Professor Lamin Sanneh, the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School suffered a stroke and died on Sunday, January 6th, surrounded by his family.
Dr Sanneh was born on MacCarthy Island in the River Gambia. A descendent of an ancient African royal family, he grew up as a Muslim but converted to Christianity. He earned graduate degrees from the University of Birmingham, England (M.A.), and the University of London (Ph.D.).
His book “Translating the Message- the Missionary Impact on Culture” demonstrates the influence that Christian translations of Scriptures and catechisms into African languages had on cultural self-understanding, social awakening, religious renewal, and reciprocity in mission.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said: ”The greatest contribution that Lamin Sanneh has made to the Christian Church and theological reflection is his insight, born of a true missionary mindset, that the gospel is inherently translatable. While Christianity has the original languages of the scriptures, it has no sacred language. This lay behind its expansion worldwide, not only in terms of bible translation but in mediating the mind of Christ and the sense of the scriptures to people of every culture, race and language. Lamin made us see the true missionary significance of this capacity of the Christian faith to be fully rendered into the idioms, language and values of every people.”
Sanneh’s other major works are Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa(Harvard University Press, 2000), Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West (Eerdmans, 2003), Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity (Oxford, 2008), Beyond Jihad: Pacifist Impetus in Muslim West Africa and Beyond (Oxford, 2016), and The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to World Christianity, (Wiley, 2016).
Lord Williams of Oystermouth chaired the Mission Section of Lambeth 1998 for which Professor Sanneh was a consultant. He has written:
‘The world of global Christian studies has lost a giant in Lamin Sanneh. His brilliant and sensitive studies of the significance of translation practices for the way in which the Gospel was received and understood in African cultures remain a landmark; and his more general works on the shifts of influence and profile in Christianity worldwide have continued to illuminate the field. I find that they are still read with eagerness and admiration by students of a new generation.
We had the privilege of having him as a consultant in the preparations for the 1998 Lambeth Conference, and I had an opportunity in that context of getting to know someone who was both a scholar of extraordinary sophistication and a man of deep, settled personal faith.
Not a person with axes to grind and battles to win, he was staunch and open about his Christian commitments and magisterially clear about the new risks for Christians and the new opportunities for the Gospel in the bewildering global environment of this century. He was a truly wise and generous person, who will be profoundly missed, not only by his personal friends but by all who have learned to think about mission and cultural diversity under his guidance.’
Canon Dr Vinay Samuel who was also a consultant to Lambeth 1998 writes:
“I worked with Lamin Sanneh on several initiatives that sought to relate the Gospel to our cultures and to contemporary society. He brought much wisdom and great learning to these initiatives. As a faithful disciple of Christ he loved the Church and served her faithfully.
I am shocked at his untimely death as he had so much more to share with a needy and confused world and church. He had a unique gift in finding treasures from God’s word and God’s actions in the world that enriched our understanding of God’s truth and His actions in the Church and the world.
His writing on “World Christianity” as displaying the gifts of different cultures and peoples while maintaining the universal nature of the Christian faith shaped Christian mission thinking significantly.
For me he was a true world Christian leader and incarnated world Christianity as he shared his gifts softly and elegantly. I am blessed to have known him.”
Following the Lambeth Conference, Professor Sanneh developed links with the churches of his native Africa. One of those was with Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Jos, now General Secretary of GAFCON, who attended 1998 Lambeth. He has written:
An academic of rare substance; a heart full of love and passion for the gospel; a man of interfaith relations of an unusual kind.
A convinced Christian with genuine love for Muslims and how to engage them in a loving conversation; a man who knew and taught the Koran and the Bible in truth.
A man who sought to bring the Gospel to all people through loving relationships, understanding cultures, intellectual engagements, and living the life in a transparent gospel light.
A humble scholar, gentle in speech, kind hearted, convinced evangel, generous teacher, ever willing to serve.
At the invitation of Bishop Matthew Kukah, Lamin came to Abuja last year and we were to conclude the sessions this year in Nigeria but…
Adieu Lamin. Adieu African ambassador of the Gospel of Christ.
Date published: 18/01/2019
Article source: The Church of England Newspaper
