Robert A. Kraft

Robert A. Kraft
Robert Kraft at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in 1992
Born	1934
Nationality	American
Fields	Early Christianity
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Wheaton College Harvard University

Robert A. Kraft (born 1934) is Berg Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He is known for his pioneering work in the application of computing to the study of ancient literature (including the digitization and coding of ancient texts) and for his significant contributions to the study of early Judaism and early Christianity.

In 1955, Kraft earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (in philosophy) and in 1957 a Master of Arts degree (in New Testament), both from Wheaton College. In 1961 he completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in the History and Philosophy of Religion (Christian Origins). From 1961 to 1963, he was an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Manchester in England, and in 1963 Kraft came to the Department of Religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was made full professor in 1976 and Berg Chair in 1992. Kraft was also a visiting lecturer at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1965-1966.

Kraft is a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS), the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) and the American Society of Papyrologists. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and served as its president in 2006. One of his most significant roles, however, was as co-founder and coordinator of the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins (PSCO), which he established upon coming to Penn in 1963. He was also on the Bible Translation Commission(s) for the Revised Standard (RSV) and New Revised Standard (NRSV) Versions of the Bible.