| Intro | American theologian, born 1976 |
| Is |
Missionary Religious scholar Theologian Video blogger Internet personality YouTuber |
| From | United States of America |
| Type |
Internet Religion |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 7 April 1976 |
| Age: | 44 years |
| Star sign | Aries |
| Residence | The Bronx, USA |
Dr. David Wood (born April 7, 1976) is an American evangelical apologist known for his critique of Islam. He is head of the Acts 17 Apologetics Ministry. He is a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.
Early life and education
In a video testimony about Wood’s conversion to Christianity he has stated that he was an atheist in his youth, and that he had run-ins with the law by breaking into homes and later went as far as smashing his father’s head in at the age of 18 in an attempt on his life, claiming a belief that morality was merely societal rules that were beneath him. He also said that after the assault on his father, Wood was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy) and was sentenced to ten years in prison for malicious wounding. While in prison, he said, he was confronted with a fellow prisoner named Randy who was a devout Christian. Wood said he often challenged Randy’s Christian beliefs, initially claiming that Randy was only a Christian because he was born into a primarily Christian society, specifically the United States. Wood stated he began to read the Bible in order to respond to Randy’s rebuttals but it eventually led Wood to convert to Christianity in 1996 himself.
He said that after five years between jail and prison, he was released in 2000 and went to college at Old Dominion University where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He later earned a doctorate in philosophy from Fordham University. While studying at Old Dominion University, he was challenged to convert to Islam by his roommate, Nabeel Qureshi (an American Muslim of Pakistani descent), and went about investigating the life of Muhammad using the earliest sources, including Ibn Ishaq’s Life of Muhammad (the earliest extant biography of Muhammad); the hadith collections of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (considered by Sunni Muslims to be the two most reliable or sahih collections of Muhammad’s statements, actions, and example); and the History of the Prophets and Kings by Al-Tabari (one of Islam’s greatest historians). Concluding that the Quran and Muhammad’s example did not simply describe violence in the past (as in the Christian Bible per his assertion), but rather commanded ongoing violence, he then became a Christian apologist. His roommate Nabeel eventually went on to become a Christian apologist as well.
Christian apologetics
Wood has participated in numerous public debates with Muslims and atheists, usually in a public hall or in front of a university audience, including debates with Muslim apologists like Mohammed Hijab and Shabir Ally. Wood was invited on several ABN shows, in inter-religious discussions against atheism and Islam, where among other things he regularly appears on the Aramaic Broadcasting Network. He has produced YouTube videos presenting his views on religion.
Wood opposed the Park51 Islamic Center, arguing that it was not meant to honor the victims’ families, but instead was a symbol of Islamic victory and named Cordoba House in memory of the Islamic conquest of Spain by the Umayyad Caliphate which later formed the Caliphate of Córdoba. Wood disagreed with Pastor Terry Jones in the 2010 Qur’an-burning controversy, comparing it to the Uthman Qur’an burning.
Wood was arrested outside Dearborn, Michigan, after preaching at an Arab festival and being charged with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace, but was later acquitted. In May 2013, the City of Dearborn was required to post a public apology to be maintained on the City’s website for three years and pay $300,000 to Wood and his three compatriots.
Wood wrote a polemic regarding the work of Richard Carrier which he titled “Good ‘n’ Senseless Without God: A Critical Review of Richard Carrier’s New Book, Sense & Goodness Without God”. Richard Carrier responded to the review with an essay entitled “On the Deceptions of David Wood”, in which he wrote that Wood misrepresented his arguments and that his review was full of diatribes. Wood has also written journals arguing against the views of Dan Barker.
Personal life
He met his wife Marie, then an agnostic while in university; she also became a Christian. They have five sons: Blaise, Luke, Reid, Paley, and Kepler. Two of the five sons, Reid and Paley, suffer Centronuclear myopathy.