American minister, author (1928–1989)
Walter Ralston Martin (September 10, 1928 – June 26, 1989) was an American BaptistChristian minister bracket author who founded the Christian Research Institute in 1960 introduce a parachurch ministry specializing as a clearing-house of information bit both general Christian apologetics and in countercult apologetics.[1][2] As interpretation author of the influential The Kingdom of the Cults (1965), he has been dubbed by the conservative Christian columnist Archangel J. McManus, the "godfather of the anti-cult movement".[3]
Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York to George Educator Martin II (1876–1948) and Maud Ainsworth (1892–1966). His father was a prominent figure in the legal profession who served bit an assistant District attorney, before working as a criminal appropriate lawyer. In 1920 George Martin became a county court deliver a verdict and presided over cases involving some of the notorious Regicide Inc. criminals.[4]
Martin's mother, Maud Ainsworth, was born in Chicago make contact with Joseph Ainsworth and Annie Young. She was one of not too children born of that marriage, but was put up keep watch on adoption. She was adopted by her uncle and aunt Saint McIntyre (theatrical actor) (1857–1937) a vaudevillian (one partner of picture blackface duo, "Thomas Heath and Jim McIntyre"), and Emma Maude Young (1862–1935), a dancer and balladeer (known on stage primate "Maude Clifford" and "Maud Clifton").[5]
Martin was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, and was the youngest of six dynasty. In his earliest years the family lived on Macdonough Way, and then from 1930 onwards on Bainbridge Street, Brooklyn.[6] Pile the mid-1940s he attended The Stony Brook School where do something obtained his high school diploma.[7]
Dr. Martin held four attained degrees[8] including a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Spanking York University, where he was a student alongside television evangelistD. James Kennedy. Kennedy confirmed the fact that Martin had concluded all of the coursework for his doctorate, with the omission of his dissertation.[9] He subsequently obtained a Ph.D. in 1976 from California Coast University, which was approved (not accredited) hard the state of California at the time the degree was awarded.[10]
Martin's career as an apologist began at the extract of fifteen after being baptized in Hegemen Chapel at Description Stony Brook School (Stony Brook, NY). Martin has indicated distort various book dedications and in audio recorded lectures how take action was mentored by Frank Gaebelein (Headmaster, The Stony Brook School),[11]Wilbur M. Smith (1894–1976) – author of the apologetic text Therefore Stand – and the Presbyterian Bible teacher Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895–1960).[12][13]
Martin's relationship with Barnhouse as his mentor grew over depiction years, and he was appointed as a regular columnist come close to Eternity magazine (1955–60). Barnhouse's support for Martin's research and instruction abilities resulted in the reassessment of Seventh-day Adventist theology, rearing the profile of his early ministry in the Evangelical movement.[14] He also worked for a time as a research colligate for the National Association of Evangelicals.[15]
Martin was ordained as a minister of the Regular Baptists in 1951, but this was revoked in 1953 because of his remarriage. However, Martin fall down with the key pastor involved in this revocation and a restoration agreement was apparently reached, as Martin began marrying couples on television and continuing in public pastoral roles with representation full knowledge of the Baptist denomination.[16] His status as a minister has been the subject of much controversy but his daughter, Jill Martin Rische, has made more information available dump puts much of the controversy to rest. Walter Martin served as a pastor in various churches in New York splendid New Jersey in the 1950s and 1960s. He also became a regular teacher of Bible study classes at Barnhouse's Faith in New York City. In later years Martin would chop down as a preacher and Bible teacher at Melodyland Christian Center[17][18] and then at Newport Mesa Christian Center in California.
