David Wood
Personal information
Born (1976-04-07) April 7, 1976
NationalityAmerican
EducationBSc, Dominion University PhD, Fordham University
Occupation(s)Christian apologist, YouTuber
SpouseMarie Wood
Children5 (1 deceased)
Websiteacts17.com
YouTube information
Also known asActs17Apologetics (2008–2022)
Apologetics Roadshow (2022–present)
Years active2008–July 2022, August 2022–present
Genre(s)Christian apologetics, criticism of Islam
Subscribers164,000 (Apologetics Roadshow)[1]
648,000+ (Acts17Apologetics)[2]
Total views14 million (Apologetics Roadshow)[1]
159 million+ (Acts17Apologetics)[2]
Associated actsNabeel Qureshi, Jay Smith, Hatun Tash, Robert Spencer
100,000 subscribers2016
Alma mater
Last updated: January 13, 2024

David Wood (born April 7, 1976)[3] is an American evangelical apologist, social critic, philosopher[4][5] and YouTube personality, who is the head of the Acts 17 Apologetics ministry,[6][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.[4]

Early life, incarceration and education

Wood has stated that he was an atheist[3][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. While in prison, he said, he was confronted with a fellow prisoner named Randy who was a devout Christian.[6][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]

He said that after five years between jail and prison,[12] 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.[15][16] 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).[15][17] 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.[15] Qureshi later did so as well.[3]

Christian apologetics

Wood has participated in public debates with Muslims and atheists,[18] including debates with Muslim scholars like Shabir Ally.[19] He 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.[20] 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",[21] 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."[22] 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".[4] The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Acts 17 Apologetics an anti-Muslim "hate group", noting Wood's videos such as "Mohammad Was a Sex Addict" and participation in a rally led by Pamela Geller.[23] Wood has also been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26] 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.[27] He produced a viral YouTube video in connection with the event, titled "Of Mosques and Men", that received over 2 million views.[26][27]

Wood and Qureshi were involved with preaching to Muslims at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan in 2009.[28] In 2010 Wood and three other evangelists were arrested outside Dearborn, after again preaching at an Arab festival[29] and being charged with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace, but they were later acquitted.[8][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]

In 2013, Wood completed his Ph.D. from Fordham University, publishing his dissertation Surprised by suffering: Hume, Draper, and the Bayesian argument from evil.[36] Wood is also a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.[19]

On 26 May 2022, Wood announced his decision to delete his YouTube channel at some point in June of the same year, due to what he saw as an increase in censorship and restriction of free speech from the side of YouTube.[37] Wood has stated that he will establish a website to serve as his new base of online operations and content creation, but has encouraged fans to re-upload his videos onto their own YouTube channels if they wished to keep them on the site.[38] On 3 July, he changed his plans in response to Hatun Tash being robbed and arrested at Speakers' Corner, opting instead to clear his channel and transfer ownership to Tash.[39] On 4 July 2022, he joined a livestream which showed him deleting his videos.[40] In August 2022, Wood returned to YouTube under the name "Apologetics Roadshow".[41]

Personal life

Wood met his wife Marie, then an atheist, while in university; she also became a Christian.[12][42][43] They live in the Bronx, New York City,[15] and have five sons, two of whom suffer from centronuclear myopathy.[43][44]

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.[45]

