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Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia.

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Robert Louis Wilken

American historian of Christianity (born 1936)

Robert Louis Wilken (born November 20, 1936)^[1] is an American historian and former Lutheran minister who is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity emeritus at the University of Virginia.

Career

Robert Louis Wilken was born in New Orleans.^[1]^[2] He was raised in a Lutheran family and took his religion very seriously, having wanted to become a pastor since childhood.^[3]

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. Currently he is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity emeritus^[1] and the Distinguished Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.^[3] Wilken also was the Lady Doris Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[1]

Wilke

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The Christian Origins of Religious Liberty: A Conversation with Historian Robert Louis Wilken

Albert Mohler:This is Thinking in Public, a program dedicated to intelligent conversation about frontline theological and cultural issues with the people who are shaping them. I’m Albert Mohler, your host, and president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Robert Louis Wilken is the William R. Kenan Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia. Dr. Wilken earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Fordham, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition to his long career as a distinguished teacher, Dr. Wilken is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He’s a former president of the American Academy of Religion. He’s a founding member of the North American Patristic Society, and he has also served as chairman of the Institute on Religion and Public Life. He’s often associated with the intellectual circle aro

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Impertinent Questions with Robert Louis Wilken

You describe Jesus as a sage and not a philosopher. What do you see as the difference?

No metaphysics or epistemology in the sayings of Jesus. He spoke about real things that people care about: how to get along with family, neighbors, and friends, about anxiety and fear, about faithfulness, love, generosity, and forgiveness. He taught that what delights our frail hearts brings little real satisfaction. The “ideas” are few, but the examples—the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son—are one of the reasons so many of his stories are remembered.

When and where was the term “Christian” first used?

In Antioch in greater Syria sometime about 40 CE.

Early church figure that you don’t think gets enough love from historians?

Eusebius, bishop in Caesarea on the coast of Palestine (north of present-day Tel Aviv) and the first historian of Christianity. His book, covering people and events of the first four centuries, is an indispensable source even today, because he quotes many ancient writings that are no longer ex