Friday evening:
Around 6:20, Caner claims that his father-in-law is from "Possum Kill, NC."
We can't find any place by that name.
Around 15:40, Caner said, "When I got saved, it was later in life. And then going into college - I got saved in my teens - but then going into college, I have switched from an urban church to a country church - and it caught me off guard."
It is nice to see that Caner quickly corrected his "later in life" to "teens."
Around 19:50, Caner said, "There was never any singing in the mosque. Not in Sunni mosques, not in Shia mosques. It is forbidden. There is no singing in the mosque."
No, it is not forbidden to sing in mosques. (See discussion here.)
Around 33:40, Caner said, "I've been tasered live on stage as a sermon point. And it worked, nobody forgot it. That was four years ago, nobody's ever forgot it. I haven't forgot it either, it hurt like crazy."
Around 43:55, Caner said, "People always hit you up, 'what is it that reached a Muslim?' In my case, grace and the atonement, but it was worship. I had never heard singing - not in the mosque - I didn't know why you were so happy."
Keep in mind that Caner was in A Capella his sophomore, junior, and senior years and in Freshman choir in high school (see the discussion here).
Around 51:50, Caner said, "Jerry Tackett in my life for four years, freshman, sophomore, junior, going into my senior year. Every time I told him, 'no,' he kept coming back. I dressed differently, spoke differently, and worshiped a different god."
Caner's claim that it was his senior year is inconsistent with some of his other claims, like his claim that it was 1982.
Caner's claim that it was his senior year is inconsistent with some of his other claims, like his claim that it was 1982.
Around 52:15, Caner said, "When I got saved I lost my family, I lost my loved ones, I became murtad, an object of scorn, and one anonymous church loved me."
Caner apparently was disowned by his non-custodial father, but he apparently continued to have a close relationship with his mother and grandmother.
Caner apparently was disowned by his non-custodial father, but he apparently continued to have a close relationship with his mother and grandmother.
Around 53:00, Caner said, "I couldn't understand her, because she was from Japan. And her English was worse than my English."
This may be true, but considering that Caner grew up in Ohio, it is a strange comment.
This may be true, but considering that Caner grew up in Ohio, it is a strange comment.
Around 53:40, Caner said, "A year after my salvation, while I'm in college, both my brothers get saved. My father has other wives, other children, but from our mom, three boys - all three born again ..."
Caner's father did not, as far as we can tell, have other wives.
Around 55:10, Caner said, "I have brothers and sisters that I'll never see again, I've cousins and uncles and nephews and such that hate me. But my nuclear family is changed, because of one boy."
Caner does not, as far as we can tell, have other brothers than Emir and Erdem.
Caner does not, as far as we can tell, have other brothers than Emir and Erdem.
Saturday morning:
Around 9:50, Caner said, "I learned English, to all my immigrant friends, you can learn English simply by studying their dialects. And even in the south, they have variant dialects."
Caner came when he was about 2 years old. I doubt he learned English by studying dialects.
Caner came when he was about 2 years old. I doubt he learned English by studying dialects.
Around 10:15 Caner said, "My full name is Ergun Mehmet Caner."
No, his full name is Ergun Michael Caner.
Around 12:05 Caner said, "I have lived in Korea. No one speaks Korean as quickly a Southerner speaks English."
I'm sure Caner has visited Korea - but that's not quite the same thing as living there.
I'm sure Caner has visited Korea - but that's not quite the same thing as living there.
Around 22:45 Caner said, "I spend a large portion of my time in front of hostile crowds."
Really? Where is the evidence of this.
Around 23:00 Caner said, "I got saved in the '80's ..."
I wish we could verify this - partly in terms of verifying that he really professed faith in 1982 as he has claimed - and partly in terms of seeing repentance for his autobiographical embellishments.
I wish we could verify this - partly in terms of verifying that he really professed faith in 1982 as he has claimed - and partly in terms of seeing repentance for his autobiographical embellishments.
Around 1:05:00 Caner described his interview at Liberty University. He claimed he was asked about liquor and tattoos. He claims that he told them that he had 12 tattoos. More particularly, Caner said (around 1:06:00): "All of mine are anabaptist and church history and - I have a mark from when I was a Muslim, and so, when I got saved, I wanted something that - I got Arabic that says 'Jesus is Lord,' I've got Athanasius' creed, Contra Mundum across my back- If you ever see me get captured, I don't want to be in an orange jumpsuit before they cut off my head, I want to be sleeveless, so that the last thing they see is 'Jesus Christ alone is Lord' in Arabic on my arm."
a) Did Caner really get tattooed before his professed conversion to Christianity? He would have been under 18 at the time.
b) Also, most Muslims think that permanent tattoos are forbidden (link).
b) Also, most Muslims think that permanent tattoos are forbidden (link).
c) The pictures at right show all the tattoos (or lack thereof) that I've seen (I'm linking to his twitter pics, so the pictures should disappear, if he pulls the pictures from his twitter site).
