I was on the phone with a truck driver in my church who listens to a lot of Christian radio while on the road. While I was on the phone with him he said that he listened to a great program from Focus on the Family about a man who was raised Muslim and had become a Christian. Here is my dilemma. How do I explain to him Ergun Caner’s inconsistencies? Now that there is controversy surrounding many of Caner’s claims, I did a little research to make sense of it all.
I believe that Ergun was raised in a Muslim home and in his teenage years became a Christian. I think what happened with Ergun was that he was born into a Muslim family and his father no doubt disowned Ergun when he became a Christian. However, after the events of 9-11, Ergun’s testimony was greatly embellished (a euphemism for lying) to bring more drama to his conversion story. The sermon that aired April 26, 2010 on Focus on the Family was from a sermon he preached in 2001. It has some outright dishonest statements in it that he has continued to make for many years. It would be nice if Ergun would just set the record straight—publically.
I wish that Ergun would have just stated the facts. His father was a Turkish Muslim who married his mother in Sweden. Ergun was born in Sweden and moved to America before August 25th, 1970 (Emir's birth date), not 1978. So he was under the age of four when he moved here, not 13, 14 or 15. He was born into a Muslim home and when he converted to Christ as a teenager, his father disowned him for it. Later, both of Ergun’s brothers became Christians but his father remained a Muslim until his death in 1999. Praise God for saving him and his brothers. We all wish he would not have lied by changing dates and other details.
You see, there would be no controversy over Ergun’s testimony if he would not have embellished it. We can only hope for him to repent and set the record straight. I have waited a couple of weeks after Ergun’s sermon aired on Focus on the Family to see if there would be some kind of public statement. I (and others) even emailed Ergun and Elmer Towns to see if they had a response to these problems and I received no response. If you know of a response where Ergun has stated he was wrong about the dates I would like to see it.
James White has 22 questions he would like Ergun to answer (click here).
I would like to hear an explanation on when he to America. Here is why:
Here are some of the websites that have provided information regarding the Caner controversy:
Alpha and Omega
FBC Jax Watchdog
Witnesses Unto Me
*check out the documentation files
Squirrel in Babylon
Christ Reformed Baptist Church (5 articles)
Ministry of Reconciliation
Grace And Truth To You
