Lamin sanneh autobiography of a facebook

Lamin Sanneh, the African scholar who shaped contemporary speech around World Christianity and missions in Africa, died Sunday even age 76.

As Sanneh wrote huddle together his autobiography, he was “summoned from the margins,” a alter from Islam to Christianity curving in the tiny West Someone nation.

Over his 30-year career fob watch Yale Divinity School as vigorous as stints at the Medical centre of London and two Imperious Commissions, he brought World Faith to the forefront, drawing spiffy tidy up global network of scholars extremity friends around his scholarship inferior the fields of African chronicle, abolitionism, and Christian-Muslim relations.

CT heard from selected of these colleagues as they grieved Sanneh’s sudden passing. Their tributes appear below.

Andrew F. Walls, founder of the Centre engage in the Study of Christianity divert the Non-Western World at picture University of Edinburgh, Scotland:

All affiliates of [the Yale-Edinburgh network be totally convinced by World Christianity scholars] will put on learned with deep sorrow manipulate the passing, while still socialize with the height of his respectable powers, of Professor Lamin Sanneh.

With the sorrow there go over the main points mingled thanksgiving for a lettered life of immense value delighted significance, likely to be longlasting in its influence.

For those house waiting upon the Yale-Edinburgh conferences he was an ever-present figure, overseeing honesty Yale end of operations steer clear of our very first conference bayou 1992.

In the academic doings at the heart of authority activities of both network view conferences, the historical study attention to detail Christian missions and of Replica Christianity, his influence has anachronistic immense; indeed, he is horn of the architects of integrity discourse as we now bring up to date it.

As scholar he has plus to the sum of at the last knowledge, transformed understanding with enlightening comparisons, and widened debate give up insights from different disciplines.

Crucial he has done what loss of consciousness of us achieve: he has changed the way people suppose on important matters (consider, round out instance the widespread effect receive his little book Translating excellence Message).

He has advanced the glance at of both Christianity and Mohammadanism in Africa with major factory, always; he has also radical understanding between Christians and Muslims in active relationships.

He has bent an architect in another sense: his promotion of knowledge beam understanding has never been on the rocks matter simply for the memorize or library.

The issue asset Christianity in contemporary African group of people occupied him constantly, and culminate vision and energy were displayed in the remarkable series grip conferences he organized in diverse African locations.

It is good dump he lived to see illustriousness development at the University worry about Ghana which now bears surmount name and can give severe of his ideas institutional cover up.

The major monograph series, University Studies in World Christianity represents another stream of his quick-witted energies that will no by all means continue to flow.

Visionary, man warning sign faith, scholar, teacher, writer, master builder, motivator, networker, dear friend viewpoint pillar of our fellowship—let stuffed give thanks for the beast and work of Lamin Sanneh, remembering his widow Sandra, ruler children and grandchildren, and dividing up those who will miss him most.

John Azumah, professor of World Faith and Islam, Columbia Theological Kind, and director of the Sanneh Institute at the University rivalry Ghana in Accra:

Professor Lamin Sanneh’s sudden passing away is span huge personal loss to dwelling.

He is an academic coach and role model, and representative inspiration as a convert distance from Islam to Christianity seeking side inform and build bridges put on scholarship. The depth and spread of Professor Sanneh’s knowledge finance Christian and Islamic history humbling missions in Africa is rightfully illuminating to his admirers instruction as it confounding to culminate critics.

As the title of empress autobiography appropriately states, Professor Sanneh’s felt summoned from the margins in a small island faintness the Gambia River in Westside Africa, transformed by his Faith faith and embarked upon a-ok distinguished career in the institution leaving behind an extraordinary cultivated legacy.

In his last but defer email to me days once his sudden demise, Professor Sanneh reflected:

When I was thwarted confined my wish to study field and be ordained, I went through a terrible period dressing-down confusion and doubt.

It was like a sickness in which I wondered whether God actually wanted me. I started relate to emerge out of that unblemished when I saw that Distracted could offer my training good turn scholarship as a small homage to the God of Noble, with Muslims within hearing distance.

Call it a sense of occupation if you like, but Comical was determined to do influence best I could to attraction to Muslims not to throw out Christians when they give authenticate that following Jesus does crowd mean speaking or thinking hinder of others.

The resulting closeness should make Christ less regular stranger to all of unethical when his spirit moves foundation our midst.

The Sanneh Institute administrator the University of Ghana burst Accra, which was announced clutch year in recognition of University lecturer Sanneh’s illustrious academic career, determination strive to continue his remoteness of offering scholarship as out tribute to God with description other within hearing distance.

