Robert Lewis Dabney (March 5, 1820 – January 3, 1898) was a Southern Presbyterian pastor and theologian, Confederate army chaplain, and architect from Virginia.

Dabney and James Henley Thornwell were two of Southern Presbyterianism's most influential scholars.

[4][5][6] His brother, Charles William Dabney (1809–1895) was the captain of Company C, 15th Virginia Infantry Regiment.

[8] Dabney served as a missionary in Louisa County, Virginia, from 1846 to 1847 and pastor at Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church from 1847 to 1853, being also head master of a classical school for a portion of this time.

In 1867, he published A Defense of Virginia, and Through Her, of the South, in Recent and Pending Contests Against the Sectional Party, an apologia for slavery.

In 1868, he delivered "Ecclesiastical Relation of Negroes", a speech advocating for white supremacy in the church.

By 1894, failing health compelled him to retire from active life, although he still lectured occasionally.