General Introduction

Abstract

Re-reading the letter to the Colossians from a Postcolonial African American perspective gives fresh insight concerning the initial reaction to the gospel message in the first century and into the meaning of the letter. The letter, a response by its disputed author, Paul, is a documentation of their existence. It reveals a new community of believers struggling to understand the gospel first presented to them by Epaphras. Their voices, silenced not only by the devastation of an earthquake but also by the commentaries that label them heretics, are heard by establishing their identity through their past beliefs and culture and what is contained in the letter to the Colossians.