There is no question that in the 16th century Martin Luther was the prime impetus for a revolution in Western Christianity. But what was his intent at the time? Did he think that he was transforming the church in such a dramatic way, and would he have wanted this to happen?
Mark A. Granquist is the Lloyd and Annelotte Svendsbye Professor of the History of Christianity at Luther Seminary, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to this he taught in the Religion Department at St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota (1992-2000) and at Gustavus Adolphus College, St Peter, Minnesota (2000-2007). Granquist has served in parish ministry or Lutheran higher education since his ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in 1988. He was pastor of youth and education at Bethel Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minn., 1988-1992, and has served several times as an interim pastor in local congregations.
A 1979 graduate of St Olaf College, Granquist received his MDiv from Yale University Divinity School in 1984, and his PhD degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1992. He serves as the editor of the Luther Seminary Journal Word & World and of the Journal of the Lutheran Historical Conference, and has been active with the Journal Lutheran Quarterly.
His publications include A History of Christianity in America (Baker, 2025), A History of Luther Seminary, 1869-2019 (Fortress, 2019), Lutherans in America: A New History (Fortress, 2013), Scandinavian Pietists: Spiritual Writings from 19th-century Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland (Classics of Western Spirituality, 2015), and The Augustana Story: Shaping Lutheran Identity in North America, (Fortress, 2008). He is one of the editors of the Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions (Baker Academic, 2017), and the author of many book chapters, articles and essays, especially on the history of Lutherans in North America.
