We don’t get to see our friend Angel Contreras very often in channel anymore. He’s busy with…life. But, once in a while, right when I need some encouragement, some relief from a particularly troubling episode (and that is the case right now with the Caner and now Liberty debacle, all immediately prior to a major debate), up pops an e-mail with an attachment from Angelz. He’s still out there, listening to the DL, seeing things from an angle that is…always uniquely his. And so today, his epistle arrived at just the right time. See, Mr. Kennedy, the author of the CT article, called me. Seems some rabble-rousers out there contacted Christianity Today and told them I do not teach for Golden Gate. So he had to do “due diligence.” I asked if he had called Golden Gate, and he hadn’t (I invited him to do so, and gave him the proper people to contact, by name). So I read to him the following list:
Beginning Greek, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001
Greek Exegesis of Ephesians, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001
Beginning Hebrew, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1996, 1998, 2000
Hebrew Exegesis, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1997, 1999
Christian Philosophy of Religion, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1998-2003
Christology, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1997
Systematic Theology, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 1996, 1998, 2004
Apologetics, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003-2004, 2009
Development of Patristic Theology, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2004
Current Issues in Apologetics, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005, 2007
Islam, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008
Atheism/Islam, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, 2009-2010
Then I pointed out that, unlike Ergun Caner, I had returned his call, and, unlike Ergun Caner, had provided him with a direct response to his inquiry. I do find it ironic that he was fact checking me—when the issue is what Ergun Caner has claimed, and cannot document. But I was happy to provide the documentation.
So right on the heels of this up popped the e-mail from Angelz. And once again he nailed it. Some might remember his classic piece from 2006 when the Caners threw their credibility under the bus and disregarded their own signed agreement, leading to the cancellation of the debate at Liberty University:
But now he has provided another “Angel Classic.”
Of course, Angel quotes from Colossians about not lying, and he should take into consideration that Liberty has pronounced Dr. Caner free from having done anything “theologically inappropriate,” and that myth-making about your own past is not a moral or ethical issue! So, all is well.
Thank you, Angelz. I needed that.