Around 1:10:20, Caner said: "Then, I was told I couldn't get a masters, because I was a straight C student, until one professor - one - one guy grabbed me by the nape of the neck and said 'Stop coasting.'
Caner was a "Presidential Scholar" at Cumberland (as we reported here).
Saturday evening:
Around 10:00 "In 1978 when my people moved here - when we moved here - Ayatollah Khomeini had said, 'We will not stop, until America is an Islamic nation.'
Around 10:20 "When we started - in '78 - when my father set up the Islamic Foundation in Columbus, Ohio, there was 1000 Islamic houses of worship."
From what we know, Caner came in 1969, not 1978.
Around 46:20, Caner said: "So we are repeating, in Islam, six verses of the Koran - the first chapter - the first Surah of the Koran. Over and over."
Actually, the first Surah has seven verses. (see here)
Around 47:05, "This Islamic form of hyper-calvinism. You fall down, you break your leg, you are supposed to say what? 'Inshallah' - Allah willed it. He broke my leg. It was supposed to happen. It's fatalism - it's absolute fatalism."
Caner is wrong - the Muslim exclamation would be alhamdulillah or perhaps allahu akhbar - "inshallah" is forward-looking.
Around 50:50, Caner said: "Are you saying that Islam is inspired by the devil? That's exactly what I'm saying, so you can quote me."
I figure we should go ahead and quote him. I would think that the devil would know the Trinity better than the view that is reflected in the Koran.
Around 52:20, Caner said: "In the 61st chapter of the Koran, Surah 61, Mohammed has Jesus saying I must go so that I will send a Paraklĕtos - not klātos - Paraklĕtos and in Arabic it is shortened to Ahmed which is the nickname or the shortened version of Mohammed ."
Caner has conflated a few things here. The Koran says that Jesus claimed he would send a messenger or an apostle and that the person would have the name Ahmed (short for Mohammad). Certain Muslims claim that when John 16:7 reports that Jesus said he will send a Comforter (παράκλητος - parakletos), that this is a textual error and the text should read "περικλυτος" (periklutos), which allegedly would mean "praised one," which is the meaning of Ahmed/Mohammad.
Around 53:05, Caner said: "Ibrahim, goes to the top of Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son. Lays his son on an altar - so far so good - Genesis 22, right? lays his son on the altar, raises up the knife, because Allah has told him to kill his son. Plunges it down, and at the last minute, Allah prepares an animal in the thicket and saves the life of Ishmael. You get it? 2200 years after Moses writes it - 2700 years after it actually happened - Mohammad changed the story. He changed the characters."
As discussed elsewhere, it appears that the replacement of Isaac with Ishmael in the story is a post-Mohammad development in Islamic history (see the detailed discussion here).
Around 1:07:50, Caner said: "I will never move. If I ever leave Liberty, you know where I'm going? State school. Put me on the floor at a community college - where I'm with every leftist, loser, liberal, lesbian, everything, surrounded by heathens - what better place to be!"
Of course, Caner didn't know the future, but since he's left Liberty - he has apparently only worked at Christian colleges.
-TurretinFan
I don't ever feel joy but a sadness come over me when reading or hearing about Dr. Caner!
ReplyDeleteAccording to his logic I've lived in just over 30 countries; albeit for just a brief stay in some and no longer that 3.5 months in others! And I've lived in many many hotels too both in most of the states of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska! I tell you I've lived in a multitude of places in these last 60 years according to the way Dr. Caner thinks.
As for your very last comment maybe the reason he hasn't been hired at public community colleges is because they have a higher hiring standard than the other places of employment he's been hired at, those Christian schools since leaving Liberty University in what is say was disgrace?
Again, thanks for this documentation.
ReplyDeleteThe most glaring demonstration of utter ignorance about Islam is Caner's claim that Ramadan is "40 days". I lived in Singapore (for five years, not just changing planes at the airport!) which has about a 14% Muslim minority and I know better than that. Obviously, he never actually kept Ramadan or he would know exactly how long it is.