African American Readings of Paul The letters of Paul, especially the verse in Ephesians directing slaves to obey their masters, played an enormous role in promoting slavery and justifying it as a Christian practice. Yet despite this reality African Americans throughout history still utilized Paul extensively in their own work to protest and resist oppression, responding to his theology and teachings in numerous, often starkly divergent and liberative, ways. In the first book of its kind, this takes a historical, theological, and biblical approach to explore interpretations of Paul within African American communities over the past few centuries.