Q. What is NCAY's View of Matt Slick's CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry) and James Patrick Holding's Tektonics? Would you recommend these for those interested in pursuing an apologetics ministry?

A. As far as CARM is concerned, not unless you want to convert to Calvinism and lead others to the same! Having said that, though, there is a lot of good material there but you need to have the theological expertise to sift out the Calvinism from all the rest to make good use of it. Matt Slick has done an impressive job, though, the fruit of a life's dedication. Though he does acknowledge Arminianism as part of the orthodox Christian family of denominations, it must be clearly understood that this is within the (here) unspoken Spurgeonite framework of "Calvinism is the Gospel, and the Gospel is Calvinism"...exclusively, like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and others who say the same thing about their religions. If you have a good understanding of Calvinism and how it works, and have a properly functioning theological immune system against it, then you will most likely find some useful materials in CARM, as I have.

Tektonics is another kettle-of-fish entirely. Its founder and creator of the massive website of the same name (an impressive feat like CARM), J.P.Holding, an ex-prison librarian, cartoonist and minister (though of what denomination I haven't been able to find out), is hard to pin down. We had an unpleasant interaction with him a few years ago, when he accused us of being the 'Jello Church', but it would seem we are far from being alone. And though he is intellectually a defender of Christianity his attitude reminds me of the approach most atheists take with their opponents - brain, brawn and sarcasm, but little else. Not inappropriately he has been accused of being a cyberbully. If you want to know more about his career and libel suits against him, read the article about him in Rational Wiki. What troubles me is he maintains adamently that his only object in life is to correct inaccuracies about historical Christianity and not to convert anyone! So it is doubtful Holding is an 'apologist' in the way Slick is for Calvinism. And yet there is a lot of good material on his website. One thing I do agree with him is his maintaining that the Bible cannot be properly interpreted without undertanding its contexts. Where I think his greatest contribution lies is in his rebutals of atheism. More's the pity he picked up some atheist attitudes along the way.

If you are willing to turn off your Calvinism Detection Sensor, then CARM is for you...and Calvinism. If you are willing to turn off your heart and enjoy sarcasm and a degree of arrogance, then Tektonics is for you. I have had occasion to use both websites in the past but I have only ever gone to CARM with my Calvinism Detection Unit maximally tuned and to Tektonics with my heart and spirit behind an intellectual wall. So by all means use these websites but do so with great care. You might end up a misguided Calvinist, or a rather cockey intellectual Christian who doesn't want to witness.