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[edit]

  • (with William Thomas Harris) The Springs of Mende Beliefs and Conduct: a discussion of the influence of the belief in the supernatural among the Mende, 1968
  • Creative Evangelism: towards a new Christian encounter with Africa, 1968
  • God: Ancestor or Creator? Aspects of traditional belief in Ghana, Nigeria & Sierra Leone, 1970
  • (ed. J. Paratt) The Practice of Presence: Selected Papers of Harry Sawyerr, 1995

References[edit]

  1. ^ L. M. Miles, Harry Alphonso Ebun Sawyerr, 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.