David Wood (Christian apologist)

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For other people named David Wood, see David Wood (disambiguation).
David Wood
Personal information
Born (1976-04-07) April 7, 1976 (age 48)
NationalityAmerican
EducationPhD, Fordham University
Occupation(s)YouTuber, Christian apologist
SpouseMarie Wood
Children5 (1 deceased)
Websiteacts17.com
YouTube information
Also known asApologetics Roadshow (2022–present)
Acts 17 Polemics (2022–present)
Acts17Apologetics (2008–2022)
Years active2008–July 2022, August 2022–present
Genre(s)Christian apologetics, criticism of Islam
Subscribers188,000 (Apologetics Roadshow)[1]
100,000 (Acts 17 Polemics)[2]
700,000+ (Acts17Apologetics)[3]
Total views17 million (Apologetics Roadshow)[1]
5 million (Acts 17 Polemics)[2]
159 million+ (Acts17Apologetics)[3]
Associated actsNabeel Qureshi, Jay Smith, Hatun Tash, Robert Spencer
100,000 subscribers2016
Alma materOld Dominion University (B.A., B.S.)
Fordham University (M.A., MPhil, Ph.D.)
Last updated: March 20, 2024

David Wood (born April 7, 1976)[4] is an American evangelical apologist, social critic, philosopher[5][6] and YouTube personality, who is the head of the Acts 17 Apologetics ministry,[7] which he co-founded with Nabeel Qureshi.[8] He also runs Foundation for Advocating Christian Truth, which is the organization behind AnsweringMuslims.com.[9] Though covering a range of topics, he is known for his criticism of Islam, particularly Islamic views on theology and morality, as well as the Quran in general, hadith, sīrah and Muhammad.[5]

Early life, incarceration and education[edit]

Wood has stated that he was an atheist[4][10] 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 with a hammer[11] at the age of 18 in an attempt on his life, claiming a belief that morality was merely societal rules that were beneath him.[12][13] He also said that after the assault on his father, Wood was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder[14] and was sentenced to ten years in prison for malicious wounding.[12] While in prison, he said, he was confronted with a fellow prisoner named Randy who was a devout Christian.[7][10] 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.[12] Wood stated that, while in prison, he and Randy frequently fasted, with Wood attempting to "beat" Randy at fasting, which eventually resulted in Wood being placed into solitary confinement under observation due to concerns over Wood potentially attempting to commit suicide by starvation. During this time, he began to read the Bible and participate in various Bible study programs in order to respond to Randy's rebuttals (thus "beating" him) but it eventually led Wood to convert to Christianity in 1996.[13] His story has been discussed within the context of psychopathy and moral apologetics.[7][14][15][16]

He said that after five years between jail and prison, he was released in 2000 and went to college[12] at Old Dominion University where he earned two bachelor's degrees.[17] Wood wrote that while he was studying at Old Dominion University, he was challenged to convert to Islam by his friend, Nabeel Qureshi (an American Ahmadiyya Muslim of Pakistani descent), and that he 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).[18][19] Wood said that he concluded that the Quran and Muhammad's example did not simply describe violence in the past (as in the Bible), but rather commanded ongoing violence. As a result, Wood said he then became a Christian apologist.[18] Qureshi later did so as well after converting to Christianity.[4]

Christian apologetics[edit]

Wood has been described by scholar Michael R. Licona as one of "a number of Christian apologists and scholars", who "have stepped up to the plate and interacted seriously with Islam's truth claim",[20] and by philosopher William Lane Craig as a "prominent Christian thinker".[14] Writing for The Catholic World Report, William Kilpatrick says that Wood on YouTube has made "highly effective short videos that set the record straight on areas of Christian-Muslim disagreement," and that he "comes across as the quintessence of calm, controlled manhood. Armed with a winning sense of humor, a razor-sharp mind, and a ton of knowledge, Wood doesn’t even have to raise his voice to make his points."[21] His YouTube page has furthermore been described as "a great resource with debates, testimonies and much important information concerning Islam, Muhammad, the hadith, sirah and Qur’an".[5] Wood has also been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.[22]

In addition to YouTube, Wood has participated in more than fifty moderated public debates with Muslims and atheists,[10][18][23] including debates with Muslim scholars like Dr Shabir Ally.[24] He has also hosted the satellite television talk show "Jesus or Muhammad?" on the Aramaic Broadcast Network.[25][26] In 2008, Wood, Qureshi and Acts 17 Apologetics organized several debates in Norfolk, Virginia at the Old Dominion University and the Central Baptist Church in Ghent titled "Christianity vs. Islam", which included Muslim debaters Shadid Lewis, Nadir Ahmed and Sami Zaatari.[23][27]

Wood and Qureshi were involved with preaching to Muslims at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan in 2009.[28] They were then ejected for filming interviews at a Muslim booth, after which they protested with YouTube videos titled "Sharia in the U.S."[8] In 2010, Wood and three other evangelists were arrested outside Dearborn, after again preaching at the Arab festival[29] and being charged with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace, but they were later acquitted.[30][31] In May 2013, the City of Dearborn was required to post a public apology[32][33][34] to be maintained on the City's website for three years and pay $300,000 to Wood and his three compatriots.[35][36]

