David Wood (Christian apologist)

Wood was an atheist at the age of 18 in an attempt on his life, claiming a belief that morality was merely societal rules that were beneath him. He also said that after the assault on his father (who survived), Wood was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and was sentenced to ten years in prison for malicious wounding. Wood later confessed in 2025 to engaging in sexual activities with two minors, ages 13 and 15, when he was 18 and out on bail in 1994. He claimed he did not care at the time, but acknowledged blame for his actions in his confession. Nonetheless, he faced public scrutiny after his confession for an alleged lack of remorse or empathy for the victims. While in prison, he said, he was confronted with a fellow prisoner named Randy who was a 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. ==Education==

Wood said that after five years between jail and prison, he was released in 2000 and went to college Wood said that he concluded that the Quran and Muhammad's example did not simply describe violence in the past (as in the Bible), but rather commanded ongoing violence. As a result, Wood said he then became a Christian apologist. ==Christian apologetics==

Wood has been described by scholar Michael R. Licona as one of "a number of Christian apologists and scholars", who "have stepped up to the plate and interacted seriously with Islam's truth claim", and by philosopher William Lane Craig as a "prominent Christian thinker". His YouTube page has furthermore been described as "a great resource with debates, testimonies and much important information concerning Islam, Muhammad, the hadith, sirah and Qur’an". In addition to YouTube, Wood has participated in more than fifty moderated public debates with Muslims and atheists, including debates with Muslim scholars like Dr Shabir Ally. He has also hosted the satellite television talk show "Jesus or Muhammad?" on the Aramaic Broadcast Network. In 2008, Wood, Qureshi and Acts 17 Apologetics organized several debates in Norfolk, Virginia at the Old Dominion University and the Central Baptist Church in Ghent titled "Christianity vs. Islam", which included Muslim debaters Shadid Lewis, Nadir Ahmed and Sami Zaatari. Wood and Qureshi were involved with preaching to Muslims at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan in 2009. They were then ejected for filming interviews at a Muslim booth, after which they protested with YouTube videos titled "Sharia in the U.S." and being charged with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace, but they were later acquitted. In May 2013, the City of Dearborn was required to post a public apology to be maintained on the City's website for three years and pay $300,000 to Wood and his three compatriots. Wood opposed the Park51 Islamic Center in New York City, dubbed the "Ground Zero Mosque", 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. He participated in a rally against the Islamic center in 2010 organized by Stop Islamization of America, in which he accidentally nearly caused a riot by giving out pamphlets about Islam to two Christian Copts who wanted something to distribute, but who were mistakenly thought by the crowd to be Muslims. He produced a viral YouTube video in connection with the event, titled "Of Mosques and Men", that received over 2 million views. Wood is also a member of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. On May 26, 2022, Wood announced his plan to delete his YouTube channel, due to what he saw as an increase in censorship and the banning of many of his videos. Wood encouraged his fans to re-upload his videos onto their own YouTube channels if they wished to keep them on the site. On July 3, he changed his plans in response to Hatun Tash being robbed and arrested at Speakers' Corner, opting instead to delete his videos and transfer ownership of the channel to Tash. Tash had earlier appeared on YouTube together with Wood, discussing how she had been warned by police following previous attacks against her. In August 2022, Wood returned to YouTube under the name Apologetics Roadshow. == Public scrutiny over self-confessed sexual activity with minors ==

In November 2025, Wood hosted a YouTube livestream regarding fellow polemicist Sam Shamoun's threats to "expose" Wood for matters undisclosed to the public. Seeking to undermine Shamoun's threats, Wood confessed to the statutory rape of two underage minors while he was 18 years old, more than 30 years prior (comparing his actions to the Islamic prophet Muhammed's). He described the acts as having occurred when Wood was on bond, awaiting trial in Virginia for aggravated assault against his father, having been yet undiagnosed with antisocial personality disorder: In response to being told he should attempt to confess his former crimes to the police, Wood expressed belief that legal consequences on the basis of his confession alone would be implausible. American Muslim scholar Daniel Haqiqatjou (who often engages in polemic debates with Wood and those in his circle) expressed disgust at the acts confessed by Wood, and called for other Christian apologists to demand that the authorities investigate Wood, claiming that "if they don't, they are accessories to a cover-up of child abuse." Psychologist Phil Monroe, in the context of a discussion on whether those diagnosed with psychopathy are fit for Christian ministry, stated that: "Clearly, in this video, [Wood] expresses no real empathy for the young girls and his impact on them." Eric Skwarczynski, host of a podcast which exposes abuse within Christian communities, called Wood’s confession "absolutely disgusting." He also discussed the irreverence of sexual abuse discussion within segments of American Christianity. ==Personal life==

Wood met his wife Marie, then an atheist, while in university; she also became a Christian. They live in the Bronx, New York City, On April 17, 2023, he revealed that his third son Reid, one of the two diagnosed with the condition, had died the previous day at the age of 15. == Notes ==