David Sharpe Wood (born April 7, 1976) is an American Evangelical Christian apologist, philosopher, polemicist, and YouTube personality. He is the founder of Acts 17 Apologetics, a ministry focused on defending Christianity and critiquing other religions, particularly Islam, through videos, debates, public speaking, and online content employing humor, textual analysis, and confrontational rhetoric. Wood is known for his outspoken criticism of Islam, anti-Islam activism, and participation in the 'counter-jihad' movement, including over 50 public debates and controversial events like drawing Muhammad cartoons to protest censorship, as well as his 2010 arrest at the Dearborn Arab International Festival for 'breach of the peace' while filming a conversation with Muslim youth—for which he later won a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Dearborn, resulting in a $300,000 settlement and public apology. He gained prominence through his YouTube channel, where he analyzes Islamic texts, history, and practices, often collaborating with figures like Nabeel Qureshi—his close college friend whom he led to Christianity and with whom he co-founded Acts 17 Apologetics—Sam Shamoun, and Hatun Tash. In July 2022, facing recurring community guideline strikes and the threat of permanent platform de-listing, he transferred the 'Acts17Apologetics' YouTube channel to Hatun Tash of DCCI Ministries and launched new ventures including 'Apologetics Roadshow.' His work has garnered praise from conservative Christian circles and significant criticism from Muslim advocacy groups, who accuse him of hate speech and Islamophobia, particularly following events such as the 2015 'Draw Muhammad' contest in Texas. Despite controversies, Wood continues to influence online religious discourse through textual criticism of the Quran and evangelism. His personal background includes a dramatic conversion from atheism to Christianity while incarcerated for attempting to murder his father with a hammer as a teenager; at age 18 in 1994, he was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and served five years in prison. He converted in 1996 through intensive study and debate with a fellow inmate. After his release in 2000, Wood pursued higher education, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University in 2013 with a dissertation on the Problem of Evil, which profoundly shaped his apologetics career. In late November 2025, during a livestream with Ridvan Aydemir, he publicly confessed to sexual encounters with two minors (ages 13 and 15) during his youth in 1994, framing it as an act of 'radical accountability' and a demonstration of the depravity of his former 'sociopathic' self prior to his religious conversion, though the revelations caused significant internal friction within the Christian apologetics community.