Questions About Faith, a show broadcast by a Europe-based Christian satellite station called Life TV, is creating a stir throughout the Middle East. The show, a vehicle for Christian apologetics, directly addresses issues that lie at the heart of the Islamic faith, such as Muhammad’s life and the Koran’s authenticity. Given the monopoly that Islam has had on religious discourse in the region, the show is notable for this fact alone. But even more novel is the fact that the program’s most frequent host is a convert from Islam to Christianity. Such open speech by a convert is an unheard-of challenge to Islam in its heartland.

The convert, who for security reasons uses the pseudonym Ramsey Abdullah, and Zakaria Botros, a former Coptic priest, are the two major figures on Questions About Faith. When Botros served as a priest, he drew unwelcome attention by actively seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, something that the politically feeble Egyptian church shies away from. Sources close to Botros say he retired from the priesthood to avoid placing the Coptic church in danger. Botros now lives in the United States, where he still ministers to believers and engages in theological debate via the Internet.

Abdullah, on the other hand, is a businessman whose family hails from Saudi Arabia. After he converted to Christianity in 1980, he was cut off from the family fortune, lost his business, and had to start over from scratch. He recovered handsomely; he’s now a principal in a flourishing new business and regards his fellow Christians as his true family. But he’s also painfully aware that the controversy generated by Questions About Faith may again force him to make sacrifices...