Ergun Michael Caner was born on November 3,1966 and is a Swedish-American academic, author, and Baptist minister, who became well known for his book, co-authored with his brother, on Islam and his claims that he was a devout Muslim trained as a terrorist.
35 Facts About Ergun Caner
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Ergun Caner emigrated to the United States at age four and claimed to have converted to Protestantism in the early 1980s.
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Ergun Caner previously served as the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Arlington Baptist College and was the former dean of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School of Liberty University.
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Ergun Caner was removed from this position after it became clear to Liberty University faculty and the Liberty University Board that he misrepresented his background.
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On January 20,2015, Brewton-Parker College announced that Dr Ergun Caner was stepping down due to the inability to properly grieve for his deceased son, Braxton, who had committed suicide on July 29,2014.
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Ergun Caner has authored and co-authored several books, many of which discuss Islam and Christianity.
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Ergun Caner's book, Unveiling Islam, co-authored with his brother Emir, sold more than 200,000 copies and has been translated into six languages.
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Ergun Caner was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1966 to Acar, a Turkish national, and Monica, a Swede.
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Ergun Caner immigrated to the United States in 1969 with his parents, moving to Ohio.
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Ergun Caner's parents divorced on April 14,1978, but his father, through court order, initially established that the boys be raised in Islam.
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Ergun Caner continues to contradict these facts in many of his lecture videos by providing conflicting statements.
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Ergun Caner was the first of his siblings to profess Christianity, doing so at age 15 after accepting a friend's invitation to a revival meeting at a local Baptist church.
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Ergun Caner's father disowned all three sons following their conversions, and he did not see them again until 1999, when a stepsister they had never met called to tell them he was dying with cancer.
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In 1989, Ergun Caner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies and Languages at Cumberland College, a Baptist college in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
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Ergun Caner became Patterson's assistant while pursuing a Master of Arts in History.
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Ergun Caner completed his master's degree in 1992, and both Ergun Caner and Emir followed Patterson to Southeastern.
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Ergun Caner said the importance of writing the book was impressed upon him following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11,2001.
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In September 2002, The Dallas Morning News reported that both Ergun Caner brothers were "booked [as speakers] nearly every weekend all over the country for the next few years".
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In 2003, Ergun Caner accepted an invitation from Jerry Falwell, founding president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, to join the university's faculty.
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In February 2005, Falwell announced that Ergun Caner was to be the first former Muslim to become the President and Dean of an evangelical seminary, making Ergun Caner head of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
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In conjunction with Child Evangelism Fellowship, Ergun Caner led the creation of a Master of Arts degree in Children's Ministry.
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Ergun Caner was initially listed as signatory to the 2008 Evangelical Manifesto prepared by a group of religious leaders in an attempt to define evangelical beliefs and de-politicize the evangelical movement.
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Ergun Caner said he was asked to read the document but never consented to endorse it.
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Ergun Caner said he agreed with much of the document but characterized the language regarding political activism as "spineless" and a "group hug approach to Christianity".
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David Neff, a member of the committee that drafted the manifesto, said the inclusion of Ergun Caner's name was an oversight and was corrected when he objected.
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On December 4,2013 it was announced that Ergun Caner had been elected 16th president of Brewton-Parker College, an independent, four-year coeducational college located in Mount Vernon, Ga.
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In 2010, Christian and Muslim bloggers accused Ergun Caner of making up and lying about his life story by citing details that were incongruent with his regularly stated, printed, and often repeated story.
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The committee reported that Ergun Caner had cooperated with its investigation and apologized for the identified discrepancies.
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On September 24,2010, Ergun Caner was the keynote speaker for the Twin City's 12th Annual Community Prayer Breakfast in Bristol, Virginia.
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At the meeting, Ergun Caner claimed that he and his brother had seen the controversy coming for years.
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Ergun Caner left LU in June 2011 to become Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs for the Arlington Baptist College.
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The President of Arlington Baptist College, Dr Dan Moody, stated that Ergun Caner's controversy was in the past and the new Vice President had his full confidence.
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Ergun Caner filed a lawsuit on June 18,2013, in the US district court in North Texas claiming copyright infringement for reproducing, uploading and maintaining his videos without permission.
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The judge ruled the videos had been posted in their entirety and were not edited as Ergun Caner had earlier claimed.
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Two courts ruled the lawsuits were frivolous and ordered Ergun Caner to pay a combined total of $59,183.39 in legal fees.