Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Jerald C. Brauer completed bachelor's and ministerial degrees before going on to receive a doctorate in the history of Christianity at the Divinity School, University of Chicago, in 1948. From 1948 to 1950, he taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he was an assistant to Paul Tillich. He served on the faculty of the Divinity School, University of Chicago, from 1950 until his death, and as Dean of the Divinity School from 1955-1970. He co-edited the quarterly academic journal Church History (1962-1997) and wrote extensively on Puritanism and the history of Christianity in America. He was ordained as a pastor in the Lutheran Church in America.