25 Jun
2010

Posted in: Islam
By Eddie    3 Comments

Official statement from Liberty University on Ergun Caner

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.

I would like to get into this further, in bit more depth—I think this case deserves care and consideration—but I’ll have to do that later. For now, I wanted to post up the official statement made by Liberty University on the matter of Ergun Caner and his “history.”

Sadly, Liberty’s statement perpetuates a problem. The statement said “the committee found no evidence to suggest that Dr. Caner was not a Muslim who converted to Christianity as a teenager.”

The problem with that declaration should be obvious, but I don’t think people unfamiliar with the time line of the Ergun Caner saga will understand (for a bit of context and back story, this article can be of some help). The claim was not that Dr. Caner was never a Muslim. Dr. Caner was born of a Muslim father, but he lied about his upbringing. The claim Liberty University was supposed to be investigating was that Ergun Caner was raised a devout Muslim trained as a Jihadist, bound eventually for holy war or blowing himself up in homicidal martyrdom. It is that persona that Dr. Caner used to build and perpetuate his ministry, his influence, and bring in more students to Liberty University. Yet all of that training and history was a lie when, as Liberty discovered through their investigation, Dr. Caner was living in Ohio the whole time.

The lies were profound. But people are going to miss the point. This is a brother in the Lord who is in a position of leadership and authority and influence, and he has lied a great deal about who he was and is. The lies have been perpetrated in the name of the Lord. He needs to be held accountable, repent, and begin the process of restoration and reconciliation.

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