The author of this book modestly presents his work as ‘an introduction rather than a comprehensive account’. But despite the disclaimer, there is a visible effort to be comprehensive, in time if not in geographical or thematic coverage. The book begins at the beginning (conquest and importation/imposition of Christianity) and carries its story through to the late twentieth century. The first nine chapters address issues concerning Church, society and politics in the colonial period. This discussion includes background chapters on Spanish overseas expansion and on the development of the Catholic Church after Trent. The three concluding chapters (which take up almost half the text) bring the narrative to the present (or at least close). In these chapters, the author pays special attention to theological and political conflicts and their effects on the Church (positivism, nationalism, liberal-conservative disputes), to race and missions, to the relation of the churches to revolutionary governments (Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia but not Nicaragua), and to evolving religious competition between the Catholic Church and newly energised Protestant and Pentecostal churches which get considerable attention. The volume itself is massive, with almost 700 pages of fine print: 14 pages of front matter (abbreviations and glossary), 558 pages of text, a 76-page bibliography and two indexes (names and subjects) that together run for 29 pages. Given the scale of this effort, it is not easy to imagine what shelf might hold a more comprehensive account.
The volume is replete with lists: names of individuals, groups, churches, regional organisations (Catholic and Protestant), meetings, and documents. No explicit rationale is offered for coverage (why this and not that?), and no particular unifying theme or themes are laid out. There is no general conclusion. On the next to last page the author effectively throws up his hands:
In the end the historian can only note with astonishment that the message of the gospel has succeeded in putting down roots in Latin America and the Caribbean – in spite of all the perversions of the this message by its bearers, be it through conquest, compulsory conversion, the imposition of western culture with all its attendant ills such as slavery, forced labour, racial discrimination, and ethnocide, as well as all modern forms of exploitation and land theft amid the indigenous population, enslaved Afro Americans, and their descendants and mestizos. The gospel has indeed taken root and brought forth a broad spectrum of popular religiosity. The theologian can only explain this miracle by the action of the Holy Spirit, which of course always avails itself to human beings in all their frailties. (p. 557)
He concludes that an authentically Latin American Christianity firmly rooted in local culture, is ‘a goal to which the churches could develop’ (p. 558) but is pessimistic about the real prospects, at least for the Catholic Church, which is the central focus of the book.
With an effort of this scale, it is not easy to select particular points for comment, but a few may be noted here. The discussion of popular religiosity (Chapter 8) defines the issues in terms of heterodox practices and syncretism, all situated in contrast to sanctioned Church practices. This leaves out a good deal of interest, including social and political mobilisations, along with new leadership generations and new forms of organisation that emerge in force by the mid-twentieth century. The author's account of nineteenth-century conflicts (Chapter 10) gives particular attention to well-trodden issues of nationalism, positivism and liberal-conservative struggles in the formation and consolidation of nation-states. There is also discussion of Romanising influences and the slow emergence of regional unity in the Catholic Church. The last two chapters consider the Catholic Church's efforts to retain social and political influence in the face of liberal and Protestant challenges, and the general problem of ecumenism in the context of what the author labels a ‘crisis’ in the development of nation-states. This ‘crisis’ refers mostly to the collapse and overthrow of populist regimes in the 1960s and to the period of military rule and revolutionary upheaval that followed. The author works his way through a series of meetings and documents that record this process in all the churches (Catholic and Protestant) both regional and national, with Brazil getting particular attention. The implications of restored democracy for the churches as institutions and for religious life in general does not get comparable consideration. The same is true for questions of memory, rights and reconciliation, and increasingly visible contests over sexuality and gender in the post-military period.
The bottom line is that this book brings together a wide range of sources, cases and evidence and in this sense provides a useful reference, but in the final analysis does not present much that is new or surprising. The absence of an explicit theoretical or comparative focus makes it difficult for the author to assess the evolution of Latin America in a broader context.
