Ex-Maranatha Pastor’s “Islam is of the Devil” Book Published by Stephen Strang

According to Amazon, yesterday was the publication date of Islam is of the Devil, published by Creation House and written by Pastor Terry D. Jones of the Dove World Outrearch Center in Florida. As with Fred Phelps, Jones has a particular obsession with one subject, which he has distilled into a slogan to attract media interest: there have been various controversies over his “Islam is of the Devil” church sign and t-shirts (the t-shirts also appeared at a rally for Rifqa Bary), and Jones recently announced “International Burn a Koran Day” for 11 September; the Gainesville Sun notes that

Last week, the church’s senior pastor, Terry Jones, was interviewed by CNN’s Rick Sanchez, and news organizations across the world — from The Times of India to The Guardian in England — have made mention of Dove World’s plans.

A number of evangelical leaders have denounced the planned stunt; Richard Land of the Southern Baptists called it “appalling, disgusting, and brainless”.

However, while Phelps is confined to the fringes of fundamentalism, Jones is better-connected: Creation House is one of the biggest conservative Christian publishing houses in the USA, and it is an imprint of Strang Communications, which publishes Charisma magazine. Stephen Strang, who heads the company, has featured on this blog previously – I noted his links to John Hagee here. In 2005, Time named him as one of the “25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America”.

But is Creation House now embarrassed by the association with Jones? Mention of the book on the company’s website is confined to a small entry in a pdf catalogue, and an associated Creation  House Facebook page has recently deleted several messages from one of Jones’ fellow pastors at Dove, Wayne Sapp:

Wayne Sapp Islam is of the Devil, will show you: Why Islam is not a religion of peace, but of violence; How the political history of Islam can demonstrate what will happen in the future if it is allowed to flourish; MOST IMPORTANTLY, what you can do to take a stand for the truth and engage in spiritual battle to reclaim nations from the grips of Islam.

June 18 at 10:51am

Wayne Sapp Dove World Outreach Center, on Monday, July 5th, 2010 will protest the Islamic Center of Gainesville, Florida. For more information contact, info@doveworld.org.

June 16 at 9:17am

Wayne Sapp Creation House is releasing the book Islam is of the Devil, written by Dr. Terry Jones, on July 6!!!!! This book reveals the radical steps that are necessary to erradicate Islam! The book is available on Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, and Barnes & Noble

June 16 at 9:11am

Another Sapp has also posted a review of the book on Amazon:

Islam is of the devil!, July 24, 2010 By  Marvin Wayne Sapp

This review is from: Islam Is of the Devil (Hardcover)
Great book! I have read it several times already and will read it again and again. The truth about Islam is revealed in this book without all the hype.

(Wayne Sapp explains how to burn a Koran here)

Jones’ book also features a foreword by Jack Coe, son a prominent Pentecostal evangelist and faith-healer of the same name who was active in the 1950s.

Dove was profiled by the Gainesville Sun last July, including critical comments from ex-members (including Jones’ daughter) who claim the church is abusive:

…Entwined with the church’s message is a theme stressing obedience to senior pastors and work for the kingdom of God – a theme that persuaded one couple from Germany to work full time and uncompensated for Terry and Sylvia Jones’ business, TS and Company. The business sells vintage furniture on eBay.

Outside contact, even with family for weddings and funerals, is prohibited for students who attend the Dove World Outreach Academy in Gainesville. The academy members live on property owned by TS and Company, work in the selling, packing and shipping of furniture and are unpaid.

Terry Jones’ daughter, Emma Jones, who still lives in Cologne after breaking with her parents and the church, said TS and Company, which first was established in Germany in 2004 by Terry and Sylvia Jones, fed the private coffers of her father and stepmother in Cologne.

The paper has also made public the DWOC Academy’s authoritarian and semi-literate rulebook.

Jones and Sapp are not complete monomaniacs on Islam, though: the DWOC has also found time to organise a “No Homo Mayor” protest against Gainesville’s gay mayor, and Jones also rails against Obama, who is unqualified to be president and only got the job because he’s black.

