Charles Kimball

Charles Kimball is Presidential Professor and Director of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. Between 1996 and 2008, he served as Chair of the Department of Religion (1996-2004) and professor of comparative religion in the Department of Religion and the Divinity School at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. During the 2006 fall term, Dr. Kimball was the Rita and William Bell Visiting Professor at The University of Tulsa. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and holds the M.Div. degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. An ordained Baptist minister, he received his Th.D. from Harvard University in the comparative religion with specialization in Islamic studies. Prof. Kimball's courses at OU include "Introduction to Religious Studies," "Comparative Religion," “World Religions in America,” "Conceptions of the Afterlife," “Religion and Politics in the Middle East,” and "Islam." He is a frequent lecturer in universities and church-related settings as well as an expert analyst on the Middle East, Islam, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, and the intersection of religion and politics in the U.S. Dr. Kimball taught for six years at Furman University where he also served as the Director for International Education. From 1983-1990 he was the Director of the Middle East Office at the National Council of Churches, based in New York. He lived in Egypt in 1977-78, has made more than 35 visits to the Middle East and worked closely with Congress, the White House and the State Department during the past 25 years. His articles have appeared in a number of publications, including Sojourners, The Christian Century, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Globe. He is the author of five books, including When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics and Religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2011). His previous book, When Religion Becomes Evil (HarperOne, rev. ed. 2008),was named one of the “Top 15 Books on Religion” by Publishers Weekly and one of the top ten books of the year by the Association of Parish Clergy. It has been published in Swedish, Indonesian, Korean and Danish translations. His three other books are: Striving Together: A Way Forward in Christian-Muslim Relations (Orbis Books), Religion, Politics and Oil: The Volatile Mix in the Middle East (Abingdon Press), and Angle of Vision: Christians and the Middle East (Friendship Press). Since the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Dr. Kimball has been interviewed by more than 600 TV and radio stations as well as major newspapers and broadcast outlets throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Australia and South Africa. Charles and Nancy Kimball have two children: Sarah teaches high school math in Raleigh, NC; Elliot is a senior at The University of Oklahoma.