Matt Slick
Matthew J. Slick is the creator and webmaster of the Christian website "Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry" (CARM). Slick is a Protestant presuppositional apologist and a leader in the counter-cult movement. He considers it his mission to "answer opposition to the Christian faith," which in his view includes all non-Christian worldviews and non-Protestant denominations of Christianity, including Catholicism (though he believes many individual Catholics are saved) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Biography
Slick describes his upbringing as "nominally Christian," and asserts he was "mixed up in the occult" during that period. Slick graduated from Concordia University in Irvine, California with a Bachelors in Social Science in 1987 and from Westminster Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in 1991, at approximately age 35. Slick's interest in apologetics and cults began after he was "outraged" by a quote from Joseph Smith. Slick has written a short autobiography on CARM. Slick is married with children, and has lived in Boise, Idaho since August 2004.[1]
Religious views
Slick is an Evangelical Christian. More specifically, Slick describes himself as "a five point Calvinist, amillennial, post-tribulation rapture, pseudobaptist (not for salvation), non-cessationist, and covenantal."
Radio show
In January 2006, Slick launched a daily one hour radio show. It is aired on 790 AM in Boise, Idaho and is also broadcast over the internet via "Faith and Reason." On the show, he interviews guests, takes live calls, and teaches on various apologetics topics.
Works
Books and writings
Slick has written a book entitled Right Answers for Wrong Beliefs, ISBN 1-85240-279-2 (2002 Sovereign World) as well as a 1,125 page notebook that contains much of the information from his website. He also publishes the entire content of the CARM website on CD.
Webpages
Slick is the founder and president of CARM. He is also an administrator on the discussion forums at CARM. He created CARM, a non-profit organization, to be a resource for information on groups he considers to be cults and on other issues relating to Christianity. He also operates the Calvinist Corner, which gives information relating to Calvinism and his personal beliefs.
Criticism
Some aspects of Slick's apologetic materials have been critically discussed by Douglas Cowan in his sociological survey of the Christian countercult movement.[2] Slick issued a written response to Cowan's article,[3] and he claims to have left a message offering to discuss the issues with Cowan in person and to have not received a response.[4]
In addition, several online articles present detailed counterarguments to some of Slick's articles on CARM's website,[5] and Slick has replied to them also.[6]
In 2001, Slick closed down CARM's Universalist discussion board and banned all discussion of Universalism from the other CARM boards, citing examples of derogatory statements by some Universalists.[7] In response John W. Ratcliff created in 2004 the alternate forum called Atheist Apologetics Research Ministry to allow discussion of any topic without constraint.
See also
References
- ^ "Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry". CARM convention 2004. Retrieved June 12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ [http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/cowan.htm "From Parchment to Pixels: The Christian Countercult on the Internet"]
- ^ "Cesnur knocks CARM"
- ^ "Wikipedia on Matt Slick"
- ^ "Katholon". Slick's Sleight of Hand. Retrieved August 18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) "Biblical Studies". Matt Slick. Retrieved August 18.{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Another response to criticism of 'Is atheism viable?'" and "An answer to another response to the Transcendental Argument"
- ^ See Samples of Universalist Posts from the Universalism discussion board.
External links
- CARM - Matt Slick's Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website.
- The Calvinist Corner - Slick's personal website.
- Slick's Response to Wikipedia article.
- AARM -An unmoderated forum whose members are generally critical of Slick.
- CARM Response to AARM - Response from Matt Slick to quotes on AARM website discussion boards.
- Slick Lies - a Muslim article critical of Slick.
- Response From Matt Slick and CARM
- Response From Matt Slick to Evangelical Outreach
Bibliography
Cowan, Douglas E., Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult, Westport & London: Praeger, 2003.