Joel Pless

Joel Pless is a Theology Professor at Wisconsin Lutheran College with additional adjunct responsibilities at Martin Luther College. His educational background includes an AA and BA from Concordia College (Ann Arbor), MDiv and STM from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, and PhD from Concordia Seminary (St. Louis).

Research interests span several theological and historical domains:

• Historical-critical biblical interpretation methods
• American Lutheranism during the Civil War
• Doctrinal development in Lutheran theology
• Biographical studies of theological figures
• Near Eastern/Greco-Roman archaeology

He has authored significant works on the 1974 Concordia Seminary controversy, Lutheranism in the Civil War, and George Stoeckhardt's doctrine of ministry. Additional research examines Wernher von Braun's career and 19th-century theologian Johann Wilhelm Friedrich Höfling. Dr. Pless leads Mediterranean study tours focused on biblical history and geography.