Posted on 05/11/2010 2:54:39 PM PDT by Terriergal
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) -- Liberty University will investigate reports that its seminary president has misled the public in his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity, officials of the school in Lynchburg, Va., announced May 10.
Liberty Provost Ron Godwin is reportedly forming a committee to conduct a formal inquiry into questions surrounding Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, that have circulated on blogs and more recently in media outlets including Christianity Today and Associated Baptist Press.
"Liberty does not initiate personnel evaluations based upon accusations from Internet blogs," said Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., breaking weeks of silence amid criticism from both Christian and Muslim bloggers. "However, in light of the fact that several newspapers have raised questions, we felt it necessary to initiate a formal inquiry."
(Excerpt) Read more at abpnews.com ...
An Open Letter to Dr. Falwell and Dr. Godwin
For a decent chronology someone put together of events see this post:
I heard about this somewhere in my travels .
I was so upset about them having Glenn Beck for a speaker, that I have kinnda written them off as a Christian college anymore
"Whenever we seek to share the truth about false religions,we should expect opposition – & that is what the Caner brothers areexperiencing from the Muslims. There is a movement to discredit Ergun & Emir Caner, they were raised as Muslims (that’s why we had them on our show), but are now Christians. We know what we have presented & what they have spoken is true..."
Many of our video clips of them on YouTube have been deliberately altered. -- John Ankerberg
quoting myself which I posted elsewhere:
Oh come now John. You mean to say that looping words and slowing words down actually alters the CONTENT of what Caner is saying? What about Focus on the Family and all the Ergun Caner-friendly videos that are out there? They played his testimony straight through and it contains just as many errors!
Get your head out of the sand! Other people can discern truth from error besides you!
here’s the original link to ankerberg’s facebook wall
http://www.facebook.com/john.ankerberg?v=wall&story_fbid=116384745065617&ref=mf
Yeah, I don’t mind Beck for a political speaker, or a talk show host, but not on a Christian college for commencement.
I agree. Liberty is (or at least always has been) a “Christian college/university. It does seem incongruous to invite someone who is NOT a Christian to give a graduation speech.
This is the first I have heard about any of the “inconsistencies”.
The issue's been growing for a few months now.
It is very sad!
It is.
Yeah, I don’t mind Beck for a political speaker, or a talk show host, but not on a Christian college for commencement.
I agree. Liberty is (or at least always has been) a “Christian college/university. It does seem incongruous to invite someone who is NOT a Christian to give a graduation speech.
As a Liberty grad myself I might be able to shed a bit of light on this. Jerry Falwell always invited prominent speakers, Christian and not, to speak at Liberty - at commencement, at convocation, etc., as a means of exposing the Liberty community to a variety of thoughts and ideas. Business leaders, politicos (Reagan, Bush I, Karl Rove, Andy Card, Tony Snow, Phil Gramm, Jack Kemp, even Ted Kennedy), and many others (i.e. Ben Stein last year) have spoken at Liberty from time to time. My own commencement speaker was Billy Graham.
Liberty students have a strong enough theological foundation that having a non-Christian speaker isn't going to hurt anyone.
Glenn Beck is doing some very interesting things right now, and in my view he's a great choice as commencement speaker. It's not like you're going to see Liberty students converting to Mormonism because of this.
For some reason Liberty U is pushing for Amnesty hard. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is their new point man.
I don't know much about it (this is the first I've heard of it), but after a little quick research I would note that Rodriguez's organization's website says, "Amnesty is not a viable solution." It does, however, recommend immigration reform that includes sealing the border and then providing ways for illegal aliens already here to pay fines and then earn their way to permanent resident status and eventually citizenship, pending certain qualifications and a background check.
I know that's not a position that some here would view with kindness, but in truth it's one for which I personally have some sympathy.
Did Glenn Beck say anything against Liberty U’s dogma?
Aha, works for me and is very sensible as the fact that Beck is a Mormon convert, would not convince any student to convert especially when he is speaking about politics and world affairs.
Untruths. Interesting choice of terms. For someone who claims to testify to the Truth. Caner needs to repent.
For a good list of questions that Ergun must answer see here
An Open Letter to Dr. Falwell and Dr. Godwin
For a decent chronology someone put together of events see this post:
The Caner File
Paging Ergun Caner....you have a call from Mike Warnke....
exactly.
You know I don’t mind that idea, but at commencement it should be a speaker that represents what the school itself is all about. Frankly this says the school is primarily about conservative politics than Christianity.
How dare a Christian school havea conservative speaker!
“untruths”?
Are they anything like lies?
Then don't go to Liberty, I guess. I spent four years there and they're most definitely more about serving Christ than they are about conservative politics. They have a different commencement speaker every year. Sometimes it's a prominent pastor; this year it's a political speaker.
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