Robinson was appointed chairman of the Department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1991, although he has been part of BYU's faculty since 1986. Robinson received a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Ancient Scripture from BYU. He received a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Duke University and was tenured at Lycoming College after teaching religion there, at Hampden-Sydney College, and Duke. Robinson also served as chairman of the Religion Department at Lycoming. He has two popular books, Are Mormons Christians? and Believing Christ.

Robinson came to the center of a conflict between the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and publisher Signature Books, through his critical review of the writing of Dan Vogel as being patterned after the teachings of Korihor, an atheist orator in the Book of Mormon. According to Daniel C. Peterson, then editor of the FARMS Review, FARMS tried to quiet the attack by Signature Books down by emphasizing that the attack was on the writings and not the beliefs or character of the authors reviewed.

• Are Mormons Christians?, 1991
• Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News, 1992
• Following Christ: The Parable of the Divers and More Good News, 1995
• Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants (4 volumes), 2000—2005
• How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation, 1997 (with Craig L. Blomberg)

Online writings

• Believing Christ, Ensign, Apr. 1992, 5
• The Doctrinal Exclusion: Trinity and the Nature of God, from his book Are Mormons Christians?, Chapter 7
• LDS Differences in Doctrine (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, "Doctrine, LDS Differences")