This rich collection of scholarship provides a lucid and valuable introduction to Christianity in Latin America from the beginning of the colonial era to the present day. Methodologically diverse, this volume also showcases the great benefit of integrating historical, theological, and social scientific perspectives together on common themes. Anchoring this collection is a short introductory essay in which the editors delineate three reasons why scholars of global Christianity should look to Latin America as a “core reference point” (2). First, Latin America witnessed “the earliest and largest-scale global ‘conversion’ to Christianity”; second, “Latin American Catholicism has been the subject of some of the most innovative studies about the processes of conversion and the ways that religious structures become foundational to social, political, and cultural continuity and change”; and third, Latin America “has become one of the most important sites for the exponential growth of Pentecostalism” (2–4). These three claims generally correspond to the broader organizational structure of the book, which is divided into three large sections followed by a shorter concluding section on certain aspects of “contemporary Christianity in Latin America.”

Part 1 consists of eight chapters that primarily concern the establishment and growth of Christianity in Latin America during the colonial era. Significant emphasis is rightly placed on non-European dimensions to these developments, especially indigenous and African participation in and resistance to Iberian Catholicism. Additionally, many of these chapters creatively explore important cultural themes, such as Matthew O'Hara's chapter on contrasting indigenous and European understandings of time and temporality as well as Jennifer Scheper Hughes's chapter on “material Christianity,” focusing particularly on sacred art.

Part 2 explores different aspects of “Catholic political activism” in Latin America. In its clergy and its laity, the Catholic Church could be found on all sides of the political struggles that gripped Latin America during the twentieth century. An admirable balance is struck in this section between the hierarchical, institutional dimensions of Latin American Catholic activism, most especially the Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM), and non-institutional dimensions, such as grassroots actions taken by Catholic lay persons. This section also includes more theoretical contributions, such as Phillip Berryman's chapter on key trends and developments in liberation theology and Edward T. Brett's chapter on “prophetic martyrs”—viz., those who “sacrificed their lives on behalf of the downtrodden” (in contrast to the older, traditional definition of martyrs as those who died “in odium fidei”) (239).

Part 3 is, in many ways, the most diverse section, containing eight chapters that examine a wide array of Christian movements and denominations, such as Pentecostalism and Neo-Pentecostalism, Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR), various mainline Protestant groups, and “alternative Christianities,” such as Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Unsurprisingly, questions of conversion constitute a central theme in this section, analyzed within both theological and sociological frameworks. By devoting significant space to both Catholic and Protestant forms of charismatic Christianity, this section also enables the reader to draw intriguing comparisons between the two.

The fourth and final section explores some key topics connected to “contemporary Christianity in Latin America.” Lois Ann Lorentzen delineates certain intersections between Christianity and the quest for environmental justice in Latin America, including the influence of liberation theology on ecological awareness as well as the rise of ecofeminism. Jeanette Rodriguez's chapter analyzes Marian devotion in Latin America, especially on the popular level. Particular emphasis is placed on the Virgin Mary as an indigenous Mother, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Edward Wright-Ríos examines how “the manner of organizing [Catholic] devotion and expressing belief changed” in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Oaxaca, particularly through the activities of lay associations (490). Lastly, Robert Pelton discusses the roles played by lay ministries and communities, such as the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, in the second half of the twentieth century as the Catholic Church sought to promote the “preferential and evangelizing option for the poor” (512).

One strength of this collection is the degree of integration between the various sections. For instance, even though part 1 mainly focuses on colonial-era developments, many of the authors explicitly underscore important thematic connections linking their work to later chapters. Andrew Orta connects indigenous participation in the Catholic Church during the colonial era to “folk Catholicism” and other present-day forms of indigenous Christianities, arguing that “indigeneity and Christianity in Latin America are inconceivable apart from one another” (89). Additionally, David M. Lantigua underscores the “prominent legacy of Las Casas” in inspiring postcolonial struggles against imperialism and military dictatorships (52).

Despite the many virtues of this volume, two noticeable shortcomings emerge. First, in this lengthy collection, the nineteenth century is largely neglected. This is quite regrettable since the upheavals (whether religious or otherwise) that convulsed Latin America in the twentieth century were inseparably linked to the political and economic revolutions that transformed the region in the nineteenth. While hints of these connections appear fleetingly (130–131, 147–148), the only chapter that gives a more sustained examination to nineteenth-century developments is the penultimate chapter by Edward Wright-Ríos, which skillfully analyzes, among other things, how religious practice and devotion in Oaxaca was impacted by the deep ideological and political “polarization” of mid-nineteenth-century Mexico (492–498).

Second, in the many chapters that discuss liberation theology at length in this collection, one unfortunately gains only a nebulous sense of the arguments raised against liberation theology—its “[making] use of Marxism, politicizing the Church, turning theological concepts into sociology, and so forth” (167). Fernando Cervantes gives a bit longer discussion on these issues at the end of his excellent chapter (151–152), but much more is needed throughout, especially given the profound importance of liberation theology to global Christianity today. Perhaps most problematic is that, with the exception of certain brief mentions of Alfonso López Trujillo (151, 158, 160, 207–208), this volume on Latin American Christianity fails to discuss any Latin American critics of liberation theology.

Despite these lacunae, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity nevertheless achieves its broader goal of helping to “provide researchers studying global Christianity with a framework for considering issues and approaches to analyze how religious change takes place when faiths are embraced and transformed by new believers in new social, political, and cultural contexts” (4). Scholars of Latin American Christianity, as well as those who study Christianity in other regions of the world, will undoubtedly benefit from the stimulating research presented here.