I have two letters from Paul T. McCain, written on his parish letterhead, from St. Paul Lutheran Church, Waverly, Iowa. He was serving his first and only parish, running Al Barry's successful campaign for the synod president's office (1992), working covertly with Herman Otten to leak materials in advance. Al Barry's publications appeared as if by magic in Christian News, building support for the relatively unknown DP. McCain and Otten denied working with other, continuing to do so covertly when Barry made Paul his assistant in 1992.
Barry hailed from four (4) synods: an orthodox leaning group in the Twin Cities, the Little Sect on the Prairie, a brief stop for vicarage in the WELS, and finally the LCMS.
McCain reviewed Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure (favorably) for Christian News. He wrote on November 4, 1991:
I apologize for the personal reflections in my review which apparently incurred even more wrath towards you from your administrators. That was not my intention. I was totally unaware of the pressure on you when I made the remark that the WELS would be wise not to "squander" your influence. In retrospect and with your letter I now feel it was a Providential remark.
McCain also wrote on November 23, 1991:
I am completely confused by the charge of slander some level at you for challenging certain theological positions. I suppose that it is possible to do this in an offensive manner, but I have read many of your articles and have always considered them to be objective. You never get "personal" or attack individuals on a peronal level. Why have we so completely lost our stomach for polemics?
***
GJ - Twenty years later, I teach and publish the same doctrine as I did then. I have an illustration for all those Syn Conference friends who are so distant now, including many not-so Intrepid Lutherans.
A farmer was driving his wife to the market in their truck. She asked, "Why don't we sit together in the truck, the way we used to when we first got married."
The farmer answered, "I ain't moved."
I have learned a lot more about the Scriptures and Confessions, thanks to a constant barrage of attacks from the so-called conservative Lutherans. McCain is ample proof that a shape-shifter thrives in today's Age of Apostasy.
