Warren Carter is an

exegete Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

specializing in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, as well as the Greek New Testament in general. Born in New Zealand and now living in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Carter's education consists of a Ph.D. (New Testament), from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

; a B.D., Th.M., from

Melbourne College of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university with a specialised focus in divinity and associated disciplines. It is constituted by twelve theological colleges from seven denominations and three schools. The University of Di ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; as well as a B.A. Hons, from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, New Zealand. An ordained New Zealand Baptist minister with membership in the Disciples of Christ, Carter is currently the LaDonna Kramer Meinders Professor of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary. Before coming to Phillips in 2019, Carter was on the faculty at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, TX and, prior to that, at

Saint Paul School of Theology Saint Paul School of Theology (SPST) is a United Methodist seminary in Leawood, Kansas, United States. In addition to the Kansas City area campus at Church of the Resurrection, Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University has be ...

in Kansas City. After Carter's first year on the faculty at Brite Divinity School, he received the 2008 Louise Clark Brittan Endowed Faculty Excellence Award (an award voted on by the student body).Brite eNews
/ref> He received the award three more times.

Carter appeared in ''Fall From Grace'', a documentary directed by K. Ryan Jones in 2007 in which the history, theology, culture, and psychology of the
Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American unaffiliated Primitive Baptists, Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group and a cult, and is known for Prot ...
and of
Fred Phelps Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American Minister (Christianity), minister and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, ...
are addressed. Carter appears in the film to offer a different, more contextually sensitive view of the scriptures that the church relies on in order to put forward its radically anti-homosexual viewpoint. Carter explains that homosexuality is only mentioned a total of three times in the New Testament, showing that the scripture was fairly unconcerned with the matter and that Phelps's virulence is out of proportion with its textual sources. Carter goes on to point out that these passages were in reference to
pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...
, which would today be rightly identified as child molestation. Carter goes on to point out that loving and mutual homosexual relationships of the sort we see today were either nonexistent or rare in the 1st century.

Selected works

* ''John and Empire: Initial Explorations'' (New York: T & T Clark International, 2008). * ''Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist'', Expanded Revised Edition (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004). * ''Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a Roman Governor'', Interfaces (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003). * ''O Evangelho de sao Mateus'' (São Paulo, Brazil: Paulus, 2003). * ''Matthew and Empire: Initial Explorations'' (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001). * ''New Proclamation: Year A, 2001-2002'', co-authored with D. Jacobson, C.J. Dempsey, J.P. Heil (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2001). * ''Matthew and the Margins: A Religious and Socio-Political Reading'' (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000). * ''Matthew's Parables: Audience-Oriented Perspectives'', co-authored with J. P. Heil, Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series, no. 30 (Washington DC: Catholic Biblical Association, 1998). * ''Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist'' (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Warren American male non-fiction writers American biblical scholars Living people American people of New Zealand descent Princeton Theological Seminary alumni American Christian theologians Victoria University of Wellington alumni Methodist theologians American United Methodist clergy New Zealand biblical scholars Methodist biblical scholars 1940 births