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The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) is a nonprofit, nondenominational Protestant apologetics ministry with an internet and radio outreach. It is involved in
evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
, including full-time support for several foreign missionaries. It is based in the United States and was founded in 1995. Matthew Slick currently serves as president of the ministry. The ministry is registered as a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
organization and is headquartered in Nampa, Idaho.


Organization

In November 1995, Matthew Slick compiled his sermons and notes together onto computer, and created a website for the Christian Research Ministry. By 2000, Slick claimed that his website was receiving 14,000 visits per week. He created a ''Christian Apologetics Notebook'' presentation in a three-ring-binder format, which offered material from the website in a printed medium. Slick says he has sold over 3,000 copies of the ''Christian Apologetics Notebook''. He also compiled the website material for sale in
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
format. CARM offers several online dictionaries, including a theological dictionary compiled by Matt Slick and others, in addition to discussion forums. The organization's stated motivation is "to equip Christians with good information on doctrine". In 2004, CARM made available a free resource called the ''Dictionary of Theology'' for the Palm OS system. The website also provides
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
with pre-formatted "cut-and-paste" arguments to use in online forums with atheists, relativists,
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s,
Mormons Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
,
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
,
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and members of other groups.


Beliefs

CARM is a Protestant ministry, involving several different branches of Protestantism. For example, CARM's official position is that the Calvinist interpretation of Christianity is "within orthodoxy," but does not brand itself a Calvinist ministry, claiming that both Calvinists and non-Calvinists write articles.


Reception

Columnist Cal Thomas of Tribune Media Services comments, "Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (the Web site carm.org) has created a useful chart that shows the conflicting claims of classic Christian belief and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
doctrines. It is worth studying, whatever one's faith." ''Christian Parenting Today'' notes that the website of CARM provides "lists, definitions, and descriptions of cults", to assist parents and children with identifying controversial groups and movements. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance says of CARM, "This is a very large web site. It is rated by Hitbox.com as the most visited counter-cult website, and about #14 in the list of most-visited religious web sites." ''
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'' recommended CARM as a resource for information on apologetics. Writing in the ''
South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...
'', Pastor
Bob Coy Robert J. "Bob" Coy (born November 27, 1955) is the founder and former Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On April 3, 2014, Coy resigned as Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. He admitte ...
of Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale characterized CARM among "excellent resources… that will allow those who are seriously searching to discover faith is more fact than fiction." In the book ''The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ'', Roger Overton, a blogger and graduate student at Talbot School of Theology, recommends CARM as a resource, calling the organization's website "an informative site dealing with topics from the defense of mere Christianity to exposing the problems in
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
s and other religions. Go to the CARM website for the straight facts such as a list of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled or archived incriminating statements by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and The Watchtower (
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
)." Thomas Nelson's ''Safe Sites Internet Yellow Pages, The 2000–2001 Edition'' describes the organization as "A Christian ministry promoting Christian truth with articles on doctrine, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Evolution, New Age,
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
, and more." The book recommends the organization's ''Theological Dictionary'' as among the "Best of the Christian Web", saying it "Defines many Christian and theological terms."


Criticism


Catholic

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry has been subject to intense scrutiny since its inception, especially from Catholic sources. Critics claim that CARM, in its attacks on Catholicism, presents either a straw man version of Catholic teaching or misrepresents it completely, as well as being unreceptive to correction from Catholic sources.
Matt Slick The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) is a nonprofit, nondenominational Protestant apologetics ministry with an internet and radio outreach. It is involved in evangelism, including full-time support for several foreign missiona ...
's position on whether he believes Catholics are Christians is unclear. Slick has written that some Catholics are Christian, but that Slick believes the official teaching of the Catholic Church to be heretical. Slick has also written that because Catholics reject the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, this makes Catholics "non-Christian." Many respected Catholic sources have provided specific responses to older articles on the CARM website, thus prompting accusations by both Catholics and non-Catholics of CARM recycling disproven arguments to substantiate their claims of heresy on the part of the Catholic Church. CARM is often criticized for ignoring corrections from Catholic sources and persisting in the same teachings about Catholicism, even when disproven, leading some leading apologists to brand Matt Slick and CARM as "false teachers."


