Abdu MurrayEmbrace the Truth - No Matter the Cost

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

Biography

ABDU is the President and co-founder of Embrace the Truth International, an apologetics ministry dedicated to offering the Truth of the Gospel to Muslims, Jews, cult members, and skeptics.

For most of his life, Abdu was a proud Muslim who studied the Qur'an and Islam. After a years-long investigation into the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the major world religions and views, Abdu discovered that only the evidence for the historic Christian faith could withstand the toughest challenges. The results of Abdu’s intense search, coupled with the Lord’s drawing of his heart, led him to put his faith in Jesus as the one and only Savior. Since that time, Abdu has dedicated his ministry to thoughtfully engaging non-Christians with the Gospel and equipping Christians to do the same.

Abdu has spoken in numerous venues both in the United States and internationally, including universities, churches, training centers, and conventions. He hosts Embrace The Truth with Abdu Murray, a radio show heard on WLQV AM 1500 in Detroit and worldwide on the internet and podcast. Abdu is the Visiting Professor of Christian Thought and Apologetics at the Josh McDowell Institute of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Abdu lives in the Detroit, Michigan area with his wife and their three children.

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

Fact Sheet! ! ! ! !PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER of Embrace the Truth (a ministry of Aletheia International), a 501(c)(3) recognized organization dedicated to engaging non-Christians with the credibility of the Gospel in ways that touch the heart and the mind and to equipping Christians to do the same.

VISITING PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & APOLOGETICS at the Josh McDowell Institute of Oklahoma Wesleyan University

NOTABLE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS:

National - Unpacking Islam - National Simulcast with Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg

West Texas A&M University - Debate with atheist Matt Dillahunty, Should America be a Nation Under God? in partnership with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)

University of Michigan - Repeated engagements sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)

Michigan State University - Engagements sponsored by IVCF

Summit Ministries, Colorado Spring, CO - Teaching on Islam

Jogjakarta and Bali, Indonesia - Speaker on apologetics and evangelism to Islam

Orlando, Florida - A Summit on Islam - conference with RZIM

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Understanding and Answering Islam - conference with RZIM

Biola University - Speaker for Lebanon Prayer Group

Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Speaker & trainer at missionary training center

Minneapolis, MN - Sahara Challenge - Week-long conference on Muslim evangelism

Dearborn, MI - Cru - Repeated apologetics training with Josh McDowell

EDUCATION:

1999 Juris Doctor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor1995 Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, Psychology, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor James B. Angell Scholar, Class Honors1991 State University of New York at Buffalo - Full Athletic Scholarship for Division I NCAA Basketball

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

Publications ! ! !Apocalypse Later - Why the Gospel of Peace Must Trump the Politics of Prophecy in the Middle East. Kregel Publications, 2009

Many evangelicals have used the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as fodder for debates over how to interpret prophecy, instead of seeing it as the human tragedy that it is. In Apocalypse Later, former Muslim Abdu Murray urges Christians to change their focus from eschatology to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and equips Christians to demonstrate to non-believers that the Gospel, and the Gospel alone, provides credible answers to the deepest questions that come from conflict.

Chrislam - How Missionaries are Promoting and Islamized Gospel, “Flirting with Frankenstein.” I2 Ministries Publications, 2011

Are there missionaries who promote converts from Islam remaining in Islam? Is Islam the primary identity for a new believer and how does this identity interface with one's deliverance from a false religion? Which rituals and phenomena of Islam may be given new meaning by converts? Is the Gospel of Jesus being Islamized by Western missionaries? This anthology of twenty-five essays approaches the various questions of the "insider movements" that are being raised within the mission community.

Grand Central Question (Working Title). Forthcoming, InterVarsity Press. Christians long to share the Gospel with those who hold different worldviews, only to find themselves ill equipped to answer such peoples’ deepest questions. As a result, Christians shrink away from fulfilling the Great Commission. Grand Central Question (a) explains that each of the major worldviews tries to address a particular, focal issue and (b) shows that the Gospel addresses these genuine issues in intelligent and emotionally satisfying ways.

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

Speaking Topics! !

