Thursday, November 03, 2011

Ergun Caner Debate Challenge from Adnan Rashid

Adnan Rashid has issued a debate challenge to Ergun Caner.  The point of the challenge, presumably, is to demonstrate Dr. Caner's alleged personal lack of knowledge regarding Islam.  This blog has previously noted a number of errors in Dr. Caner's presentations on Islam.  However, I am not sure what particular value there would be to a debate whose central purpose is to establish or debunk the credibility of one of the debaters.  Nevertheless, if Dr. Caner considers himself an expert on Islam, and thinks he can demonstrate that, this debate challenge provides an opportunity for him to do so.


Adnan uses an interesting turn of phrase in describing Caner's books.  He states: "you have claimed authorship of several books against Islam, such as 'Unveiling Islam' and 'More than a Prophet'."  I wonder whether Adnan is trying to suggest that Caner only claims authorship but did not actually write those books. Adnan further accuses Dr. Caner of presenting a "deliberately distorted caricatured picture of our way of life."

Adnan Rashid is an experienced Muslim debater who has debated some of the prominent Christian debaters in Muslim apologetics: Jay Smith, David Wood, and James White.  Ultimately, my advice to Dr. Caner would be not to take the debate challenge.  While Dr. Caner is an experienced speaker and could doubtless provide an entertaining performance, it may be better for Dr. Caner to leave the debating to people who have that gift.

-TurretinFan

4 comments:

Gene Clyatt said...

I don't know... It'd be kinda fun to actually see Caner debate... "fun" in the horror movie sense...

Coram Deo said...

Caner is a "populizer" sort of like R.C. Sproul. They get folks interested in the fluff around the edges which, by God's grace, draws some deeper into the Christian worldview where they may engage with more serious theology.

They're basically "Spiritual Milkmen".

DanielSteinke said...

Really? You put RC Sproul in the "Spiritual Milmen" category alongside of Ergun Caner. RC is probably one of the greatest communicators of spiritual truths of this generation. His understanding of Christianity is tremendously broad and deep. I don't know what you have read or listened to from him, but I would probably guess not much. Here is a blip from his Ligonier page: "He is the author of more than seventy books and scores of articles for national evangelical publications. Dr. Sproul has produced more than 300 lecture series and has recorded more than 80 video series on subjects such as the history of philosophy, theology, Bible study, apologetics, and Christian living."

Coram Deo said...

Your presumption is duly noted. Perhaps you should consider reading beyond Sproul's own clippings for sources of critical literature.