David Wood Receives Backlash, Support
Reaction was swift to David Wood’s admission of previous sexual crimes. Some people claimed he used a flippant tone on air while discussing the rapes. Others said those past sins disqualify Wood from ministry. In response, the apologist posted:
I’d like to understand the rules here. As an 18-year-old atheist (and soon-to-be diagnosed psychopath), I bashed my father’s head in with a ball peen hammer. Shortly thereafter, while out on bond, I had sex with two minors. The latter disqualifies me from making YouTube videos about Christianity, while the former does not. I actually don’t understand, so please explain. (Note: If the latter DOES disqualify me from making YouTube videos about Christianity, I will stop making YouTube videos about Christianity. But I’ll need more explanation.)
When someone said Wood should face consequences for raping the girls, the apologist responded:
How exactly would I go to prison for having sex with two girls more than 30 years ago? How would I, even with police help, find these girls (who might be grandmothers now)? What kind of resources do you think police would invest in such a nationwide hunt for two mystery women? Do you think they’d send me to prison based solely on me saying I did something?
In a Nov. 18 follow-up video, Wood said some people are now calling him a “disgusting [pedophile].” One comment he read aloud on YouTube stated, “This is the same guy who has been attacking Islam for decades, yet he himself is guilty of what he accuses Islam of.”
Other respondents thanked Wood for his honesty. Someone wrote about following his example and confessing a prior sexual sin. I now have “a huge weight off my shoulders,” the person explained. “My sin no longer hides in the darkness where, like mold, it can grow and fester.”
Another person told the apologist, “I wish that the church was just more open.” Someone else said, “Although I heard more than I bargained for [on your show], I am so grateful the Lord brings together the people he does.”
David Wood: Jesus Can Turn Anyone Into an Evangelist
In this week’s follow-up video, David Wood explained why he decided to make a public confession. “I…wanted people to understand that they don’t need to cover up things they’ve done,” he said.
“You don’t need to blab everything to the entire world like I do,” Wood added, “but it’s really, really good for you to have a friend or a small group of people that you trust enough to be totally honest with them.” Without that, “you run the risk of living a double life,” he said, “and living a double life will crush you spiritually.”
RELATED: Volunteer Youth Pastor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teen at Church
Wood pointed to Mark 5:1-20, where Jesus healed a demon-possessed man. Thanks to Jesus, that outcast and “loser” became an evangelist, Wood noted. He asked, “Muslims…does it amaze you that Jesus can take the most pathetic piece of garbage on the planet and send him out as an unstoppable witness?”
Likewise, Jesus turned Wood’s life around almost three decades ago. And now the apologist “is out here wrecking your fake prophet and just getting warmed up, because you have no clue what’s coming,” he told his Muslim critics. “You can’t stop attacking [me]. But whenever you attack [me], it points people to the power of the gospel to transform lives and ends up exposing your fake prophet even more.”
ChurchLeaders reached out to David Wood for comment and will update this article with any reply.
