David Wood (Christian apologist)

In a video testimony about Wood's conversion to Christianity he has stated that he was an atheist[2] 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.[7][8][9] 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[9] 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.[8] 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.[9]

He said that after five years between jail and prison,[8] 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.[10][11][12] Wood wrote that while he was studying at Old Dominion University, he was challenged to convert to Islam by his roommate, 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).[10][13] Wood said that he concluded 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. As a result, Wood said he then became a Christian apologist,[10] and that his roommate Nabeel later did so as well.[2]

Wood has participated in numerous public debates with Muslims and atheists,[14][15][16] usually in a public hall or in front of a university audience,[17][18][19][20] including debates with Muslim lecturers like Mohammed Hijab and Shabir Ally.[4] 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.[21] He has produced YouTube videos presenting his views on religion.[22] In 2013, Wood completed his Ph.D. from Fordham University, publishing his dissertation Surprised by suffering: Hume, Draper, and the Bayesian argument from evil.[23]

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.[24] Wood disagreed with Pastor Terry Jones in the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy, comparing it to the Uthman Qur'an burning.[25]

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.[26][27] In May 2013, the City of Dearborn was required to post a public apology[28] to be maintained on the City's website for three years and pay $300,000 to Wood and his three compatriots.[29]

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.[30][31] Wood has also written journals arguing against the views of Dan Barker.[32]

Wood is a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.[4]

He met his wife Marie, then an agnostic while in university; she also became a Christian.[8] They have five sons, two of whom suffer from centronuclear myopathy.[10][33]

• Christian apologetics

• Official website
• Official Acts17Apologetics YouTube channel
• David Wood: Why I am a Christian December 7, 2014
• Transcript of David Wood's video: Why I am a Christian