Use of the term "Roman Catholic"

In her book ''Voices of Diversity: Multi-Culturalism in America'', Mary C. Sengstock, a sociologist from Wayne State University, describes the CARM website as one of those continuing a tradition of
religious prejudice Religious intolerance is intolerance of another's religious beliefs or practices or lack thereof. Mere statements which are contrary to one's beliefs do not constitute intolerance. Religious intolerance, rather, occurs when a group (e.g., a so ...
, because it puts forward the view that Catholics are not Christians, citing Slick's essay "Are Roman Catholics Christian?" CARM frequently uses the term " Roman Catholic" as opposed to "Catholic" in referencing Catholicism. "Roman Catholic" is not the official name preferred by the Holy See or
bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in full communion with the Pope as a designation for their faith or institution.McClintock, p. 71, quote: "The name oman Catholic Churchmay be found in a number of Roman Catholic writers, and is generally used in the constitution of those states in which the Roman Catholic Church is recognized as one of the recognized or tolerated State churches. It is, however, not the official name used by the authorities of the Church who rather dislike it, and substitute for it the name 'Catholic' or 'Holy Catholic' Church. The name 'Roman Church' is applied, in the language of the Church, to the Church or diocese of the Bishop of Rome." While in most contemporary contexts using the term does not bear any animosity, the term originated as a pejorative during the Protestant Reformation. Respected
ecclesiologists In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of the ...
note that the term is most commonly used today by anti-Catholic media, and advocate against using the term "Roman Catholic" to refer to the entire Catholic Church.


Trent Horn

In 2017, Catholic apologist Trent Horn of Catholic Answers criticized the popular nondenominational Protestant belief of centering faith on a "personal relationship with Jesus" by referencing an article on CARM written by Matt Slick and Tony Miano. In his article "Protestant Traditions You Won’t Find in the Bible," Horn argued that Protestants like Slick and Miano, who favor praying the
Sinner's Prayer The Sinner's prayer (also called the Consecration prayer and Salvation prayer) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel convinced of the presence of sin in their liv ...
, favor practices not found in the Bible, such as asking God for forgiveness of sins and making Jesus one's "personal Lord and Savior." Horn concluded that considering these facts, even Protestants must be willing to admit that the doctrine of sola scriptura is untrue. CARM did not issue a response, instead choosing to restrict their article from the public. As of December 2020, the article is still restricted. In March 2020, Horn wrote an article for Catholic Answers entitled "Answering the Most Common Objection to the Deuterocanonical Books," a response to a 2009 CARM article by Ryan Turner. In this article, Horn provides a response to CARM's "first and primary objection to the authenticity of the deuterocanonicals." As of December 2020, no response from Turner or CARM could be found on the website.


Ferris Murdock

In March 2019, Catholic apologist Ferris Murdock of ''How To Be Christian'' responded to Matt Slick's article titled "Sola Scriptura." In this article, Slick provided an interpretation the Bible verse 2 Timothy 3:16 to support his view of sola scriptura. In a video posted to YouTube entitled "Christian vs. Protestant on 2 Timothy 3 ound 1: Slick Moves" Murdock provided a logical rebuttal of the entry, claiming that Slick had misinterpreted the verse. Murdock further explained the Catholic belief of why sola scriptura is untrue in the video. As of December 2020, neither Slick nor CARM have offered a response to the video. Slick's writings appeared again on ''How To Be Christian'' in May 2019. The article in dispute was entitled "What does the Bible say about purgatory?" in which Slick argued that his interpretation of 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 rejected the existence of purgatory. In a video entitled "Christian vs. Protestant on 2 Corinthians 5:6-8," Murdock provided a logical rebuttal to Slick's article, arguing that Slick's interpretation of the passage was incorrect. Murdock also provided an explanation of the Catholic position on purgatory. As of December 2020, neither Slick nor CARM have offered a response to the video.


Mormon

The Scholarly & Historical Information Exchange for Latter-Day Saints accuses the site of rehashing old
anti-Mormon Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The term is often used to describe people or literat ...
material.


Publications

* * * *


See also

* Christian countercult movement *
List of Christian apologetic works This is a list of Christian apologetic works. Antiquity *''Apologia prima'' (English: ''First Apology'') (c. 150-155) by Justin Martyr *''Apologia secunda'' (English: '' Second Apology'') (c. 150-57) by Justin MartyrDullesp. 31-42 ff./ref> *'' ...


References


External links

* {{Opposition to NRMs Calvinist organizations established in the 20th century Charities based in New York (state) Christian charities based in the United States Christian countercult organizations Christian websites Meridian, Idaho Christian organizations established in 1995 simple:Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry