09 : Saints & Conquistadors - Spain in the New World

Introduction

We probably all remember the rhyme we learned in school:

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“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

With that voyage, the so-called New World was opened up to Europeans and with it, that New World was opened up to the religion of the Old World - Christianity.

In the case of the southern New World, what would become Central and South America, that meant Roman Catholicism, particularly the Roman Catholicism of Spain. Between the years 1493 and 1510 two popes, Alexander VI and Julius II gave the Spanish crown the right of Royal Patronage over the church in all the new lands they discovered.

This meant the Spanish crown could appoint church officials (bishops, priests, etc.) without going through Rome and, perhaps more significantly, could administer the collection and use of church tithes. This, by the way, is a direct reversal of the “Investiture Controversy” where Pope Gregory VII (predecessor to Urban II) had ended the practice of kings appointing church officials back in the eleventh century. But now that Rome had a European monarch they trusted implicitly, they were comfortable with them administering church affairs in these new lands.

This is an important point to understand how things played out in Latin America. Roman Catholicism in Spanish America was basically a national church under the rulers of Spain and their appointees. They had very few direct dealings with Rome. Perhaps even more so than other European nations at the time, the Spanish Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish Crown were one and the same.

If you remember in previous lessons one major difference between the eastern church and the western church was the position of the church over the state in the west and the opposite in the east. Now, at least in Spanish America, the monarchs of Spain stood over the church with the pope’s blessing.

And this is going to impact how they spread the faith in the New World.

Now, we remember 1492 because it’s the year Columbus landed on Hispaniola (the island that now contains Haiti and the Dominican Republic) but the year 1492 was significant in Spain for another reason as well.

Muslim conquerors came to the Iberian peninsula in 711 and by 750 controlled almost the entire area of what is now Spain and Portugal. As you’ll remember from a previous lesson, when Muslim armies attempted to move into southern France, they were stopped from controlling, basically all of Europe, by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732. Spain, however, remained under Islamic control for several centuries.

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Beginning in the ninth century, however, something called the “Reconquista,” the Reconquest, began, where Christian forces began to take back territory from the Muslims. This is the reason the Spanish did not participate in the Crusades, they had their hands full dealing with Islam closer to home.

The first city to be reconquered, to be returned to the Catholic fold was Toledo in 1085 and the last Muslim area, the Caliphate of Grenada fell in 1492 returning the entire peninsula to Spanish Catholic control, under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.

It’s against this political and religious background that the Spanish began to rule in the New World. The Spanish crown very much saw itself as the protector and defender of the Christian faith. They’d dealt with the infidel Muslims and simultaneously God, in his providence, had given them access to an entirely new continent. How would they deal with that? That’s the subject of our lesson this morning. And it’s perhaps a cautionary tale for Christians more than anything else.

Before we get into the happenings of that, let’s take a few minutes to talk about a couple of other contextual issues we need to understand beginning with the one who kicked this all off, Christopher Columbus.

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Christopher Columbus - Saint or Sinner?

Was Columbus a saint or a sinner? As with all of us, the answer to that question is, “yes.” Columbus professed Christ, but Columbus was an imperfect man.

We have a problem in our culture today. We cannot celebrate the accomplishments of imperfect men and women of history, which is to say we cannot celebrate the accomplishments of anyone who’s gone before us because all human beings are imperfect.

We are in the throes of what I call a “mania” in this country to root out character flaws in every individual who’s ever been celebrated in western culture and to then tear down their statue or remove their name from buildings or chuck their portraits in the rubbish bin.

We are also captive to the notion that people of the past should be judged by the beliefs and sensibilities of the present day rather than of their own day.

That’s not to say that morality is relative, there’s nothing I hate worse than someone trying to justify something by using the date; “It’s 2023!” So? That has nothing to do with the rightness or wrongness of a thing. But unless we understand the sensibilities of a time, we can misunderstand and attribute motives to historical figures that they would not have had.

Christopher Columbus has been a victim of both of those approaches to history.

Columbus seems to have been an honorable man and was undoubtedly a brave one. To strike out across the ocean not knowing where you’re going with nothing but the wind to get you there and no modern navigation instruments to assist you is probably not a lot different from flying off into space today. In some ways it might have been more risky because once he left port, he had no way to communicate with those back home and no hope of rescue had anything happened to him, his crew or his ships. That alone is enough to honor him in my book.

One man who wrote a first-hand account of his time serving with the Conquistadors near Central America wrote:

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Oh, what a fearful undertaking it is to venture out on the discovery of new countries, and place one's life in danger, as we were obliged to do! Those alone can form any idea of it who have gone through the hard school of experience.

