Born in New Zealand and now living in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Carter's education consists of a Ph.D. (New Testament), from Princeton Theological Seminary; a B.D., Th.M., from Melbourne College of Divinity, Australia; as well as a B.A.
[1] 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.
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 and of Fred Phelps 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.