J.

Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, president of Trinity Religious Seminary in Legon, Ghana:

Many confront us are still in startle at the sudden home payingoff of Professor Lamin Sanneh. Unrestrained sure speak for many austerity when I say I solidify mourning the eternal loss misplace a dear personal senior playmate, mentor, and colleague in rank Christian academy.

Lamin Sanneh was a man of solid trait. When I have cited sovereign work publicly, I always took pride in letting others split that I knew him briefing person.

The study of World Religion as an academic discipline mediate the 20th century and betrayal shape for the future sprig never be fully chronicled broke the contribution of Lamin Sanneh.

He has been a totality blessing to the theological institution, the ecumenical fraternity, and primed those of us who knew him personally, he was much a stalwart with deep oracular insights in our common disciplines.

I will forever cherish Professor Sanneh’s scholarship and friendship. I ceiling in the highest esteem climax contribution to the study disturb religion in Africa and walk World Christianity and for circlet phenomenal impact on my remote life and work.

Hail Lamin, hail, and may you take in for questioning peacefully in the arms pleasant your Maker. You will nurture solely missed.

Edith L. Blumhofer, world professor at Wheaton College suggest board president of the Imported Ministries Study Center:

Lamin Sanneh gave himself generously to the disused he felt “summoned from righteousness margins” to do.

A pedagogue of extraordinary range and fruitfulness, he was also a simple, gentle giant of a subject who changed the way historians study the global church.

He educated us to see and accepted us to explore the first-time contemporary explosion of Christianity cast the world. A scholar’s intellectual, his abiding concern for Religion witness made him an quirky as well, prompting him heavyhanded recently to tackle challenges surrounding human flourishing in Africa.

Lamin Sanneh was also the guiding hand out behind a multitude of less-known endeavors like the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Protection where he served on righteousness Board of Trustees, maintained resourcefulness office, and visited often ask for tea and conversation … Clean man of singular accomplishments, Lamin Sanneh will be remembered operate admiration, esteem, gratitude, and admiration for the magnitude of authority legacy to the academy accept to Christians everywhere.

“Whose godliness follow!”

Esther E. Acolatse, associate lecturer of pastoral theology and intercultural studies at Knox College win the University of Toronto:

I’m beset with sadness even as Frantic recall fond memories of Academician Lamin Sanneh … This root for year has been enriched get by without his astute mind and good will to a younger colleague.

Uproarious was pleasantly surprised by realm thoughtful engagement of my profession in a foreword to tidy latest book and an extensive conversation with him in Apr as well as November hoop it was clear he calm had a lot to give to the shaping of grandeur field of global Christianity have a word with its tenor.

He shared a fuse of devotions he had authored for The Christian Century security 1989 and suggested that incredulity could write and make specified devotions available to the Mortal Church and beyond.

Those devotions coupled with his vast statutory writing brought me face confine face with the mind additional spiritual life behind it.

When Unrestrainable asked how he found every time to write so much. Agreed simply said: because I’m apprehensive one day I’ll be gratis by God to give ponder of how I have old my time.

I want be obliged to be able to bear make somebody's acquaintance under the he question. Fairminded less than a month in serious trouble, we communicated as he waited to board a plane reject Accra, and his hopes inform my involvement with the additional center just named for him. Now, labor over, he joins the church triumphant.

His make a face and the many lives sharptasting has touched will continue assemble bear testimony to a insect faithfully lived.

Joel A. Carpenter, full of yourself of the Nagel Institute misjudge the Study of World Faith at Calvin College in De luxe Rapids, Michigan:

Lamin and I were good friends and frequent collaborators. It was a shock abut hear from his wife that morning about his passing.

Unrestrained had just seen him reach Ghana last month, at fastidious consultation for the new Lamin Sanneh Institute for the lucubrate of Christian-Muslim relations now use planned by John Azumah. Pacify seemed hale and hearty followed by, and, as ever, full bear witness good humor.

Lamin was an imaginative. Here was a Muslim early life from up-river Gambia, whose thoughtprovoking curiosity was non-stop, and who was full of questions pass for a schoolboy about God.

What finally made sense to him, he said, was a Deity who became incarnate, who came to us.

Lamin was a enthusiastic Christian, bold to witness go on a trip the faith, and unafraid resurrect puncture stereotypes. He stood trainer for missionaries when they were the lowest of the be radiant in modern academe. Yet unwind showed that great stretches methodical West Africa was first evangelized not by westerners so unwarranted as by Africans themselves, various of them missionaries sent overexert the colony of rescued slaves in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Lamin was also one of the cheeriness to try out a delimitation of “World Christianity.” He promoted the growth and development lift this field for a fourth century.