If you would like Abdu to speak at your church, university, or other venue, below is a list of topics Abdu can cover. The following are only suggested topics. If you have another topic you would like Abdu to address, please contact Embrace the Truth at mail@embracethetruth.org

A Son from a StoneAbdu is familiar with the doctrines of Islam, the world’s second largest religion, and

one of the fastest growing faiths. As he explains important Islamic theological points

and dispels common misconceptions, Abdu teaches Christians powerful ways to share

the Jesus of the Bible with Muslims.

Secular Humanism - Saying Nothing as Loud as We CanDrawing from the ideas, writing, and statements by top Secular Humanist thinkers,

Abdu examines whether atheism offers any substantive answers to life’s most

fundamental questions. Abdu then compares those answers to the answers offered by

the Gospel.

Eastern Religions, the New Age, and the Gospel - Which Answers the Problem of Pain?Pantheistic religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, along with their Western offspring

like the New Age and Scientology, claim to offer answers to the question of human

suffering. Abdu compares the fundamental ideas of these major worldviews with the

answers the Gospel offers and makes the case that the Gospel provides the

comprehensive answers humanity is searching for.

Islam and the Gospel - Which Gives a True Picture of God’s Greatness?Islam defines itself as the religion that uniquely exalts God as great. Abdu compares

Islamic theological claims with Christian theology and makes the case that Christianity

offers a true picture of God’s ultimate, uncompromising greatness. In doing so, Abdu

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

validates the Muslim’s quest for God’s greatness while offering the Gospel as the only

worldview that describes God as truly great.

Sorrow, Justice, and Love - The Gospel as the Solution to ConflictFollowing the themes in his book, Apocalypse Later - Why the Gospel of Peace Must Trump

the Politics of Prophecy in the Middle East, Abdu demonstrates how Christians are losing

important opportunities to share the credibility of the Gospel with Jews and Muslims by

focusing on eschatology and prophecy when addressing the Middle East conflict.

The Gospel as Unique Amidst WorldviewsEvery major worldview, whether religious or secular, competes for our attention by

claiming to have answers to life’s most important questions. Abdu looks at four major

worldviews, atheism/skepticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, and compares their

fundamental tenets with those of classical Christianity to show that the Gospel

provides the only answers worth trusting to life’s critical questions.

Exposing Truth’s Cost, Sharing Truth’s WorthWhen offering the truth of the Gospel to others, Christians often encounter emotional

objections disguised as moral or intellectual objections. Abdu provides a powerful way

for Christians to get those with whom they are sharing the Gospel to confront their

emotional barriers and fears so that the credibility of the Gospel message can be

sincerely and freely examined.

Suffering, Significance, and Tsunamis - Where is God in a World Filled with Evil? Natural disasters, human evil, and even animal suffering have been posed by skeptics

as one of the most significant challenges to theistic belief. But can any theistic faith offer

a credible answer to the challenge of the so-called “Problem of Evil?” Abdu addresses

this tough philosophical problem and demonstrates that it can be—and has been—

answered at the Cross of Christ.

The CASE for Jesus’ ResurrectionJesus’ resurrection from the dead is the central event that validates the Christian faith.

But is there historical evidence to substantiate this fundamental tenet of Christianity?

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH

Using a memorable acronym, C-A-S-E, Abdu demonstrates that the majority of

historical scholarship, both Christian and non-Christian, agree on four key facts that can

only be explained by Jesus’ resurrection.

Darwin, Jesus, and Morality - Which Worldview Makes Sense of Objective Moral Values?Skeptics have increasingly abandoned moral subjectivism (the idea that morals are a

matter of preference or relative to a culture) in favor of moral realism (the idea that

morality is based on an objective view of right and wrong, regardless of preference or

culture). The new atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam

Harris, have sold millions of books attacking the moral basis for belief in God and argue

that one can still be an atheist and have an objective basis for morality. Abdu discusses

these ideas and demonstrates that there is no basis for objective morality on a

naturalistic framework and that only belief in God provides that basis.

Additional Topics:

The Cosmological Argument for God’s existence

The Moral Argument for God’s existence

The Teleological Argument for God’s existence

The Reliability of the Bible

Addressing challenges to essential Christian doctrine

Engaging with cults and new religious movements (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Scientology, the New Spirituality)

Approaches in witnessing

The role of evidence in the Christian faith and how to assess it

Critical thinking about worldviews

P.O. Box. 80482, Rochester, MI 48308 • mail@embracethetruth.org • 888-84-TRUTH