John S Pobee – In memoriam

John S Pobee 1937-2020

In 1983 I was still a young theological student in Uppsala. I studied missiology and we had a visiting professor from Ghana. John S Pobee. I cannot recall how many lectures he had. Maybe eight. It was very interesting, and I still remember some of his perspectives. To my surprise I found my notes from his lectures. The headings are:

Prologomena 

Religious Ontology and Epistemology of African Peoples

Sensus Communis

The Encounter

One story that he told, had to do with funerals. He said that he lived and worked in Accra, the capital of Ghana. He lived a modern life. Rather hectic. But if a relative died in the northern parts of Ghana he had to travel two days in order to participate in the funeral. If not, people would have started to be suspicious. Could his absence be a sign that he somehow, spiritually, was involved in the death of the relative?

At the end of his series of lectures the students decided to collect some money and buy him a present. We understood that he was interested in classical music. I got the task of buying a few records. As I was singing in the youth choir of Uppsala Cathedral – Schola Cantorum – I bought two of our records. I arranged with the professor, Carl F. Hallencreutz, to hand over the presenta in his office, where I could meet Prof Pobee. When I arrived, I saw a table and three coffee cups and some biscuits. What an opportunity to have a chat with two esteemed scholars.

However, I had invited my girl friend and another nine persons for supper the same day. She lived in a commune and I wanted to show off with some nice food. I had a busy schedule for the afternoon, buying ingredients and preparing the food. So, I had to decline and left the two professors with the coffee and biscuits.

Until today I have wondered: what would we have talked about? Maybe they wanted to offer me a scholarship in Ghana? I will never find out. Both are dead. What I know is that I am happily married to the person who was my girlfriend at the time. I guess I made the right decision.

From 1984 to 1998 Pobee was the associate director of the Programme of Theological Education at WCC in Geneva. Follow this link and read more.