Wood opposed the Park51 Islamic Center in New York City, dubbed the "Ground Zero Mosque", 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.[37] He participated in a rally against the Islamic center in 2010 organized by Stop Islamization of America, in which he accidentally nearly caused a riot by giving out pamphlets about Islam to two Christian Copts who wanted something to distribute, but who were mistakenly thought by the crowd to be Muslims.[38] He produced a viral YouTube video in connection with the event, titled "Of Mosques and Men", that received over 2 million views.[37][38]

In 2013, Wood completed his Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University, publishing his dissertation Surprised by suffering: Hume, Draper, and the Bayesian argument from evil.[17] Wood is also a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.[18]

British jihadi Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, who was arrested for attacking two police officers outside Buckingham Palace with a sword in 2017, had repeatedly shared videos of Wood on Telegram. While describing Wood as a "hardcore enemy of Allah" and stating that "some videos I don't watch where he mocks Islam", he noted that "his other videos are more truthful than the majority of Islamic speakers".[39][40]

On May 26, 2022, Wood announced his plan to delete his YouTube channel, due to what he saw as an increase in censorship and the banning of many of his videos.[41] Wood encouraged his fans to re-upload his videos onto their own YouTube channels if they wished to keep them on the site.[42] On July 3, he changed his plans in response to Hatun Tash being robbed and arrested at Speakers' Corner, opting instead to delete his videos and transfer ownership of the channel to Tash.[43] Tash had earlier appeared on YouTube together with Wood, discussing how she had been warned by police following previous attacks against her.[44] In August 2022, Wood returned to YouTube under the name Apologetics Roadshow.[1]

In July 2022, Wood was interviewed by The Babylon Bee about Islam, imprisonment, and personality disorders.[45]

Personal life[edit]

Wood met his wife Marie, then an atheist, while in university; she also became a Christian.[12][46][47] They live in the Bronx, New York City,[18] and have five sons, two of whom suffer from centronuclear myopathy.[47][48]

On April 17, 2023, he revealed that his third son Reid, one of the two diagnosed with the condition, had died the previous day at the age of 16.[49]

Publications[edit]