In Germany, Jones founded the Christliche Gemeinde Köln (Colonge Christian Church, also known as the “Evangelical Christian Church”) in 1983; he became the leader of DWOC in 2007, although he had long-standing links with DWOC’s founder, Donald Northrup. According to a memoir by Northrup’s widow Dolores (who has a website here, and whose book is on Google Books), both Northrup and Jones were involved with Maranatha Ministries; this was a controversial Charismatic organisation which was accused of authoritarianism and abuse in the 1980s before eventually collapsing in 1989. Maranatha decided to establish its HQ in Gainesville, and Dolores writes that she and her husband came to the town at Maranatha’s request. Jones, meanwhile, was sent to Germany to create a Maranatha branch there. According to this report, Dolores (although she is named as “Elsie”) left the church in 2009, “over concerns about where the congregation was headed”.

I wrote several blog entries on Maranatha a few years ago, in particular in relation to a neo-Pentecostal grouping called Every Nation (e.g. here, here, and here). Also involved with Maranatha in the 1980s – and based in Gainesville – was Lee Grady, who is close to Stephen Strang and who edits his Charisma magazine.

A Ship of Fools “mystery worshipper” visited the German church in 2006 and gives some background:

Services are translated into several languages (English, French, Bulgarian, Russian and Portugese) and as a result the nations do come! The members hail from all over Köln. There are lots of young people, but also some oldies. They conduct a successful ministry to the poor, and quite a few beneficiaries of this ministry have joined the church. It is a cell church, with 39 cells (they call them apostolic teams) in Köln and the surrounding cities. With around 400 members, it is the largest non-Catholic church in the Köln/Bonn metropolitan area.

The church has been controversial in Germany; this CBN news report (no date given) claims it has suffered persecution, and in 1997 Jones sumitted a written statement to a “Hearing on Religious Intolerance in Europe Today”, held before the UC Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (H/T Rachel Tabachnick). However, according to the 1999 U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom:

According to the Christian Community in Cologne (CCK), no incidents of harassment, discrimination, or death threats have been directed at CCK members since 1992, with the exception of occasional letters from a particular individual, whom they describe as harmless. CCK representatives claimed that the Church’s current tax difficulties were due to harassment by local tax authorities. However, they admitted that the Church’s tax problem was based on errors made by the Church, although they questioned the motivation of the authorities for scrutinizing the Church’s 1992 application for extension of tax-exempt status (which must be renewed every few years, depending on state law). The fact that the Church apparently violated tax law, and the authorities’ voluntary reduction of the Church’s tax liability, raise questions about the merit of the CCK’s allegations of harassment.

UPDATE: Details of DWOC’s joint protest with Phelp’s Westboro Baptist Church in April can be seen here.

21 Responses

  1. […] Ex-Maranatha Pastor's “Islam is of a Devil” Book Published by … […]

  2. […] Ex-Maranatha Pastor's “Islam is of a Devil” Book Published by … […]

  3. Interesting to see him use a black person for the devil.

  4. Madness at the fringe.

    But don’t forget some of mad Muslim stuff against Jews as apes and pigs, the Hamas Covenant citing the Protocols of the elders of Zion and lots more at http://www.memritv.org/content/en/subjects.htm

    Sadly I have come across, many otherwise urbane Muslims, repeating some of this anti-semitic conspiracy madness, believing it is part of their religion. MemriTV gives some explanation of why.

  5. MEMRI is sponsored by the likes of Terry Jones. So I can see your “whataboutery” to obfuscate certain issues.

    According to Jewish/Christian/Islam, black people are suppose to have enslaved the “Chosen People” in Africa with voodoo technology and science. Egyptian TV still runs an old serious about the lives of prophets with actors blackening their face to represent pharaohs.

    So people with the above blood libel and a huge industry to back up their racial subjugation are not going to tell me what each of them says about the other.

  6. america is the real evil. by the way islam is only have one God (Allah), there is no son of God, jesus is only a prophet (isa )not God. doou know that Eighty two percent of the words aseribed to Jesus in the gospels were not actually spoken by him? Some question for you
    1. Where is the recognition of Jesus in the Bible that he is a Christian?
    2. Where the teaching of Jesus when he was 13 to 29 years?
    3. Did Jesus ever Says:
    “I am God your Lord, therefore worship Me alone”
    4. Did Jesus Says:
    “It was I who revealed the Bible, I also took care of him”
    5. Where is Jesus or God’s command to worship on Sunday?
    6. Where is the proof in the Bible Jesus 100% God and 100% human?
    7. Where is the proof of origin believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior guaranteed “it would go to heaven”?
    8. Where the original images of Jesus ? every country have different picture of Jesus…
    9. Prove who’s memorized the Bible even just one letter out of his head!
    ……….

