Bryan R. Wilson, born 1926, is the Reader Emeritus in Sociology at the University of Oxford and was President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion between 1971 and 1975. He died on 9 October 2004. 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

Wilson has exercised a formative influence on the sociology of religion in Britain. He has made a decisive contribution to the sociology of religion in the areas of sectarian religion and secularization, and has set the research agenda for sociology of religion throughout the world. His papers and books provide a thought provoking study on the subject of apostates and apostasy. Apostasy (Greek απο, apo, away, apart, στασις, stasis, standing) is the formal renunciation of ones religion. ...

He has been described as "one of the most distinguished sociologists of the 20th century." He has exercised "a crucial influence on the sociology of religion, not only through his many publications but also through the generations of his graduate students. His 1959 'An Analysis of Sect Development' in the American Sociological Review and his book Sects and Society (Heinemann 1961) - a study of the Elim Churches, the Christadelphians, and Christian Science (based on his doctoral thesis at the London School of Economics) - may be regarded as representing the beginning of contemporary academic study of new religious movements, to which Wilson later contributed its influential The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society (Oxford University Press 1990). He was also a pioneer of studies of millennialism, many years before this field achieved its present visibility, in Magic and the Millennium (Heinemann 1973)."

"Wilson will also be remembered as one of the most prominent academic champions of religious liberty in the 20th century. He defended new religious movements and other minorities against the various waves of international anti-cult campaigns, for no other personal reason than his passionate love for freedom and justice, since he defined himself as an atheist." (Massimo Introvigne, Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions, "In Memoriam: Bryan Ronald Wilson, 1926-2004") [1]

He has conducted research into minority religious movements in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ghana, Kenya, Belgium and Japan. His work has involved reading the publications of these movements and, wherever possible, associating with their members in their meetings, services, and homes.

His most recent research has focused on the relationship between minority religious groups, the state, and the law.