 |
| David Scaer made a point of belittling the Maier family, including Dr. Walter A. Maier Senior. The late WAM II is on the left. Read Scaer's autobiographical confession of sins, utterly lacking in contrition. A reader added - "The Maier family are the true Lutherans. The Calvinists have completely taken over Missouri. Same with WELS ELS etc." |
From David Becker:
"Dr. Walter Maier Jr. has often been mentioned in the context of his father, sons or brother, but he had a noteworthy ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in his own right. Some of the controversies have not been mentioned in obituaries of Dr. Maier Jr. These will be discussed briefly here, based on the public record and not so much on personally knowing Dr. Maier Jr., though I did meet and speak with him once. These remarks are personal views, not necessarily shared by others.
In Pastor Herman Otten's book about Dr. Maier Jr.'s father, Lutheran Hour speaker Walter Maier, Walter A. Maier Still Speaks: Missouri and the World Should Listen (2008), Pastor Otten noted among other things, "Walter Maier Jr.'s signature is the first to appear under Crossroads, a document supported by conservatives concerned about the growth of theological liberalism in the LCMS." This 1970s document played a significant role in sparking liberals to leave the LCMS, shown most in the exodus from Concordia Seminary St. Louis and the formation of Seminex.
Otten continued, "An unfortunate controversy developed in the LCMS when Maier expressed opposition to the doctrine of objective justification. CN had good friends on both sides and suggested that all listen to Dr. Kurt Marquart who had worked out some sort of unity statement with Maier. CN supported the position which Kurt Marquart, Robert and Jack Preus took in the controversy, but deplored that Jack Preus was using Maier's position for an excuse to get rid of Maier."
In Jim Burkee's history book, Power Politics and the Missouri Synod, Burkee didn't buy that former LCMS President Jack Preus's opposition to Maier was motivated by doctrinal concerns at all. Maier Jr. got elected to the LCMS presidium but was never elected LCMS president. The direction of the LCMS might have been drastically different had Maier Jr. gotten elected in 1981 instead of Ralph Bohlmann.
Otten went on, "CN expressed regrets when Walter Maier Jr., who was being influenced by LCMS President Ralph Bohlmann, signed a resolution with Bohlmann attacking Robert Preus as an impenitent sinner who should be removed from the LCMS. CN urged all members of the LCMS's Praesidium, who signed the Bohlmann inspired resolution, to withdraw their signatures." I had occasion to meet Dr. Maier Jr. at a Lutheran Laymen's League convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan around that time. In conversation with him then, without specific reference to anyone, he told me that he needed to follow his conscience as to what he believed was right regardless of what criticism he got.
Dr. David Scaer, long time Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne professor who has heavy Romanizing tendencies, discussed Maier Jr. at some length in his massive book released earlier this year, Surviving the Storms (the volume has been highly praised by Logia and Gottesdienst). Dr. Scaer depicted Dr. Maier Jr. as doing a horrendously bad job in leadership at the seminary after Robert Preus left. Subsequent leaders at CTSFW leaders have been more to Scaer's liking. According to Scaer, the whole Maier family remains suspect and guilty of false doctrine. Scaer wrote among other things, "Support for Walter A. Maier II as synod president cannot be ruled out as a reason for Jack Preus asking his brother Robert to handle Maier II’s doctrine of justification. Relations between the Preus brothers were not without their rough spots. Yet both Robert Preus and Jack Preus could not accept what they saw as the denial of objective justification by both Walter Maier I and his son Walter Maier II. His views also became an issue
in September 1989 with the calling of Walter Maier III, whose views were seen by some faculty members as virtually identical with his father’s view. Neither understood this doctrine according to traditional Missouri Synod definitions."
Dr. Scaer also expressed implied disapproval that Dr. Maier Jr. delivered the opening sermon at Camp Trinity, New Haven, Missouri in the 1970s. "Complicating matters was that Maier’s position may have been held by those who thought of themselves as conservatives in working for a change at the St. Louis seminary. Christian News editor Herman Otten factored into Jack Preus’s election as synod president and had supported Robert Preus in his attempt to be retained as the Fort Wayne seminary president. Otten had written his master of sacred theology thesis on the Lutheran Hour speaker’s social views and maintained a personal connection by inviting his widow, Hulda Maier (1890–1986), and then his son Walter II to speak at inaugural events at Camp Trinity in New Haven, Missouri." Scaer seems to suggest that it was alarming that Maier Jr. and his mother did that.
Independent Lutheran pastor Dr. Greg Jackson, blogger and author of numerous books, has in recent years strongly supported Dr. Maier Jr., stating on October 28 that opposition to Maier Jr.'s theology was "demonic" and "guilty in destroying the LCMS."
None of this comes up in the many kind and warm remembrances of Dr. Maier Jr. on Facebook. One person commented simply, "Dr. Maier was a humble and vibrant servant of God!"
Dr. Maier Jr.'s obituary lists the traditional Lutheran TV program, "Worship Anew," as a suggested memorial outlet."
