Articles by Aiou Niang
Aliou Cissé Niang is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Formally, he served the faculty of Memphis Theological Seminary, where he received The Paul R. Brown Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010. While in Memphis, he served as Biblical Theologian in Residence at the First Baptist Church of Memphis. Professor Niang received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Williams Baptist College in Arkansas (1994), an M.A. Th. at Logsdon School of Theology in Abilene, Texas (1997) and his Ph.D. in Biblical Interpretation from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth (2007). He hails from Senegal and is the author of Faith and Freedom in Galatia and Senegal: The Apostle Paul, Colonists and Sending Gods, (Brill, 2009).
by Aiou C. Niang
Starting about 1649, French colonialists in Africa attempted to infuse French culture to the native inhabitants of Dakar, Goree, Rufisque, and Saint Louis in order to assimilate French language and culture—to “Frenchify” them. This notion was meant to imitate the experiences of ancient Greece where citizenship was conferred on those born in Greece and therefore superior to non-citizens in recognition and rights. France’s goal was to spread its culture and Christianity, much as St Paul had done with the building of Christian churches and communities.
