Written from an African American perspective, this work depicts the presentation of the gospel message to the first-century community of Colossae, their reception of it comparative to the presentation and reception of the same to the enslaved Africans of North America particularly in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.

General Introduction PART I: THE PEOPLE OF COLOSSAE 1. Contemporaries of Laodicea and Hierapolis 2. Generations of belief in Mysteries and Mythological Cults 3. Jews 4. Subjects of Greco-Roman Empire PART II: IDENTITY - PEOPLE OF AFRICA 5. African Traditional Religion PART III: IDENTITY - ENSLAVED AFRICANS IN NORTH AMERICA 6. Identity through the Language of Enslavers 7. Identity through the Language of Enslaved PART IV: TOWARDS A RE-READING OF COLOSSIANS 8. The Epistle to the Colossians 9. Colossians One 10. Colossians Two 11. Colossians Three 12. Colossians Four General Conclusions