Edward Geoffrey Simons Parrinder (April 10, 1910 – June 16, 2005) — known as E.G. Parrinder or Geoffrey Parrinder — was a professor of

Comparative Religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

at King's College London, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

minister, and the author of over 30 books. At least one — ''What World Religions Teach Us'' (1968) — achieved bestseller status. He was an authority, and pioneering researcher, on West African indigenous religions.

Biography

Parrinder was Professor of the Comparative Study of Religion in the University of London. After ordination (1936) he spent twenty years teaching in West Africa and Studying African religions, before becoming the founder member of the Department of Religious Studies in

University College of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 1962 ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

. He traveled widely in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and held lecturing appointments in Australia,

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

and at Oxford. He worked as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

and

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

for nearly two decades beginning in 1933, and became an authority on indigenous

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

religions Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...

. From 1958 until his retirement in 1977, he taught at King's College London. Among his students there was the future Anglican Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

Books

*''West African Religion: Illustrated from the Beliefs and Practices of Yoruba, Ewe, Akan and Kindred Peoples '' (1949); London: Epworth Press **2nd edition (1961) as ''West African Religion: A Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Akan, Ewe, Yoruba, Ibo and Kindred Peoples'' *''African Psychology'' (1951) *''Religion In An African City'' (1953) *''African Traditional Religion'', London:

SPCK The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is th ...

, (1954) **2nd edition (19??) **3rd edition (1970); Harper Forum Books/Greenwood Pub. Group *''The Story Of Ketu'' (1956) **2nd edition as ''The Story Of Ketu: An Ancient Yoruba Kingdom'' (1967); Ibadan University Press *''Witchcraft: European and African'' (1958), London: Faber & Faber, (1963), (1970) **Also published as ''Witchcraft: A Critical Study Of The Belief In Witchcraft From The Records Of Witch Hunting In Europe Yesterday And Africa Today '' *''An Introduction to Asian Religions'' (1958); S.P.C.K *''The Bible and Polygamy: A Study of Hebrew and Christian Teaching'' (1958); S.P.C.K *''A Daily Bible and Prayerbook'' (1960); S.P.C.K *''Worship in the World's Religions'' (1961, 1974) *''Comparative Religion'' (1962); Allen & Unwin **2nd edition (1975); Praeger *''The Faiths of Mankind: A Guide to The World's Living Religions'' (1965); Crowell **Revised (1967) as ''The Handbook of Living Religions'' Arthur Barker Ltd (England) **Revised (1974) as ''The World's Living Religions''; Pan Macmillan *''A Book of World Religions'' (1965); Hulton Educational Publications *''The Christian Approach to the Animist'' (1966); Edinburgh House Press amphlet*''The Christian Debate: Light from the East'' (1966); Doubleday & Co *''African Mythology'', Hamlyn Publ Group Ltd (1967), *''The Significance of the Bhagavad-Gītā for Christian Theology'' ecture(1968); Dr. Williams's Trust *''What World Religions Teach Us'' (1968) *''Religion in Africa'' (1969); Penguin **2nd edition (1976) as ''Africa's Three Religions''; Sheldon Press *''Man and His Gods: Encyclopaedia of the World's Religions'' (1971) **U.S. title: ''Religions of the World: From Primitive Beliefs to Modern Faiths''; Madison Square Press **Revised edition (1983) as ''World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present'';

Facts on File Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includin ...

, *''A Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions'', Westminster John Knox Press (1973), *''A Book of World Religions'' *''Jesus in the Quran'', Oneworld Publications (1995), *''Avatar and Incarnation: A Comparison of Indian & Christian Beliefs'', London: Faber & Faber, (1970), Oxford University Press. (1982) *''Upanishads, Gita, and Bible: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Christian Scriptures'', Harper & Row (1972), *''The Indestructible Soul: The Nature of Man and Life after Death in Indian Thought'' (1973); Allen & Unwin *''The Bagavad Gita: A Verse Translation'', Sheldon Press: London (1974), , Dutton Books (1975), , Oneworld Publications (1996) *''Something After Death?'' (1974); NCEC *''The Wisdom of the Forest: Selections from the Hindu Upanishads'', New York: New Directions, (1976), *''Mysticism in the World's Religions'' Sheldon Press in UK: 1976, . Oxford University Press in USA: 1977, . Oneworld Publications: 1995, *''The Wisdom of the Early Buddhists'' (1977); Directions *''Sex in the World's Religions'', Oxford University Press. (1980), **Revised edition (1996) as ''Sexual Morality in the World's Religions'', Oneworld Publications *''Encountering World Religions: Questions of Religious Truth'', Crossroad Pub. Co. (1987), *''A Dictionary of Religious and Spiritual Quotations'' (1990); Routledge **2nd edition (2000) as ''The Routledge Dictionary of Religious and Spiritual Quotations''; Routledge *''Collins Dictionary of Religious & Spiritual Quotations'' (1992); HarperCollins *''Son of Joseph: The Parentage of Jesus'', T. & T. Clark Publishers, Ltd. (1993), *''A Concise Encyclopedia of Christianity'' (1998); Oneworld Publications *''The Sayings Of The Buddha'' (1998); Ecco *''Wisdom of Jesus'', Oneworld Publications (2000), *''West African Psychology: a Comparative Study of Psychological and Religious Thought'', James Clarke Company, (2002),

External links

Obituary
in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrinder, Geoffrey 1910 births 2005 deaths Academics of King's College London British Methodists