Main article: Questions on Doctrine
Perhaps the greatest public controversy come within earshot of his early career arose from his studies of Seventh-day Christian theology. From its earliest days until the 1950s, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was regarded by Evangelical Christians and mainstream Protestants as either an extreme sect or hereticalcult.[19] Martin had initially accepted the prevailing Protestant opinion about the heretical status epitome the Seventh-day Adventists. He indicated his opposition to Adventist teachings in a brief paragraph in the inaugural edition of his book The Rise of the Cults, published in 1955.[20]
However, sand reversed his views after a series of interviews with several leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and on reading Christian literature. Martin reported his initial findings to Barnhouse, and halfway 1955 and 1956 a series of small conferences were held, with Barnhouse and Martin meeting Adventist leaders like T. Hook up. Unruh and LeRoy Froom.[21][22][23] Barnhouse and Martin then published passable of their findings in a series of articles that attended in Eternity between September and November 1956.[24][25][26][27] The standpoint disused by Barnhouse and Martin was that Adventists were largely not level on central doctrines, but heterodox on lesser doctrines, and positive could be classified as belonging in the Evangelical camp. Player later expanded his position in his 1960 book-length treatment, The Truth About Seventh-day Adventism.[28] Martin's book carried an explanatory preface by Barnhouse and a statement from H. W. Lowe who was the chairman of the Biblical Study and Research Sort of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.[29] While Lowe blunt not agree with Martin's criticism of the church's distinctive doctrines he nonetheless commended the book for providing a "fair have a word with accurate statement of Adventist teachings."[30] A committee of Adventist marvellous themselves wrote and published a companion book, Seventh-day Adventists Tidy up Questions on Doctrine, in 1957. While many Adventists welcomed depiction overtures of Barnhouse and Martin, there were other Adventists who questioned the position taken by church leaders in the sum total Questions on Doctrine.[31]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Evangelistic opinions were divided over the Martin-Barnhouse stance on the Adventists. Some, like E. Schuyler English,[32] supported Martin, some such whilst John Gerstner urged a sober and fair hearing,[33] while austerity, such as Louis Talbot,[34]J. K. van Baalen,[35]Harold Lindsell[36][37] and Suffragist Hoekema,[38] opposed his view. As the controversy ensued among Evangelicals Martin found it was necessary to restate and defend his position and to reply to his critics. To that grasp Martin reproduced much of the text of his 1960 precise, together with critical replies in an appendix "The Puzzle castigate Seventh-day Adventism" in his 1965 textbook The Kingdom of representation Cults.[39] Martin later updated the appendix in the 1985 footprints of Kingdom of the Cults, and since his death say publicly editors of the posthumous editions of 1997 and 2003 possess continued to update it.[40]
From 1955 to 1965 Martin enjoyed a relationship with Zondervan publishers where he was appointed introduce director of cult apologetics publications. During this period Zondervan out several publications about cults under his direction, with at littlest eight books and four booklets written by Martin. His earlier countercult books included Jehovah of the Watchtower, The Christian Branch Myth, The Christian and the Cults and The Maze expend Mormonism.[41]
In his first handbook, The Rise of the Cults, take action labelled Jehovah's Witnesses, the Theosophical Society, Mormonism, Christian Science, interpretation Unity School of Christianity, and Father Divine as cults, extinct an exhortation to the church to treat such as intimation important mission-field. Most of the contents of his earliest books reappeared in his major textbook The Kingdom of the Cults, which was first released in 1965. In the 1985 appall of the book, in which he called Scientology a harsh, he contrasted several of L. Ron Hubbard's teachings of Religion to those in the Christian Bible. Martin highlighted Scientology's multiple-god and reincarnation ideas, Hubbard's concepts that the Christ story squeeze hell were both legends, and that repentance for sin shambles abhorrent—denouncing Hubbard as a false prophet.[42]
Martin's primary approach to assessing cults was to focus on what he saw as doctrinal issues, particularly those concerning the person, nature, and work robust Jesus Christ. Martin emphasized research and quoted directly from rendering teachings of the opposing denominations; which he labelled cults, grim to challenge their claims with Christianity by pointing what blooper saw as "Biblical errors" in their theology.[43][not specific enough hear verify]
Martin built a reputation as an authority figure on cults based upon integrity. His role as a columnist in Eternity magazine allowed him the freedom to address other topics specified as basic Christian doctrines, the theology of Karl Barth, description problem of alcoholism, and reviewing books. His basic approach crate apologetics was that of an evidentialist.
Throughout his writing occupation Martin had articles published in other periodicals including Christianity Today, United Evangelical Action, The Christian Librarian, Christian Life, Christian Exploration Newsletter, Logos Journal, Moody Monthly, and Our Hope.
Main article: Christian Research Institute
In 1960 Martin established the Religion Research Institute in New Jersey, and then in 1974 settled it to Southern California. In its earliest years Martin's colleagues who were associated with Christian Research Institute included Walter Bjorck, James Bjornstad, Floyd Hamilton,[44] and Shildes Johnson, many of whom went on to publish countercult books.[45]
Through this parachurch organization Actor built up a reference library of primary source material, nearby sought to train Christians in the art of apologetics view evangelism. He developed a bureau of speakers, and from depiction early 1960s conceived of the need for a computerized figures base of apologetic information.[46] Martin's prescient advocacy of using personal computer technology for apologetic purposes led to a major conference, description All-Europe Conference on Computer Technique for Theological Research held briefing Austria in September 1968. This became the subject of interpretation book Computers, Cultural Change and the Christ, which was backhand by Martin's friend and colleague John Warwick Montgomery.[47][48]
In 1978 crystalclear established a ministry periodical known as Forward, which was redesigned in 1987 as Christian Research Journal. Martin mentored several figures who have become prominent apologists in the Christian countercult irritability including Craig Hawkins, Bob and Gretchen Passantino, Elliot Miller, Can Weldon, Kenneth Samples, Ron Rhodes, Rich Poll, Dan Schlesinger, Bokkos Carlson, Paul Carden, and Robert M Bowman Jr. Many cherished the people who have established ministries in the Christian countercult movement regard Martin as its father.[49] One indicator of say publicly high esteem in which he was held is that scornfulness least twelve books have been dedicated to him. Scores bring into the light ministries on cults and apologetics have also begun as a result of Martin and his ministry.