    • I’d like to add that when Isa’s (JESUS) followers asked him how to pray, he taught them what christians call The Lord’s Prayer and it begins as follows: OUR father who art in heaven, hollowed be THINE name, THINE kingdom come, THINE will be done on earth as it is in heaven…. There is nothing in this prayer where he assumes credit for being the CREATOR or LORD of mankind. As a child he spoke to Bani Israel and told them I am a servant of ALLAH (GOD) he never claimed to be the son of GOD. In fact when he was being questioned by Pointus Pilot he was asked if he claims to be the LORD and he said, “That is what they say” Moreover in order for anyone to make comments or opinions about something they MUST do some research! Investigate ISLAM then draw conclusions from there. Insha Allah you’ll be enlightened!

  7. I should have added that MemriTV http://www.memritv.org/content/en/subjects.htm has an extensive range of clips showing the battle in the Arab and Muslim worlds – between the progressives/democrats at one end of the spectrum and conservatives and Jihadis at the other ends.

    The bad news is that the conservatives (‘wife beating is OK’) and Jihadis (‘Jews are apes and pigs’, ‘holocaust did not happen’, ‘suicide bombing is noble’) are are a greater proportion of the Arab/Muslim population than their US Christian equivalents.

    The good news is that some of the abuse of women is being challenged – at least verbally.

    @joomla
    I expect that many people sponsor MemriTV. I haven’t seen any evidence of Terry Jones’ sponsorship of MemriTV – you’re not suggesting that the MemriTV clips are fabricated are you joomla?

  8. I’m an insider. DWOC has only 30 members and most of them are pastors and kids. This poor old bloke escape 2 years ago from Germany, because he and

    his wife Sylvia, as well his son Luk , hade a lot of problems with the german

    goverment as well in his church.

    Also the book “Islam is of the devil” was scripted by his wife Sylvia Jones an not

    by Terry D. Jones. This man is full of lies.

    Greetings from Cologne, Germany.

  9. As Salamu Alaykum

    Dear brother and sister on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, it gives us pleasure to extend our warmest greetings to all Muslims worldwide want to give them a blessed Ramadan may Allah accept our fasting and prayers.
    ————
    We present the Islamic world’s best web sites! Your blog is very well and we would be glad to welcome you. Register your blog in a selection of 12 languages. We will create a free banner, suitable for your side.
    http://www.islamscout.com
    Allah hafiz

  10. […] from its offer to “protect” the Dove World Outreach Church (I blogged on the church here) during its planned International Burn A Koran Day. Right Wing Extreme’s website carries a […]

  11. […] 4 August I blogged on Pastor Terry D. Jones’ book Islam is of the Devil, which had just been published by […]

  12. today is the day that we have to stand on cristhian people . and i thanks my god that i’m muslim. look at your religion that it hasn’t anything to understand . and we fight coz of you people that you says like this and go everywere for fighting like IRAQ , AFGHANISTAN , palestin , and other countrys for fighting , so we have to fight and show the world that we will not let anybuddy to attack on our religion and country. and i want to say something that every buddy want to say bad about the think, that it’s higher than they have.therefore you should know islam is the best. for any question and comments come to( facebook/islam is the best ). or leave comments here.

  13. […] Terry Jones "Islam is of the Devil" BookGeneral J.C. Christian Talks With Prince Shannon CarsonEx-Maranatha Pastor's "Islam is of the Devil" Book Published by Stephen StrangWhatever Happened to Steve Emerson's "13 Hours" of Rauf […]

  14. All people that believe in ANY religion is RETARDED. No intelligent person would ever believe in a higher being. Religion is just an excuse to hate other people.

