“The fundamental assumption of this book is that evangelism of all persuasions has a definite function in the face of the monolithism of Catholicism in Mexico. . . . More precisely, it provides something that is lacking in Roman Catholicism today or was practiced in the past but is no longer part of Church praxis . . . [The Church] has become ritually and ceremonially ossified, and has forgotten that its religious success often derived from the social, economic, and psychological support it afforded the faithful” (p. 162).

Taking off from this assumption, Native Evangelism is an ethnographic study of two native evangelical sects, Amistad y Vida A.C. (Cristianos) and La Luz del Mundo. They are ‘native’ evangelical religions because they reject not only Catholicism but also the doctrinal and organization aspects of groups derived from American Protestant evangelism, especially Pentecostal congregations, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Both sects are based in central Mexico, in the valley and sierra of Tlaxcala and Puebla, and in the Córdoba-Orizaba region of Veracruz.

The first chapter presents an analytical model and a vocabulary the authors use to analyze religious systems. The following two chapters consist of ethnographic descriptions of Amistad y Vita, and are followed by two others that do the same for La Luz del Mundo. A final chapter discusses the process of conversion from the viewpoint of the fundamental assumption of the study. Here the authors draw from not only the previous ethnographic chapters, but also the wider literature on Protestant conversion in Mexico and Latin America. They construct a diachronic schema of conversion showing the interaction of economic, social, religious, and psychological factors. A conclusion speculates about the future growth or decline of the two religions.

Methodologically, background material is furnished by Hugo Nutini's investigations since 1958 in Central Mexico, and those conducted with Jean Nutini since 1969. For this study, the Nutinis and a research team working from 1996 to 2006 relied on participant observation, five structured questionnaires, open-ended interviews, and most important, several local persons with detailed knowledge of their communities. The ethnographic present of the study is 2006.

For this reviewer, the study has value for its ethnographic descriptions of native evangelical sects that have never before been studied, according to the Nutinis. Anyone with an interest in evangelical groups, the crisis of contemporary Catholicism and comparative religious systems would find this book of interest. The analytical schema based on this and other studies is a helpful summary of this type of conversion process. With that said, this reviewer finds some weaknesses. In their treatment of conversion, the authors do not sufficiently describe what the converts are coming from: Roman Catholicism. They designate it with the frequently used tag, ‘folk Catholicism,’ simply described as the cult of the saints and its rituals. In discussing conversion, the point of departure needs a more detailed treatment to provide analytical power. This is ironic, since the authors rightly criticize the frequent uninformed treatment of Catholicism in Latin America studies.

This reviewer finds the use of ‘folk Catholicism’ misleading when applied to many rural traditional Indian communities. The reviewer in his own work has shown that in traditional Maya communities, the saint complex functions according to the internal logic of the traditional Maya religious system. It is distinct from that of orthodox or folk Catholicism, although there are some resemblances to the latter. The Nutinis themselves note the lack of interest in conversion by members of traditional Indian communities (p. 165). Finally, the reviewer found the writing highly repetitive. The book manuscript needed a final editing and tightening. Perhaps the death of Hugo Nutini on April 19, 2013, is a factor. In spite of these weaknesses, the reviewer recommends the book for its treatment of the topics already discussed.