Robert Morey

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Robert Morey (born 1946) is a Christian apologist and pastor who has written a number of books and pamphlets. He strongly criticises Islam, Wicca, and non-Evangelical Christian beliefs. He is the founder, executive officer, and primary faculty member of the California Biblical University and Seminary,[1] an unaccredited school offering distance education programs under Morey and adjunct faculty.

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[edit] Biography

Morey runs Faith Defenders, an organization dedicated to Christian apologetics and is the pastor of the related Faith Community Church in Irvine, California.[2] He received a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from the fully accredited Westminster Theological Seminary and was trained under Francis Schaeffer, Gordon Clark, Cornelius Van Til, and John Murray.[3] He also claims to have a Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies from the unaccredited Louisiana Baptist University,[1][3] (but elsewhere he has said it is actually a doctorate in theology with an emphasis on Islam)[2] and a Doctor of Divinity, usually an honorary degree bestowed upon someone who has made distinguished contributions to the field of religion, from Faith Theological Seminary in Gujranwala, Pakistan,[1] but there is some controversy over whether this degree was bestowed (and later rescinded) with the proper authority.[2][4]

Morey also states that he assisted in translation for the International Standard Version of the Bible,[5] specifically in the translation of the Psalms.[6]

In 2002, the conservative website WorldNetDaily published a fund-raising plea on behalf of Morey’s Research and Education Foundation. He was asking for $1.2 million to "launch a national crusade" against radical Islam.[2] Tax records obtained by the Weekly show the fund-raiser failed to hit its target, raising just $92,707 for his Research and Education Foundation in 2002.[2]

In 2005, Morey filed for and received nonprofit status for his Faith Defenders Ministry by turning it into an Irvine church.[2] There, Morey offers membership in the Crusader’s Club, which lists four membership levels along with corresponding dues and benefits, ranging from Crusader ($300 per year earns you a CD of the month) to King Richard’s Court ($5,000 per year gets you the CD, a mug, a subscription to Morey’s Journal of Biblical Apologetics, Morey’s private e-mail address, a piece of battle armor and an invitation to the annual Crusader’s Club banquet).[2]

Morey has recently joined the blogosphere and is blogging at biblicalthought.com.[7]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

[edit] Dirty bombs in the United States

In March 2002, Morey was interviewed by Mark Ellis, assistant pastor at Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Laguna Beach. Based on that conversation, Ellis wrote "Islam Expert Warns of [Three] Nuclear Terror Devices Inside U.S.," an article for the Christian news service ASSIST.[2] Morey explained in the interview "I have Middle Eastern friends throughout the U.S. who continually feed me information as to what the terrorists are up to". "I, in turn, feed that information to the FBI and Naval Intelligence. I’ve been right so many times the FBI showed up at my house, suspicious as to whether or not I was somehow involved—because I knew too much. I simply pointed out to them they don’t have their ear to the ground in the Middle Eastern community."[2]

[edit] Anti-Islamic comic book

In Spring 2006 the Fullerton, California based Davidson Press and Morey fought over the rights to publish the comic book Mohammed’s Believe It or Else!.[8] Davidson Press allowed internet users to download the comics for free until the Danish cartoons controversy drew interest to anti-Islamic comic books (the website went from 1,000 visitors to 180,000 visitors a week). At that point "Morey — who owns the copyright to MBIE—demanded that Davidson Press cease free distribution" and "refused Davidson Press’s demand to be reimbursed for the costs of translating MBIE into 34 languages and maintaining islamcomicbook.com."[8]

Davidson accused Morey of stopping the free downloading for money, which is on sale for $6.95 on Morey’s website.[8] The publisher accused Morey of having "questionable ethics," but still recommends his books.[8]

[edit] Anti-Islamic writings

Robert Morey has written several books condemning Islam. One controversial book entitled The Islamic Invasion, which is printed by Chick Publications, makes claims such as Allah not being the same God as that of the Christian Bible, that Muhammad was not God's prophet and that the Quran doesn't contain the words of God. Publication of the book by Chick Publications, which is owned by the evangelical tract maker Jack Chick, is consistent with the overall tenor of books published by Chick[original research?], as Chick and Alberto Rivera are said[who?] to have ignited the "Vatican Islam Conspiracy".

Morey has also written predictions that World War III will be caused by Islam.[9] According to an article in the Orange County Weekly, in November 2001 Morey told a San Diego church audience that he had advised the State Department to blow up Mecca and Medina (Muslim holy cities) in order to win the war on terror quickly, but the State Department had not taken his advice because it is "“full of wusses."[2] Daniel Pipes said of Morey in a 1998 Middle East Quarterly book review[10] that Robert Morey "sees Islam primarily as 'a form of cultural imperialism' that seeks to impose the ways of seventh-century Arabia on twentieth-century America." A detailed (18 page) criticism of Morey's methods has been written by Shabbir Ali, President of the Islamic Information and Da’wah Centre International, Toronto, Canada, who charges Morey with deception, contradictions, and poor scholarship.[11]

One of the better known and most controversial assertions Morey made about Islam is that Allah is actually the ancient moon god Hubal, a deity of Sumerian origin which was later adopted throughout the Middle East, including throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Morey presents two main arguments for this idea; linguistic and archeological. The linguistic argument is based on Morey's assertion that the same name was used for pre-Islamic gods and the God of Islam (Allah). Morey asserts that the word used was al-ilah, later shortned to allaah, citing Carleton S. Coon as his source. Coon, however, states otherwise - that Ilah, the general term for "god", became Al-Ilah, "The God", or Allaah, the "Supreme Being".[11] Morey cites a 1950s era archeological excavation in Hazor, Israel, in what was ancient Galilee, in which a decapitated male statue was unearthed which some archaeologists thought might be Hubal. This assertion has been disputed by Islamic groups such as Islamic Awareness, who also question the connection Morey states exists between Hubal and Allah.[12]

[edit] Claims against atheists

Jon Nelson also has criticized Morey for incorrect quotes.[13] Nelson notes that in Morey's The New Atheism (1986) he quoted Nicholas Capaldi's book The Art of Deception as an example of atheist deception, but the "problem is that Capaldi never says this (or anything like it) on this or on any other page. Morey has numerous other false quotes attributed to Capaldi, such as: 'Refuse to be convinced. Even if you feel that he has a good argument and that your case is weaker, refuse to be convinced of your opponent's case'. Nowhere does Capaldi advocate, as Morey accuses him of doing, that atheists should 'use any invalid or deceptive argument as long as it helps him (to) win his case.'"[13] Nelson goes on to say that, "However, Morey has an 'out'. There are no actual quotation marks on these alleged quotes."[13]

Morey gained the attention of debate coordinator Brian Boothe, who organized a debate between Morey and Erik Wielenberg of DePauw University on "The Infidel Guy" radio program. The debate addressed whether or not atheism was a more sustainable position than theism.[citation needed]

[edit] Works

  • The Dooyeweerdian concept of the word of God. Nutley, N.J.: Presbyterian & Reformed Pub. Co., 1974.
  • How to answer a Jehovah's Witness. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1980. ISBN 0871232065
  • Horoscopes and the Christian. Minneapolis, Minn. : Bethany House, 1981. ISBN 0871232022
  • How to answer a Mormon. Minneapolis, Minn: Bethany House, 1983. ISBN 087123260X
  • Death and the Afterlife. Minneapolis, Minn: Bethany House, 1984
  • The new atheism and the erosion of freedom. Minneapolis, MN : Bethany House, 1986. ISBN 0871238896 : 9780871238894
  • The origins and teachings of Freemasonry. Southbridge, Mass.: Crowne Publications, 1990. ISBN 0925703281
  • Islam unveiled: the true desert storm. Shermans Dale, PA: Scholars Press, 1991. ISBN 0962939404
  • The Islamic Invasion: Confronting the world's fastest growing religion. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House, 1992. ISBN 0890819831
  • The truth about masons. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1565070771
  • Satan's devices Eugene, Or.: Harvest House, 1993. ISBN 0890818819
  • The moon-god Allah in the archeology of the Middle East. Newport, PA : Research and Education Foundation, 1994.
  • Fearing God : the key to the treasure house of heaven. Yorba Linda, CA: Davidson Press, 1999. ISBN 1891833529
  • An Open Letter to Muslims Orange, CA : Faith Defenders, 2001.
  • Muhammad the racist prophet. Orange, CA: Faith Defenders, [ca. 2001]
  • Who owns the land of Israel? Orange, CA: Faith Defenders, ca. 2001
  • Winning the War Against Radical Islam. Christian Scholars Press, 2002. ISBN 1-931230-08-0
  • The Encyclopedia of Practical Christianity. Las Vegas, Nev.: Christian Scholars Press, 2003. ISBN 1931230110

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Faculty page at California Biblical University and Seminary.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Arellano, Gustavo. "Dr. Jihad: The crusading life of Islam 'expert' Robert Morey", Orange County Weekly, March 2, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-18. 
  3. ^ a b About us from Faith Defenders
  4. ^ Bhatti, Nazir. "Facts about Robert A. Morey", Pakistan Christian Post, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-13. 
  5. ^ This information appears below his name in a letter to the editor: Robert, Morey. "How predictable that an old heresy gets attention at Eastertime", The Orange County Register, April 16, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  6. ^ Dr. Robert Morey
  7. ^ Biblical Thought Dot Com Redirect
  8. ^ a b c d Arellano, Gustavo. "Battle of the Christian Titans", Orange County Weekly, July 13, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-27. 
  9. ^ Morey, Robert. Will Islam Cause WWIII?. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
  10. ^ Pipes, Daniel. "Review of The Islamic Invasion", Middle East Quarterly, December 1998. Retrieved on 2006-08-13. 
  11. ^ a b Ally, Shabbir (2004-04-03). Reply to Dr. Robert Morey's Moon-god Myth and other Deceptive Attacks on Islam. Islamic Awareness. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
  12. ^ Saifullah, M S M; Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi & `Abdullah David (April 2006). Reply To Robert Morey's Moon-God Allah Myth: A Look At The Archaeological Evidence. Islamic Awareness. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
  13. ^ a b c Jon Nelson. The Dishonesty of Theism. Atheist Alliance, 2006.

[edit] External links