the truth has expired less than two years after his dismissal as LBTS President.  Unfortunately this is not the only 2012 example of Ergun saying he converted during his Senior year.

The C3 Sermon can be found here.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-years-day-service-special/id125373478?i=109068443&mt=2