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Harry Sawyerr (theologian)

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Harry Alphonso Ebun Sawyerr MBE (9 October 1909 – August 1986) was a Sierra Leonean Anglican theologian and writer on African religion.[1] He became principal of Fourah Bay College and Vice Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone.[2]

Sawyerr studied initially at Fourah Bay College, later moving to England to study at the main campus of Durham University.[3] He successively earned Bachelor of Arts (1933), Master of Arts (1936) and Master of Education (1940) degrees.[3]

Harry Sawyerr was influenced by Thomas Sylvester Johnson, the first assistant bishop of Sierra Leone.[4]

Works

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  • Creative Evangelism: towards a new Christian encounter with Africa, London: Lutterworth, 1968.
  • God: Ancestor or Creator? Aspects of traditional belief in Ghana, Nigeria & Sierra Leone, London: Longmans, 1970
  • "The Earth-Goddess" in Founders of Religions: Christianity and Other Religions. Rome: Gregorian University Press, 1984.
  • The Practice of Presence: Shorter Writings of Harry Sawyerr. Ed. John Parratt. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
  • "Sacrifice" in Biblical Revelation and African Beliefs. Ed. Kwesi Dickson and Paul Ellingworth, 57-82. London: Lutterworth Press, 1969.
  • (with William Thomas Harris.) The Springs of Mende Belief and Conduct: a discussion of the influence of the belief in the supernatural among the Mende Freetown: Sierra Leone Univ. Press, 1968.
  • "Traditions in Transit" in Religion in a Pluralistic Society, ed. J. S. Pobee, 85-96. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976.

References

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  1. ^ L. M. Miles, Harry Alphonso Ebun Sawyerr Archived 2012-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, Dictionary of African Christian Biography, 2005. Accessed 18 November 2012.
  2. ^ C. Magbaily Fyle (2006). Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone: New Edition. Scarecrow Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-8108-5339-3. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b Sawyerr, Rev. Prof. Canon Harry Alphonso Ebun, (16 Oct. 1909–1986). doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U168873. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 5 October 2018. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Andrew F. Wallis, 'Johnson, Thomas Sylvester', in Gerald H. Anderson, ed., Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, 1998. Reprinted online Archived 2012-05-20 at the Wayback Machine at the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.