4 key moments from Turning Point USA's Faith Forward Pastors' Summit
3. Apologetics panel warns Islam distorts biblical doctrine
A breakout session at the Faith Forward Pastors' Summit featured ex-Muslim speakers and Christian apologists who urged pastors and churches to take the challenge of Islam seriously and equip believers to reach Muslims with the Gospel.
The panel, moderated by Shariq Khan, featured three experts: Pastor Greg Armstrong of Christ Underground, YouTube apologist Michael Jones, and apologist Alex Kerimli.
Jones rejected the label of Islam as an Abrahamic religion, calling it “a Frankenstein amalgamation” that borrows from pagan Arabian practices, Judaism and Christianity while rejecting the authority of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. He pointed to practices like circling the Kaaba and kissing the black stone as continuations of pre-Islamic pagan rituals.
All three panelists emphasized the need to directly confront Islamic teachings rather than avoid the topic. Jones described his entry into Muslim apologetics after a Muslim challenged him to debate child marriage. “A primal instinct awoke,” he said, leading him to study the issue intensely. He now produces content exposing what he calls the “harm” Islam causes, especially to the West and to daughters.
The panel highlighted major theological differences between Islam and Christianity, including Kerimli, who noted that in the Quran's version of the Genesis account, Adam simply repents verbally and is forgiven without any need for blood atonement.
“The main difference I find is about the absence of original sin in the Quran,” he said. “And also, there's no sin resulting in death. We have no original sin. We have no Christ. We have no curse. We have no blood. It's simply repentance.”
Armstrong focused on Old Testament narratives distorted in the Quran, including the story of Abraham and Ishmael supposedly building the Kaaba in Mecca and Hagar’s journey. He contrasted this with the Genesis account, where Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael toward the wilderness of Beersheba, not Mecca, and Ishmael is a teenager, not an infant.
Armstrong argued these foundational differences undermine Islam’s claim to be an Abrahamic faith in continuity with the Bible.
“Actually, everything is different,” he said. “We focus on Old Testament differences because actually what we've seen is all throughout the stories, the Quran is actually filled with a lot of stories of biblical figures.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