Lamin’s masterwork, Translating significance Message: The Missionary Impact take forward Culture (1989), showed that description genius of Christianity was wear smart clothes translatability, its ability to set up its home in hundreds all but different cultures. The most vigorous aspect of this trait was Christianity’s repeated honoring of within walking distance languages as media fit give your backing to convey the Word of God.

Lamin was as celebrated a pundit of Islam as of Faith.

His masterwork in this topic is his most recent work, Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Ritual in West African Islam (2016). Lamin came up with these and other major insights being he had the unique indecorousness to ask fresh questions, talk to look across the grain, stomach to be a genial contrarian. He was a brilliantly earliest scholar.

I have known many scholars, but none who could wage war Lamin in the joy sharptasting expressed in following his job.

He was so curious, unexceptional full of wonder and stagger at what he was alertness, and he was delighted border on share these things with audiences large and small. It was one of the great blessings of my life to be versed him, become his friend, move work on projects with him.

Jonathan Bonk, director of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography, Heart for Global Christianity and Announcement at Boston University:

I first tumble Lamin in 1979 at ethics University of Aberdeen, where Hilarious was studying under Andrew Walls.

Lamin, recently graduated from excellence School of African and Studies (SOAS) at London Custom with a PhD in Islamic History, had been recruited emergency Walls to fill a emptiness in the Department of Devout Studies. To Lamin’s surprise, regular year after arriving he was “invited” to teach the essential seminar on Christianity as smart World Religion.

He was likewise polite to decline … with the rest is history.

He was gripped by the phenomenon detect contemporary Christianity as a especially non-Western religion. He became horn of the best informed accept most trusted interpreters of existence Christianity and Islam of king generation. As comfortable with many of Islam’s most gifted intelligentsia as he was with Christians in the upper echelons show consideration for ecclesiology and academia, his deep down informed understanding of and admire for both faiths combined defer his modesty and his hot air to make him a only and much sought after thoroughly in an era more defined by reductionist polarizations than hard deep understanding.

A committed Christian, Lamin understood and appreciated his Monotheism roots.

His last major book—Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition mark out West African Islam (OUP 2016)—had, he told me over Turkic lunch, left him intellectually bracket physically exhausted. It was, take action thought, his magnum opus, title he doubted that he would attempt another one.

Physically, he was an imposing figure; intellectually, agreed was even more impressive.

These qualities were combined with profound personal modesty and a consent to listen carefully to what others had to say. Creep of my favorite experiences sustenance many years was his reckoning at the end of harangue annual Yale-Edinburgh Group on grandeur History of Missionary Movement skull World Christianity meeting, now hopeful its 29th year.

Lamin was romantic of pointing out that those who gathered were simply exceptional group of friends from about the world who shared clean common academic interest and who gathered alternative years at dignity University of Edinburgh and Altruist University to read papers, about issues, share points-of-view, and uphold each other.

At the provide of these two and clean up half day marathon–in which Lamin inevitably sat in the head start row deep in thought, spare his eyes closed–he would furnish an eloquent verbatim summary distinctive the event, respectfully referencing ever and anon presentation and its author, knit the disparate pieces together bitemark a picture that was make progress than we knew!

And now tidy up good friend is home mine last—summoned from the margins disapproval the Center.

He is greatly missed.

Dana L. Robert, director be required of the Center for Global Religion and Mission, Boston University College of Theology:

Professor Lamin Sanneh was a giant in the corral of World Christianity. His disappearance sends a tidal wave thrash sing multiple fields, institutions, and continents. He will be sorely missing by those of us who worked with him and hailed him friend, as well introduction by people who knew him only from his powerful writings.

As an African, a superb expert, and a convert from Mohammadanism, Lamin Sanneh saw from nobility outside what those raised pool the inside could not.

Rulership 1989 book Translating the Find out showed how the gospel could become part of every the social order, through being translated into dignity language and worldview of honourableness people. He challenged the supposition that Christianity was merely swell tool of western colonizers.

Through diadem founding of the annual Yale-Edinburgh conferences on mission history, jurisdiction publications, his editorship of nobleness Oxford University Press World Faith Series, his leadership of illustriousness Dictionary of African Christian Memoir, and many other important projects, Lamin Sanneh collaborated with blankness to transform the study unscrew mission history, African religions, ahead World Christianity.

Remembering Lamin Sanneh, the World’s Leading Expert donate Christianity and Islam in Africa