Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) is an non-profit Christian apologetics organization run and founded by Matt Slick. The organization is dedicated to defending what it considers orthodox Christian beliefs from alleged doctrinal error. It is part of the Christian countercult movement. CARM is known especially for its website, but Slick also attends public speaking engagements and holds conferences under the CARM banner. CARM teaches a variety of conservative Christian beliefs, including strict Biblical inerrancy, a literal Heaven and Hell, and Creationism. [1]

History

CARM was founded in October 1995 by Matt Slick. CARM began as a collection of information Slick had gathered from his studies of other religions and of groups he considers cults, including Unitarian Universalists, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Universalists, and Mormons.

The site then grew to include several more topics related to Christian apologetics and a discussion forum was added. The forum was intended to answer opposition to Christianity, and thus was made open to most faiths and beliefs. The webpage was also translated into several languages.

Facts and figures

• CARM exists in five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Arabic.
• CARM's homepage receives 26,000 mainpage views per week
• CARM receives 12,000 emails per year.
• CARM's discussion forums include 5946 registered users, 41 discussion boards, a shop, and a user profile page.
• CARM is estimated by hitbox.com to be the 14th most visited religion-related website on the Internet.

Self-described mission

According to the "About Carm" page [2] its goals are to:

1. Equip Christians in the truth

• CARM pursues this goal by providing information concerning conservative Protestant views on Christian Doctrine, theology, evangelism, and other subjects. Its aim is to present an accurate and biblical representation of Christianity.

2. Answer opposition to the Christian faith

• CARM pursues this goal by documenting the beliefs of what it considers to be aberrant or cult-like religious groups, as well as alternative religious systems, and then comparing these beliefs to its own mainstream Protestant interpretation of the Christian Bible.

3. Bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus

• CARM pursues this goal by presenting and defending the traditional view of Jesus Christ's identity and message, and by comparing the alternative interpretations of the same.

Perspectives

Critics of CARM commonly complain about CARM's forums' rules, which they consider confusing, ambiguous, and subjective. Another common complaint is that CARM's administration uses moderation to diminish opposition to Evangelical beliefs.

Supporters of CARM consider CARM a viable and effective environment for discussing a wide variety of both Christian and secular topics, and argue that the majority of users on CARM's forums have no difficulty understanding and abiding by its rules.

External links

Official websites

• CARM website
• CARM's forum

Neutral

• Christian Countercult Website Profiles
• Overview of Christian Countercult movement
• Counter Cult Movement at Religious Tolerance

Supportive

• My Journey, Your News - An evangelical blog that endorses CARM.
• Apologetics Index - An apologetics site similar to CARM.