Sure, it is true that I am not a fan of Ergun Caner, long before this debacle with his past and the clear lies and fictional past he has created. But I find his exegesis appalling and his apologetic method ineffective and more harming to Christians who work long and hard to reach out to other scholars of other faiths and beliefs.
But what is under my skin about the Ergun Caner issue is the ease that other Christians are letting it slide and allowing him to not repent and ask for forgiveness. In a recent article in SBC Today they said Ergun was “exonerated”. Really? So why is he no longer Dean/President? Why was the article titled “ERGUN CANER GUILTY: REMOVED AS DEAN FROM SEMINARY” in a recent write-up in Liberty Student News? It is clear that Liberty found something that was wrong but are not making it clear. The shame.
An even bigger issue I believe is found in a recent interview that Glenn Beck had with Jerry Falwell Jr. Glenn Beck, a confused convert to Mormonism was invited to address Liberty's most recent graduation ceremony, leading to a number of public exchanges between Beck and Falwell, Jr. In the above linked article, however, we encounter this statement from Falwell Jr: "And there are bigger issues now, we can argue about theology later after we save the country." What?! Last I checked theology, the study of God, is FAR more important than the country!
Last I checked Christians were called to be salt, light and to proclaim the gospel to all people. But it seems Falwell Jr wants to hold off on that and “Save the country”. If God chooses to use the gospel to save any nation, that is His business, so that should be the only thing we are focused on and let God do His thing. But it seems Falwell has bought into the same "America = Christianity" mindset that has infected so many others, leading to rank confusion. But the set of priorities revealed by the above statement, uttered to a Mormon in the context of the conflict between Mormonism and Christianity, sheds a good bit of light on how Liberty has handled the Ergun Caner situation as well. Theology? Eh, we can debate that some other time. It's secondary. Gotta save the country first! Only logical conclusion: theology has nothing to do with how you save a country, hence, saving a country is a political endeavor, not a theological one.
Chris White
