Visiting scholar to address the Christian roots of religious freedom at Benedictine

Robert Louis Wilken, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and author of several books on Christianity and its history, will lecture at Benedictine University on the Christian roots of religious freedom as part of the Visiting Scholar in Catholic Thought Lecture Series.

Wilken will present "A Loser's Creed" at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, in the St. Benedict Chapel on the fourth floor of Kindlon Hall. He will address "The Church Fathers, Roger Williams and Thomas Jefferson" at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, on the fifth floor of Kindlon Hall.

The lectures are free and open to the public.

Wilken is professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, where he was the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the History of Christianity. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has taught at Notre Dame, Fordham, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum and Gregorian University.

Wilken is the author of 10 books, including "The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity" and "A Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought." His books are popular worldwide and have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Ukrainian, German and Italian.

The Visiting Scholar in Catholic Thought Series is sponsored by the Center for Mission and Identity (CMI) at Benedictine University.

CMI supports the ongoing development of Catholic social teaching and the Catholic intellectual tradition at Benedictine University. CMI works to communicate a common mission, to provide programming that supports the University's Catholic identity and Benedictine heritage, and maintains that tradition while nurturing a culture of lifelong learning, responsible leadership, social engagement, and religious and cultural dialogue within the entire University community.