The great historian of World Christianity passed away on August 12th, 2021. He was born on April 28th, 1928 and led a life of great achievement, selflessness, and academic excellence.
A great man has moved beyond in this past week. Let his soul be at peace. Andrew Finlay Walls was a British historian of Christian missions, especially in the history of the African church. His work was very important, profound and world-shifting. He established the Journal of Religion in Africa in 1967 as well as Studies in World Christianity in 1995. Walls was a brilliant and magnanimous man whose research and teachings spanned across the globe, from Fourth Bay College in Sierra Leone to the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh. He also established the first department of Religious Studies in Scotland and was called the “most important person you don’t know” by Christianity Today in 2007. His work was instrumental in shaping the field of religious studies as it is done in Scotland today. He was a kind, caring, friendly and charitable man. The Centre for the Study of World Christianity (2009) at the University of Edinburgh was founded chiefly on his pioneering research.
