Mathew D. "Mat" Staver is an American lawyer and former pastor of

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

and Protestant churches who became a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

. He is a former dean of

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

's law school. In 1989, he founded the nonprofit organization

Liberty Counsel Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt religious liberty organization that engages in litigation related to evangelical Christian values. Liberty Counsel was founded in 1989 by its chairman Mathew Staver and its president Anita L. Staver, who ...

, where he serves as

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

called him "a leading Christian legal theorist."

Education

Staver received a B.A. in theology from Southern Missionary College, an M.A. in religion from

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...

, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

. During college he began a process which led him to later leave the SDA church and eventually attend a Southern Baptist church.God on Trial: Dispatches from America's Religious Battlefields
by Peter H. Irons

Career

He was the pastor of three churches in Kentucky that belonged to an evangelical Protestant denomination known as the Christian Church. In 1990, he criticized the ACLU's efforts that led to removal of a Latin cross from the top of the St. Cloud, Florida water tower, stating that Liberty Counsel would be "a Christian antithesis to the ACLU." In 2000, he represented absentee voters in the

Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On December 8, th ...

election case. A

Young Earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespr ...

who believes that

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

should be taught in public schools, Staver also denies

Darwinian evolution Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...

.Darwin Was Right! Or Was He?
''

Orlando Weekly ''Orlando Weekly'' is a liberal progressive alternative newsweekly distributed in the Greater Orlando area of Florida. Every Thursday, 40,000 issues of the paper are distributed to more than 1,100 locations across Orange, Osceola and Seminole coun ...

'', September 1, 2005 He has argued before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

twice, before most of the federal courts of appeals, and has testified before the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. In 2005, he opposed the nomination of Harriet Miers to the United States Supreme Court. Staver served as the dean of the

Liberty University School of Law The Liberty University School of Law is the law school of Liberty University, a private Evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia. The school offers the J.D., L.L.M., and J.M. degrees. History The Liberty University School of ...

from 2006 to 2014. In 2011 he was added to the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations, which was established by Iowa Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States sen ...

. In October 2015, Staver claimed that 100,000 people gathered in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

to support

Kim Davis Kimberly Jean Davis (; born September 17, 1965) is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. ...

in support of her refusal to issue marriage licenses. The event was shown to have happened more than a year earlier and was unrelated to Davis.

issued a press release, stating that Staver had relied on a member of the

Congress of the Republic of Peru The Congress of the Republic of Peru ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Congress' composition is established by Chapter I of Title IV of the Constitution of Peru. Congress is compose ...

for the information on the rally. In 2016, Staver served on the resolutions committee for the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

. In late 2018 he voiced his opposition to LGBTQ rights by requesting that references to gender identity and sexual orientation be removed from a senate bill that would make lynching a federal crime. Staver "pushed back against mainstream media coverage, and explained that while no one can or should oppose a bill banning lynching, there were provisions in it that served an ill purpose." In 2020, he represented a

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

pastor who was arrested for holding church services when the county had mandated churches to close. Charges against the pastor were later dropped. Staver also believes and propagates several conspiracies regarding the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Legal cases

Staver practices law on behalf of Liberty Counsel.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staver, Mathew D Living people University of Kentucky alumni Andrews University alumni Southern Adventist University alumni American lawyers Liberty University people Year of birth missing (living people) Former Seventh-day Adventists Southern Baptists American Christian Young Earth creationists