01: Ergun and Emir Caner have emerged as the leading authorities of Islam in the conservative evangelical world.
The Caner brothers’ views on Islam were instrumental in Southern Baptist Convention’s President Jerry Vines’ recent publicized statement that the Prophet Mohammed as a “demon-possessed pedophile.” The brothers were brought up Muslim until they converted to evangelical Christianity in their teens and have gradually gained notice in the SBC and evangelical world, co-authoring the book “Unveiling Islam.”
Vines’ comments gave the Caners’ work a stamp of approval, leading to media interviews, a place on the lecture circuit and sales in the range of 30,000 copies of their book. Muslim groups, as well as the Anti-Defamation League and the National Council of Churches have condemned the book for its anti-Islamic prejudice.
The book’s contention that Islam is inherently violent and that Mohammed was influenced by evil spirits has become more common among some evangelicals, charismatics and fundamentalists, especially since Sept. 11.
(Source: Religion News Service, Baptists Today, July-August)