References

  1. 1 2 "Apologetics Roadshow". YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Acts17Apologetics". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Dearborn Free Press: "Amazing Grace Amid Profound Controversy" by Jonathan Light August 31, 2010
  4. 1 2 3 Ventureyra, Scott (2017). "The Psyche of the West: Christianity, Islam, Apologetics and the Human Person". Études maritainiennes/Maritain Studies. 33: 64. 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
  5. ↑ Spencer, Andrew J. (2022). Doctrine in Shades of Green: Theological Perspective for Environmental Ethics. Wipf and Stock. p. 29. ISBN 9781666702255.
  6. 1 2 Baggett, David; Baggett, Marybeth (2018). The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God. InterVarsity Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 9780830886494.
  7. ↑ "Well-Researched Videos for Someone in Ministry to Muslims". The Network (CRCNA). Christian Reformed Church in North America. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  8. 1 2 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. 1 2 Thesenvitz, Kayleigh (8 May 2019). "Atheist/Christianity debate overflows venue". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  11. ↑ 2016-04-15T00:00:00+01:00. "David Wood: From Nihilism To New Life". Premier Christianity. Retrieved 2021-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. 1 2 3 4 CBN: "Misguided Man Assaults Father with Hammer" retrieved August 3, 2016
  13. 1 2 Dagen: "Den umulige snuoperasjonen" by Eivind Algrøy Archived August 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine May 22, 2016 (in Norwegian)
  14. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 Chattanooga Times Free Press: "Wood: Holy Books of Peace? - Religious scholars will debate whether the Bible and Quran promote peace or violence" by David Wood October 4, 2015
  16. ↑ Rowland, Stephen (15 July 2020). "Serving a God of hope". Daily Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  17. ↑ Taylor, Justin (September 16, 2017). "Nabeel Qureshi (1983-2017)". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  18. ↑ Debates Look At Islam, Christianity Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine Daily Press (Virginia) newspaper
  19. 1 2 Chattanooga Times Free Press: "Scholars will debate whether Bible, Quran are books of peace" October 3, 2015 Archived
  20. ↑ "MUST SEE ISLAMIC TV MINISTRY: Promoting ABN (The Aramaic Broadcasting Network) at ABNsat.com « The Religion of Conquest". Archived from the original on 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  21. ↑ Licona, Michael R. (2009). "Using the Death of Jesus to Refute Islam" (PDF). Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. 2 (1): 87.
  22. ↑ Kilpatrick, William (27 October 2014). "Are We Losing the Apologetics War with Islam?". The Catholic World Report. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  23. ↑ "Anti-Muslim Activists, White Nationalists and Anti-Government Figures Join Pam Geller in NYC to Protest Linda Sarsour". Southern Poverty Law Center. May 26, 2017.
  24. ↑ Bale, Jeffrey M. (October 2013). "Denying the Link between Islamist Ideology and Jihadist Terrorism "Political Correctness" and the Undermining of Counterterrorism". Perspectives on Terrorism. Terrorism Research Institute. 7 (5): 37. JSTOR 26297006.
  25. ↑ Vegh, Steven (March 20, 2008). "It'll be a battle of religions this weekend in Norfolk". The Virginian-Pilot.
  26. 1 2 "Mosque plans near Ground Zero stir emotions, opposition". Pittsburgh Tribine-Review. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Feldman, Kiera (November 1, 2010). "Killing the Buddha: The anti-Muslim Machine". Killing the Buddha. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  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. ↑ Michigan Live: "Dearborn ordered to apologize for arrests of Christian missionaries at Arab Fest" by Gus Burns May 6, 2013
  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. ↑ Christian Post: "Michigan City Paid Evangelists $300,000 in Lawsuit Settlement" by Anugrah Kumar May 25, 2013
  36. ↑ Wood, David (2013-01-01). "Surprised by suffering: Hume, Draper, and the Bayesian argument from evil". ETD Collection for Fordham University: 1–278.
  37. ↑ Why David Wood Deleted His Channel, retrieved 2023-01-21
  38. ↑ It's Not the End! David Wood explains why he deleted his content from YouTube, retrieved 2023-01-21
  39. ↑ My Parting Gift to Hatun Tash Is . . ., retrieved 2022-07-12
  40. ↑ MY FINAL LIVESTREAM (AND VIDEO DELETION PARTY!), retrieved 2023-01-21
  41. ↑ "Apologetics Roadshow - YouTube". YouTube.
  42. ↑ Brierley, Justin; Harmon, Jana (August 24, 2021). "From atheism to faith". Premier Woman Alive.
  43. 1 2 "The Side B Stories – Marie Wood". C. S. Lewis Institute. January 21, 2022.
  44. ↑ "Wood Family Story". YouTube.
  45. ↑ @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.
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