Paul L. Maier

The Rev. Dr. Paul L. Maier serves as Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University. He began his teaching career after earning degrees at Harvard University (M.A., 1954), Concordia Seminary (M.Div, 1955), and his doctorate (summa cum laude) at the University of Basel in 1957, where he studied under Karl Barth and Oscar Cullmann. He also held a Fulbright Fellowship for study at the University of Heidelberg. Voted as one of America’s outstanding teachers of the year in 1974/75 and 1984 by the Washington-based Council for Advancement and Support of Education, his teaching career inspiring the students of Western Michigan now spans four decades.

As one of the many awards he has received across his career, Professor Maier was presented an honorary Doctor of Letters from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1995. Few honorary degrees could come so close to representing reality, for, truly, Paul Maier is a gifted man of letters and words. He is a profound interpreter of the Christian message and heritage, and many different audiences have been moved by his words.

Dr. Maier is a specialist in correlating the New Testament with data from the ancient world. His book about Jesus and early Christianity, In the Fullness of Time—a Historian looks at Christmas, Easter and the Early Church (Kregel, 1998), was a best seller and widely syndicated in national newspapers. Paying attention to the roots of Christianity, Paul translated from the Greek a new full-color edition of the writings of Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, entitled Josephus—the Essential Writings (Kregel, 1995), followed by a similar book, Eusebius—the Church History (Kregel, 1999). He has carried these exacting standards to video in his eight part series for home and church use, “Jesus, Legend or Lord?”, and “The Odyssey of Paul”.

The ancients of most cultures have known that “telling a good story” is one of the best ways of conveying information. Paul Maier has not avoided taking his hand to writing fiction, and the documentary novel became his medium. Doubleday published his first novel about the politics behind Jesus crucifixion, Pontius Pilate (1968). The Flames of Rome (Doubleday, 1981), depicts how Christianity came to Rome and the reasons for Nero’s persecutions of the early Christians. His latest fiction is a theological thriller that climbed to the number one position in the category of religious fiction, A Skeleton in God’s Closet (Thomas Nelson, 1994).

Professor Maier considers children one of his most important audiences. The Very First Christmas (Concordia Press, 1999) received a Gold Medallion Award. This was followed the next year by The Very First Easter (Concordia Press, 2000). As a son for his father, Paul Maier wrote the biography and collected works of the late Rev. Dr. Walter Maier, the founding speaker of the “The Lutheran Hour” radio broadcasts. The books are entitled A Man Spoke, a World Listened (McGraw-Hill, 1963) and The Best of Walter Maier (Concordia Press, 1980).

Dr. Maier travels and lectures widely, appearing frequently in national radio, television, and newspaper interviews, and has published more than 200 articles and reviews in general and professional journals. He married Joan M. Ludtke in 1967, and they have four daughters: Laura (b. 1968), Julie (b. 1970), Krista (b. 1979), and Katherine (b. 1982).