--- title: "4 Paul L. Maier Quotes - Famous Historian" description: "Lutheran Pastor, professor emeritus of ancient history, Apologist and novelist... | Paul L. Maier was an American historian and novelist. He wrote sever..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-paul-l-maier-71223.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Paul L. Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-paul-l-maier-71223.jpg) # Paul L. Maier (1930–2025) Historian **4** quotes in **46** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Paul L. Maier was a historian. ## Quick Facts About Paul L. Maier Born May 31, 1930 Died February 27, 2025 Profession Historian ## About Paul L. Maier Lutheran Pastor, professor emeritus of ancient history, Apologist and novelist... \| Paul L. Maier was an American historian and novelist. He wrote several works of scholarly and popular non-fiction about Christianity and novels about Christian historians. He was the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, from which he retired in 2011, retain ## Quotes by Paul L. Maier > [If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/if-all-the-evidence-is-weighed-carefully-and-fairly-it-is-indeed/) [Paul L. Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-l-maier/) [Archaeology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/archaeology/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/805/paul-l-maier-71223_archaeology_if-all-the-evidence-is-weighed-carefully_422537.jpg) > [“Who set Rome on fire? The man we must admire. For killing his wife, and taking the life of mother and brother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-admire-for-killing-his-wife-and/) [Paul L. Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-l-maier/) [Admire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/admire/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/paul-l-maier-71223_admire_who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-adm_537108.jpg) > [“It is better to let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are-a-fool-than-to-open-your/) [Paul L. Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-l-maier/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/paul-l-maier-71223_remove-all-doubt_it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are_1499937.jpg) > [If there were even one spark of evidence from antiquity that Jesus even may have gotten married, then as a historian, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/if-there-were-even-one-spark-of-evidence-from-antiquity-that-jesus/) [Paul L. Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-l-maier/) [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/879/paul-l-maier-71223_absence_if-there-were-even-one-spark-of-evidence_1661652.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-l-maier/#itemlist", "name": "Paul L. 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For killing his wife, and taking the life of mother and brother and so many others, while plucking his damnable lyre.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul L. Maier" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-admire-for-killing-his-wife-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/paul-l-maier-71223_admire_who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-adm_537108.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/paul-l-maier-71223_admire_who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-adm_537108.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/paul-l-maier-71223_admire_who-set-rome-on-fire-the-man-we-must-adm_537108.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who set Rome on fire? The man we must admire. For killing his wife, and taking the life of mother and…” — Paul L. 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Maier" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-maier/it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are-a-fool-than-to-open-your/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/paul-l-maier-71223_remove-all-doubt_it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are_1499937.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/paul-l-maier-71223_remove-all-doubt_it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are_1499937.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/649/paul-l-maier-71223_remove-all-doubt_it-is-better-to-let-people-think-you-are_1499937.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is better to let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” — Paul L. Maier", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If there were even one spark of evidence from antiquity that Jesus even may have gotten married, then as a historian, I would have to weigh this evidence against the total absence of such information in either Scripture or the early church traditions. But there is no such spark-not a scintilla of evidence-anywhere in historical sources. Even where one might expect to find such claims in the bizarre, second-century, apocryphal gospels...there is no reference that Jesus ever got married.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul L. 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