Just read this:
So, did a fight over Calvinism lead to the questions about Caner’s background? That certainly seems to be a possibility. A fascinating one, too, although if Caner truly has fabricated his background, his theological leanings may not make a lot of difference at this point.
The article is referring to the comment in this source hinting that a conflict over Calvinism is behind the questions aimed at Ergun Caner. This canard has been raised many times (part of the feeble defense offered of Caner by some). Let me put this to bed once and for all.
Is there a relationship between Calvinism and Caner’s exposure as a myth-maker? Sure—in the sense that I had never heard of Ergun Caner until he posted what he did on Calvinism back in 2005, which led to the exchanges we had, and eventually to the Liberty Debate Debacle. So, if that amounts to Calvinism having “something to do with it,” great. But the reality is (documented, ironically and unwittingly, I think, by one of my critics of late) from the time the dust from the Liberty debacle settled in late 2006/early 2007, until last Fall (2009), I paid almost no attention to Ergun Caner at all. It had not entered my thinking back then that Caner was making things up about his past. In fact, I assumed his rabid Arminianism was due to a misplaced connection between the Islamic concept of qadr and Reformed theology arising from his Muslim background. In any case, the idea that I would have let a “Reformed” myth-maker slide but am now picking on an Arminian one is simply silly.
One other note (as I wait for the video of a portion of today’s DL to finish rendering so I can start uploading it and get the DL blogged at the same time). I was sent a “sermon” from January 17, 2010, called “Rip the Roof Off.” It was another “30 minutes of story telling, 5 minutes on the text” type sermon, but this time there was a twist. This time Ergun said he was converted in a black church. Yes, you read that right, a black church. Now, think for a moment on the description of the pastor of the Stelzer Road Baptist Church that he’s given in other contexts, and ask yourself, did it ever occur to you he was talking about a black church? Me either. Of course, that was just a few days before Ergun appeared on the Calvary Chapel program that led me to post this video, which was the immediate precursor to my discovery of his Shabir Ally fable, and, well, the rest is now history, as they say. I doubt we will be hearing too many more whopper-filled “sermons” like that in the future.
