Faith and Freedom in Galatia and Senegall: The Apostle Paul, Colonists and Sending Gods (Biblical Interpretation Series)

201 Pages·2009·1.33 MB·English

by  Aliou Cisse Niang

Faith and Freedom
in Galatia and Senegal
Biblical Interpretation Series
Editors
R. Alan Culpepper
Ellen van Wolde
Associate Editors
David E. Orton
Rolf Rendtorff
Editorial Advisory Board
Janice Capel Anderson – Phyllis A. Bird
Erhard Blum – Werner H. Kelber
Ekkehard W. Stegemann – Vincent L. Wimbush
Jean Zumstein
VOLUME 97
Faith and Freedom
in Galatia and Senegal
The Apostle Paul, Colonists and
Sending Gods
By
Aliou Cissé Niang
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2009
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Niang, Aliou Cissé.
Faith and freedom in Galatia and Senegal : the Apostle Paul, colonists and sending
gods / by Aliou Cissé Niang.
p. cm. — (Biblical interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731 ; v. 97)
Revision of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—Brite Divinity School, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17522-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T. Galatians—Social
scientific criticism. 2. Bible. N.T. Galatians—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—Senegal. 3.
Theology—Senegal. 4. Diola (African people)—Senegal—Religion. I. Title. II. Series.
BS2685.52.N53 2009
227’.4060899632—dc22
2009003632
ISSN 0928-0731
ISBN 978 90 04 17522 8
Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
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printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ....................................................................... ix
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xi
Chapter One Introduction: A Sociopostcolonial
Hermeneutics .............................................................................. 1
Paul as a Sociopostcolonial Hermeneut ................................ 8
Dominant Perspectives on Paul .......................................... 8
Beyond the Perspectives on Paul ........................................ 10
Insights from Social Sciences: A Concise History ................. 13
Social Sciences and Galatians ................................................ 16
Postcolonial Contributions ...................................................... 21
Classical and Hellenistic Examples .................................... 21
A Roman Example ............................................................. 23
A French Example .............................................................. 25
A Diola Sociopostcolonial Hermeneutics .......................... 27
Chapter Two Identity and the Socioreligious Context of
Pre-Christian and Christian Galatians ................................... 33
A History of Research ............................................................ 33
Who Were the Gauls/Galatians? Gauls in Classical
Literature ............................................................................ 34
The Gauls/Galatians Publically Displayed: Classical
Typologies ........................................................................... 36
Barbarism Publically Displayed as Vanquished ..................... 42
The Inescapable Eyes of the Gods: The Socioreligious
Aspects of Anatolian Galatian Life .................................... 47
Socioreligious Context ........................................................ 47
Gods, Goddesses, and People in Galatia ........................... 50
Curses, Prayers, and the Quest for Divine Justice ............. 54
Voices Etched on Stones: The Divine Demand for
Confession-Propitiation ................................................... 57
Priests and their Function .................................................. 63
vi contents
Chapter Three Senegalese Diola in Context .......................... 67
Who Were the Diola? ............................................................. 67
Africans as Barbarians and Savages ................................... 73
Barbarians and Savages: Diola People Through French
Eyes ................................................................................. 77
The Inescapable Presence of Ala or Ata Emit: The
Socioreligious Dimensions of Diola Communal Life ........ 79
The Diola Socioreligious Setting ........................................ 79
The Inescapable Presence of Ata, Ala Emit, and Emitai ..... 81
Curses and Prayers: The Quest for Divine Justice in the
Hank (Community) ......................................................... 82
The Role of the Priesthood ............................................... 86
Prophecy of Resistence and Creation of an Alternative
Hank “Community” ............................................................ 88
Socioreligious and Economic Context ............................... 88
Prophetic Resistence to French Colonial Rule .................. 89
Chapter Four Modes of Community and Identity
Formation: An Exegesis of Galatians 2:11–14 and
3:26–29 .................................................................................... 93
Conflict and Parting of Ways with an Enslaving Mission:
Galatians 2:11–14 ............................................................... 93
The Locus and Nature of a Freeing Mission:
Galatians 3:26–29 ............................................................... 103
Community and Identity Formation in Galatian and Diola
Communities ....................................................................... 108
Judean Identity Formation and non-Judean Inclusion ...... 109
A Pauline Community and Identity Formation ................. 111
A Diola Community Formation ......................................... 116
Chapter Five A Postcolonial Reading of Paul’s Epistle to
the Churches of Galatia: A Conclusion ................................ 119
Divine Rationale for Colonization in Ancient and
Modern Times .................................................................... 119
Greek Colonization ............................................................. 119
Roman Colonization ........................................................... 120
French Colonization ........................................................... 123
Sociopostcolonial Hermeneutical Contributions ................... 125
Current African Postcolonial Voices .................................. 127
contents vii
Paul as a Countercolonist and Sociopostcolonial
Hermeneut ...................................................................... 130
A Liberating Inculturation of the Biblical Message .......... 134
Bibliography ................................................................................ 139
Index ........................................................................................... 165

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This volume is a revision of my dissertation which the Brite Divinity
School accepted in the Fall of 2007. Some important works that came
to my attention very late are: Davina C. Lopez’ Apostle to the Conquered:
Reimagining Paul’s Mission and A Postcolonial Commentary on the New Testament
Writings edited by Fernando Segovia and R. S. Sugirtharajah.
My deepest appreciation goes to my mentor, Dr. Balch, who unfail-
ingly encouraged me and taught me to read the New Testament with the
Graeco-Roman context and literature in mind. I also thank all the pro-
fessors who have been particularly influential in my writing of this book:
Drs. David L. Balch, Leo G. Perdue, Carolyn Osiek, Marijana Ricl,
Edward McMahon, M. Eugene Boring, Darren Middleton, David Grant,
Yushau Sodiq, Daryl Schmidt, Drs. Joseph O. Holloway, Rodney Reeves,
H. K. Neely, George Knight, James Shields, and Ronald Smith.
This manuscript would not have been completed without the unfail-
ing support of my spiritual mother, Bernice Martin, and many other
friends including: Judy and Billy Hodges, Dr. Bruce and Wanda Swihart,
Jesse and Jesslyn Summitt, Kim and Lana Bridges, Russell and Beth
Weathersby, James and Cheryl Bynum. Particular thanks to Dr. Alan
Culpepper, the general editor of the Brill New Interpretation Series, for
graciously recommending the manuscript for publication. I am grateful
to Ulrike Guthrie whose invaluable editorial expertise invigorated my
confidence to send the manuscript to Brill Academic Press.
Any written thanks are inadequate to show my appreciation to my
wife, companion, faithful helper, and agent of God’s presence in my
life, Elizabeth Renée Niang. Her critical eye and keen grasp of words
were central to my completing the dissertation and now book.