  15. […] Churches and Campus Ministries (I previously blogged on this controversial organisation here, here, here, and here). Nuttle has apparently been an advisor to Jim Inhofe, and, among other […]

  16. […] churches called Every Nation (blogged by me here, here, and here; Pastor Terry Jones was also previously associated with Maranatha). Louis P. Sheldon heads the Traditional Values Coalition, which is known for […]

  17. In Islam, committing suicide means eternal hell. (m*hammed also had suicide temptations! shws what kind of spirit is in him)
    Mohammed married his adopted son’s stunning wife. (quran 33:37)
    Al-‘Azl, (العزل) also known as coitus interruptus, is the practice of having sexual intercourse with a woman but withdrawing the penis before ejaculation. Apparently al-‘Azl with female captives and slaves was a pretty important topic for Muhammad and his companions as is evidenced by the abundance of Hadith material on the subject.
    http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Al-'Azl
    The crescent/moon sign on top of mosques explain everything!
    -mecca was a place where pagans worshipped moon god
    – then muhammed changed qiblah frm jerusalem(holy site) to mecca(evil place)
    -moon sign on top of mosques
    – the religious dates are set based on moon(ramadaan,muharram etc) shows that moon is deciding all these!
    If Muhammad was illiterate, why does Sahih Hadith such as Bukhari say he used to write letters?
    -There are accounts of peace treaties signed by Muhammad, his attempt to write the name of his successor while on his deathbed, and the fact that he served for many years as a trading merchant who would have certainly known reading, writing, and arithmetic as he took his trade to Damascus and other cities. Also, the Quran is written in 7th century Arabic, the same language spoken by the very literate Bedouins who raised him. Even Muslims must question this claim of illiteracy when even Allah referred to him as “the one who taught by the pen”.
    Why does surah 23:5 allow men to have pre-marital sex with slave girls?
    Why couldn’t Muhammad convince his own town Mecca and had to convince people from another town, Medina? Didn’t Meccans know him better?
    Since many of Muhammad’s own family members didn’t believe him, why should we?
    Many of the people who were close to Muhammad didn’t believe him like Abu Sufyan and Abu Taleb. Why is that?
    Why is the Qur’an full of verses that say “Muhammad is not crazy”? Why did so many people accuse Muhammad of being crazy?
    (when evil spirit is in a man, he will behave crazy)
    This article discusses the DMS (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) of mental disorders and cites sahih hadiths to prove that Muhammad was a pedophile according to clinical definitions.
    http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Aisha's_Age_of_Consummation
    Why did Allah send down a revelation which allows Muhammad to have as many wives as he wants, while earlier allowing only 4 wives for each Muslim?
    Why did Allah not protect Christianity from corruption? Couldn’t he get it right the first time?
    (it says in quran allah is protecting torah and injeel, then how will Bible become corrupt?)
    The Qur’an claims the New Testament is a book given to Jesus (Qur’an 5.46). However, in reality, it consists of books of Jesus’ followers. Why make such a obvious flaw?(shows the poor knowledge of muhammed)
    Why did Allah wait over 500 years to tell Christians Jesus didn’t really die on the cross?
    The Qur’an says Allah made a man very similar to Jesus and he was the one who was crucified, doesn’t that mean Allah has deceived all the Christians? What can we expect from Christians when Allah has fooled them by creating someone similar to Jesus?(this shows the poor knowledge of muhammed)
    What’s with all the dinosaur remains in the soil? Why not a single mention in the Qur’an or hadith?(it is mentioned in Bible abt dinosaurs)
    Why do you claim the Bible is corrupt but at the same time proclaim Muhammad is mentioned in the Bible?
    According to Muslims, Jesus never said he was the son of God. So why is “son of Mary” explicitly added whenever anyone addresses him?(this explains the real intension of the one who worte quran)
    Apart from Judging others, how can one punish (kill someone who doesnt accpt islam) others?? thats supposed to be done by GOD himself!!! i thot allah has kept hell fr ppl so tht once they r judged they r thrown into it!!if hell is there, why r humans punishing on earth????
    If all non-believers go to hell, then everyone who died before the religion was revealed would end up in Hell. Why were they never given a chance????????????simple when muhammed chnged the details of Jesus from Bible into quran, he forgot one thing!in Bible it says Jesus after crusification, his body was kept in a cave fr 3 days! according to Bible in tht 3 days Jesus went and preached the gospel to the dead.
    But when Jesus crusification got chnged, Quran doesnt have answer for this!!!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eJU-byZa78&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3nJpYepmpE

  18. […] Front, although both plans fell through. Further, his anti-Islam book Islam is of the Devil was published by Creation House, which is owned by the influential neo-Pentecostal media empire Strang […]

  19. […] also a look at the Gainesville sideshow, where Pastor Terry Jones decided to jump on the bandwagon by threatening a public Koran-burning unless the mosque were […]

  20. […] one might expect given the association with Terry Jones, Firasat’s site is crudely abusive; and his new Christian religiosity appears to consist […]

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