Robert Louis Wilken (November 20, 1936 – June 6, 2026) was an American historian and former Lutheran minister who was the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity emeritus at the University of Virginia.
Early life and career Robert Louis Wilken was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 20, 1936. He was raised in a Lutheran family and took his religion very seriously, having wanted to become a pastor since childhood.
Wilken attended Concordia College, Concordia Seminary (B.A.) and the University of Chicago (M.A. and Ph.D.). From 1964 to 1967, he worked in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, later in Fordham University, the University of Notre Dame and from 1985 in the University of Virginia. He was the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity emeritus and the Distinguished Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Wilken also was the Lady Doris Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He was an author of numerous books about the history of Christianity. Wilken has focused his research primarily on the early church, church tradition, the Roman view on early Christianity, and on Judaism and its links to early Christianity.
Public lectures In 2008, Wilken delivered the twenty-second Erasmus Lecture, titled Christianity Face to Face with Islam, organized by First Things magazine and the Institute on Religion and Public Life. In his lecture, Wilken explored the historical and theological encounters between Christianity and Islam, examining how the early Church understood and responded to Islam’s rise. He emphasized the need for both intellectual honesty and spiritual confidence in interreligious dialogue. The lecture was later expanded and published as the book Christianity Face to Face with Islam (First Things Books, 2010).
Personal life and death Wilken married Carol Faith Weinhold on June 4, 1960. He had two children. He converted to Catholicism from Lutheran Protestantism.
Wilken died of cancer in New Orleans, on June 6, 2026, at the age of 89.
Membership and awards American Academy of Arts and Sciences; American Historical Association; American Academy of Religion; American Society of Church History; National Endowment for the Humanities grant. The North American Patristics Society;
Selected publications
(Editor) (with Wayne A. Meeks) (Editor, with William R. Schoedel)
References
External links