By Staff, Baptist Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Ergun Caner will no longer serve as dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va., but will remain on the seminary’s faculty, according to a public statement released by Liberty University.
“After a thorough and exhaustive review of Dr. Ergun Caner’s public statements, a committee consisting of four members of Liberty University’s board of trustees has concluded that Dr. Caner has made factual statements that are self-contradictory,” the June 25 statement said.
“However, the committee found no evidence to suggest that Dr. Caner was not a Muslim who converted to Christianity as a teenager, but, instead, found discrepancies related to matters such as dates, names and places of residence.”
Under Caner’s leadership, seminary enrollment has tripled to about 4,000 students since 2005.
Caner’s contract as head of the seminary was not renewed when it expired June 30, but he has accepted a teaching contract, according to the Liberty statement.
Caner has “apologized for the discrepancies and misstatements” that led to the investigation, the statement added.
University Provost Ron Godwin led the investigation.
Caner came to prominence in the aftermath of 9/11, as a speaker about the subject of Islam.
He was a guest on a number of news shows and at other high-visibility forums, including two Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conferences.