  • Wood, David (2010). "Responding to the Argument from Evil: Three Approaches for the Theist / God, Suffering, and Santa Claus: An Examination of the Explanatory Power of Theism and Atheism". In Dembski, William A.; Licona, Michael R. (eds.). Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Science. Baker. pp. 36–50. ISBN 978-1441211798.
  • Wood, David (2010). "Did the Resurrection Accounts "Grow With the Telling"?". In Holding, James Patrick (ed.). Defending the Resurrection. Xulon. pp. 81–95. ISBN 978-1609576547.
  • Wood, David (2012). "The Explanatory Emptiness of Naturalism". In Gilson, Tom; Weitnauer, Carson (eds.). True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism. Patheos. ASIN B007J71S62.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Apologetics Roadshow". YouTube. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Acts 17 Polemics". YouTube. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Acts17Apologetics". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Light, Jonathan (August 31, 2010). "Amazing Grace Amid Profound Controversy". Dearborn Free Press.
  5. ^ a b c Ventureyra, Scott (2017). "The Psyche of the West: Christianity, Islam, Apologetics and the Human Person". Études maritainiennes/Maritain Studies. 33: 64. doi:10.5840/maritain2017334. S2CID 253349864. For a very useful site, containing many articles and videos on Islam, see Answering Muslims: the Islamablog of Acts 17 Apologetics'. Much of the material is explained by apologist/philosopher David Wood who played an instrumental role in the conversion of Nabeel Qureshi from Islam to Christianity. The Acts 17 Apologetics YouTube page is a great resource with debates, testimonies and much important information concerning Islam, Muhammad, the hadith, sirah and Qur'an
  6. ^ Spencer, Andrew J. (2022). Doctrine in Shades of Green: Theological Perspective for Environmental Ethics. Wipf and Stock. p. 29. ISBN 9781666702255. David Wood, an apologist and philosopher
  7. ^ a b c Baggett, David; Baggett, Marybeth (2018). The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God. InterVarsity Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 9780830886494.
  8. ^ a b Persaud, Trevor (August 18, 2010). "Dispute in Dearborn". Christianity Today.
  9. ^ "Anti-Muslim roundup: 6/5/18". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 5, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c Thesenvitz, Kayleigh (May 8, 2019). "Atheist/Christianity debate overflows venue". Claremore Daily Progress.
  11. ^ "David Wood: From Nihilism To New Life". Premier Christianity. April 15, 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Misguided Man Assaults Father with Hammer". CBN. August 1, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Algrøy, Eivind (May 22, 2016). "Den umulige snuoperasjonen". Dagen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c Craig, William Lane; Wielenberg, Erik J. (2020). A Debate on God and Morality: What is the Best Account of Objective Moral Values and Duties?. Routledge. pp. 121–122. ISBN 9781000093254.
  15. ^ Baggett, David (December 11, 2014). "On Psychopathy and Moral Apologetics". Moral Apologetics.
  16. ^ Wielenberg, E. (2020). "Divine command theory and psychopathy". Religious Studies. 56 (4): 9–10. doi:10.1017/S0034412518000781.
  17. ^ a b Wood, David (2013). "Surprised by suffering: Hume, Draper, and the Bayesian argument from evil". ETD Collection for Fordham University: 1–278.
  18. ^ a b c d e Wood, David (October 4, 2015). "Wood: Holy Books of Peace? - Religious scholars will debate whether the Bible and Quran promote peace or violence". Chattanooga Times Free Press.
  19. ^ Taylor, Justin (September 16, 2017). "Nabeel Qureshi (1983-2017)". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  20. ^ Licona, Michael R. (2009). "Using the Death of Jesus to Refute Islam" (PDF). Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. 2 (1): 87.
  21. ^ Kilpatrick, William (October 27, 2014). "Are We Losing the Apologetics War with Islam?". The Catholic World Report. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  22. ^ Bale, Jeffrey M. (October 2013). "Denying the Link between Islamist Ideology and Jihadist Terrorism "Political Correctness" and the Undermining of Counterterrorism". Perspectives on Terrorism. 7 (5). Terrorism Research Institute: 37. JSTOR 26297006.
  23. ^ a b "Debates Look At Islam, Christianity". Daily Press. March 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  24. ^ "Scholars To Debate If Quran, Bible Are Books Of Peace". Chattanoogan. September 10, 2015.
  25. ^ "Hank Hanegraaff with Special Guest, David Wood". Christian Research Institute. October 23, 2012.
  26. ^ Nahouza, Namira (2018). Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists: Theology, Power and Sunni Islam. Bloomsbury. p. 206. ISBN 9781838609825.
  27. ^ Vegh, Steven (March 20, 2008). "It'll be a battle of religions this weekend in Norfolk". The Virginian-Pilot.
  28. ^ "Missionaries target Muslims". Detroit Free Press/Columbia Daily Tribune. July 30, 2009.
  29. ^ "Christian Missionaries Arraigned". ClickOnDetroit. July 12, 2010.
  30. ^ "Jury acquits 4 arrested for behavior at Arab fest". Mining Gazette. Associated Press. September 26, 2010. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011.
  31. ^ Light, Jonathan (September 25, 2010). "Acts-17 Group Acquitted of Inciting Crowd". Dearborn Free Press.
  32. ^ Burns, Gusl (May 6, 2013). "Dearborn ordered to apologize for arrests of Christian missionaries at Arab Fest". Michigan Live.
  33. ^ "Dearborn agrees to settlement with missionaries". ClickOnDetroit. May 7, 2013.
  34. ^ Gryboski, Michael (May 7, 2013). "Michigan City Apologizes to Christian Missionaries Arrested in 2010 at Arab Festival". The Christian Post.
  35. ^ Lai, Daniel (May 25, 2013). "Report Reveals Dearborn Paid $300,000 in Settlement with Missionaries". Patch.
  36. ^ Kumar, Anugrah (May 25, 2013). "Michigan City Paid Evangelists $300,000 in Lawsuit Settlement". The Christian Post.
  37. ^ a b "Mosque plans near Ground Zero stir emotions, opposition". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016.
  38. ^ a b Feldman, Kiera (November 1, 2010). "The anti-Muslim Machine". Killing the Buddha.
  39. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (2023). Plotters: The UK Terrorists Who Failed. Hurst. p. 216. ISBN 9781805260028.
  40. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (February 10, 2020). "Mohiussunnath Chowdhury: How jihadi used signed copy of Tommy Robinson book and far-right websites to justify terror attack plans". The Independent.
  41. ^ "Why David Wood Deleted His Channel". YouTube. May 26, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  42. ^ "It's Not the End! David Wood explains why he deleted his content from YouTube". YouTube. May 27, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  43. ^ "My Parting Gift to Hatun Tash Is . . ". YouTube. July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  44. ^ "Turkish Christian preacher wearing Charlie Hebdo T-shirt stabbed in London". Middle East Monitor. July 26, 2021.
  45. ^ "Dismantling Islam With David Wood: A Bee Interview". The Babylon Bee. July 6, 2022.
  46. ^ Brierley, Justin; Harmon, Jana (August 24, 2021). "From atheism to faith". Premier Woman Alive.
  47. ^ a b "The Side B Stories – Marie Wood". C. S. Lewis Institute. January 21, 2022.
  48. ^ "Wood Family Story". YouTube. May 1, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  49. ^ @Acts17David (April 17, 2023). "[In 2007, our 3rd son was born, but he wasn't moving or breathing. Once the doctors figured out what disease he had, they told us he had a 50% chance of reaching his 1st birthday, and a 30% chance of reaching his 2nd birthday. Yesterday around 4:00pm, Reid went to be with Jesus.]" (Tweet). Retrieved April 17, 2023 – via Twitter.

External links[edit]

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