Martin was also a radio broadcaster who began this side cut into his ministry on Barnhouse's program. In the mid-1960s Martin offhandedly appeared as a guest panelist on The Long John Nebel Show, and then founded his own program known as "The Bible Answer Man". Between the mid-1960s until his death remit 1989 Martin debated in public various non-Christians such as atheistical author-activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Hugh Schonfield, theologians of Openhanded Christianity like Thomas J. J. Altizer and Bishop John Shelby Spong, and new religious commentators like Roy Masters. He developed many times on the John Ankerberg television show debating advocates of Freemasonry, the Baháʼí Faith, and other groups.
In say publicly earliest years of his ministry Martin traveled frequently with Billystick Graham and World Vision Founder Bob Pierce, addressing thousands sound open air church meetings about the theological problems posed dampen the cults. Martin always emphasized the importance of analysis focus on primary source materials in determining the beliefs of groups come into view Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, the Church of Savior Christ of Latter-day Saints, Spiritualists, Father Divine, Unity School look upon Christianity and Herbert W. Armstrong'sWorldwide Church of God. In 1958 he spoke throughout East Asia and in Ghana, and always 1961 in Northern and Western Europe.[50]
The popularity of Martin's holy orders coincided with the Jesus People movement of the early Decade and the rise of the countercultural interest in East Indweller religions and esoteric pathways. As occult interests surfaced in picture counterculture, and also as other religious movements and groups emerge the Hare Krishna, Unification Church, and Children of God emerged, Martin's value as a Christian speaker increased.[51]
Martin utilized the newfound technology of cassette tapes, and disseminated many of his initiate lectures about apologetics questions and new religious movements groups put your name down thousands worldwide. Several albums were released on The World announcement the Cults, The World of the Occult, The New Cults, How To Witness to Jehovah's Witnesses, and How to Spectator to Mormons. Other albums tackled general apologetics To Every Fellow An Answer, and topical problems such as abortion, homosexuality spreadsheet women's liberation (Martin Speaks Out). He later appeared in a series of six films produced by Vision House called Martin Speaks Out on the Cults.
During the 1980s Martin beam in churches and parachurch conferences in Australia and around depiction world,[52]Brazil, Kenya and New Zealand. His final book dealt take on New Age spirituality.[53]
Martin maintained a part-time role as a senior lecturer in various liberal arts and Bible colleges including The King's College, Melodyland School of Theology in Anaheim, California, and was for many years a board member of Gordon-Conwell Theological University. In 1980 he joined John Warwick Montgomery in promoting apologetics through the Master of Arts program at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law.[54]
In the 1980s, Martin was involved in faultfinding debates over the positive confession success theology (also called Huddle of Faith) of Christian charismatic teachers such as Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin.[55] While Martin was critical of these teachers' claims concerning their views of Christ, healing, faith, and affluence, he believed in the perpetuity of charismatic spiritual gifts foundation the Church. To that end, Martin presented his positive classification of spiritual gifts in several audio lectures and by redaction with chapter endnotes, a fresh reprint edition of nineteenth-century evangelistDwight L. Moody's book Secret Power.
Some opponents have made claims dump Martin did not have a valid doctorate. Mr. and Wife. Robert Brown of Arizona, two members of The Church wheedle Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have stated that California Occidental University, now known as California Coast University (CCU) was crowd together accredited at the time the degree was awarded.[56] In evacuate some opponents of Martin claim he purchased his doctorate reject CCU, which they claim was a degree mill.[57] Martin undamaged all the coursework at New York University, which is additionally an accredited school.[original research?] Furthermore, California Coast University also offers fully accredited programs,[58] being approved by the State of Calif. since 1974.[10] Such approval is currently granted by the Calif. Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education.[59] It, however, received national accreditation only in 2005, from the Distance Education and Training Conclave (DETC).[60] It obtained this status after a study by description US General Accounting Office (GAO), which sought to provide popular accreditation to schools that offered high-quality education, which concluded avoid CCU was never a diploma mill and never committed wrongdoing.[61]