Back in the day when blogs were an unknown quantity, the Rev. Paul McCain invented something called Cyberbrethren. It began as an emailed sort of electronic newsletter of his thoughts. It evolved into a mighty blog that passionately promoted Confessional Lutheranism, the offerings of Concordia Publishing House (the chief publishing arm of Confessional Lutheranism), and a perspective on events in the news (slanted, as you might expect, to the right). Paul has retired his blog and gone on to other pursuits but Lutheranism cannot forget his good efforts and the way he brought the internet to bear for the cause of Lutheranism. Whether you loved him or loved to hate him or somewhere in between, Paul's blog was a must read for many years.
I have known Paul for many years and I thought it might be time to say a public thank you to him. I know I would not have this blog were it not for Paul's example. He is not retired. He remains a powerful force within Concordia Publishing House (the premier Lutheran publishing house in the world today) and will probably be on the forefront of something else down the road. So, Paul, here's to you. Thank you!!
8 comments:
I was hooked the minute I went on Cyberbrethren and miss it a lot. Thanks, Rev McCain for all your insights you shared with us.
Btw, the name has already been taken over by another.
It really is too bad that he couldn't keep the site up after he stopped posting new materials. There was a lot of good stuff on there.
Here are links to access Cyberbrethren for the years
2004 - 2008: https://web.archive.org/web/20040201000000*/http://paulmccain.worldmagblog.com/
2009 - 2014: https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://cyberbrethren.com
Select an appropriate year/date and then chose from the Cyberbrethren Archives.
Occasionally the Wayback Machine will draw a blank.
He was good as long as he didn't get his Irish up. (BTW that's a joke)
His blog was often a good read, but if you disagreed with him, you were vociferously and, very often, uncharitably insulted and denigrated. His treatment of pastors who left the LCMS was filled with vitriol, slander and were almost threatening. He made it a point to find out who was discussing his posts and then comment on their blogs as if to control every bit of discussion. In short, Mr. McCain's (I dare not call him Pastor; that's an insult to the other pastors in the LCMS) absence from the blogosphere will be a blessing. Now he can concentrate all his negativity in finding vitriolic things to publish for Concordia House. If he is the person the LCMS wants to have as the face of its doctrinal catalog, the LCMS will continue to be fractured, not between liberals and conservatives but between conservatives and confessionals. --Chris
Thank you Rev. McCain, I enjoyed Cyberbrethren. Learned a lot.
Chris can have his opinion but even as bitter as he is he admits Paul provided a good read. That said I do not think Chris understands the tensions in the LCMS over doctrine and practice that ignite the passions of many including the author of this blot. Paul saw this first hand as assistant to then Pres. Al Barry. Kudos Paul and thanks.
Pastor Peters,
I was wondering what had happened there. Thanks for this post filling those of us in who live under rocks.
+Nathan
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