The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Halcyon Classics) (p. 11). Halcyon Press Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

None of us has any idea what that was like, so to malign such people from the comfort of our 21st century living rooms seems like the historical equivalent of Monday morning quarterbacking.

Columbus seems to have been devout Christian. We would say today, a Roman Catholic, but in 1492, that was the only kind of Christian there was. We were still a few years from the Reformation. Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in 1517. If you were a member of the church, particularly in Spain or Italy, it was the Roman Catholic Church. We have accounts that say throughout the voyage, he prayed daily and at the end of each day he assembled his crew and had them recite among other things the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed.

Much of the criticism Columbus receives is for things that came after him over which he had no control, such as the fact that Europeans brought diseases with them that native peoples’ were unable to withstand, something which no one could have foreseen.

We were still 400 years from the germ theory of disease at this point. He’s also blamed for the actions of the Spanish Crown after his discoveries, again, something over which he had no control. He wasn’t even Spanish, he was Italian.

There have also been some criticisms of him personally. In recent years a document written by contemporary Francisco de Bobadilla has received much attention because it has many serious accusations against Columbus and his governance in the Indies. What many of those criticisms leave out is that Bobadilla was Columbus’ main political rival who was sent by the Spanish Crown to the Indies to investigate charges that Columbus was committing treason against the Crown. We sometimes forget that Columbus was not Spanish but Italian and so, his loyalty to the Crown was suspect. Bobadilla found Columbus guilty of the charges, arrested him and took over his position in the Indies. Hardly an unbiased source.

Even Wikipedia says:

“The neutrality and accuracy of the accusations and investigations of Bobadilla toward Columbus and his brothers have been disputed by historians, given the anti-Italian sentiment of the Spaniards and Bobadilla's desire to take over Columbus' position.”

None of this is to say Columbus was perfect, just that he should not be viewed as some kind of genocidal super villain with no redeeming qualities. He made a huge contribution to the world and to western culture and that should be remembered and, yes, even celebrated.

The Indigenous Religions

Before we get into the meat of our discussion this morning, there’s one more historical context discussion we need to have and that is around the indigenous peoples of the Americas. And, by the way, when we say “indigenous” we just mean people who got there before other people. There’ve only ever been two truly indigenous people and since their expulsion from the Garden, mankind have been wanderers and conquerors and re-settlers ever since.

Just as there was no separation between religion and the government in Spain, there was even less among the tribes and nations of Central and South America. The Spanish rulers were considered to have their position due to God’s favor and ordination and to speak for him but the rulers in South & Central America were considered to be gods in the way pharoah was in ancient Egypt. They were considered gods incarnate.

Much has been written about how terrible the Conquistadors of Spain were and, while there is truth there, little is said about the horrific practices encountered by the Spanish when they reached Latin America. This was not a case of noble savages dwelling peacefully in paradise only to be set upon by evil Europeans.

What the Spanish encountered was a completely pagan culture that had never had the light of the gospel and whose religious practices reflected that in the same way the practices of the Amorites and Canaanites did before the conquest of the Promised Land - through human sacrifice, sexual immorality and cannibalism:

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“The breast of the unhappy victim destined to be sacrificed was ripped open with a knife made of sharp flint; the throbbing heart was then torn out, and immediately offered to the idol-god in whose honour the sacrifice had been instituted. After this, the head, arms, and legs were cut off and eaten at their banquets, with the exception of the head, which was saved, and hung to a beam appropriated for that purpose. No other part of the body was eaten, but the remainder was thrown to the beasts which were kept in those abominable dens, in which there were also vipers and other poisonous serpents, and, among the latter in particular, a species at the end of whose tail there was a kind of rattle.”

Castillo, Bernal Díaz del . The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Halcyon Classics) (p. 200). Halcyon Press Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

When Montezuma II was crowned in 1502, five thousand people were sacrificed for the occasion.

Massive towers called Tzompantli have been discovered in Mexico City (the site of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan) which are towers of skulls holding hundreds of human skulls from men, women and children who were sacrificed to the Aztec gods. The description of these towers was originally believed to be an exaggeration the part of the Conquistadors to justify their actions. However, recent discoveries show them to be accurate in their descriptions. They are estimated to be 200 feet long and 100 feet wide containing tens of thousands of skulls. (Atlas Obscura)

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Castillo also related that in every town they came to they found pens built for the purpose of fattening up human sacrifices and that Montezuma’s men regularly raided surrounding villages to collect these sacrifices. Many of the villages Cortes's troops passed through saw them as liberators from Montezuma’s tyranny.

It’s interesting that paganism often involves human sacrifice. We see that highlighted in our day in the pathological obsession with abortion. It is truly the sacrament of worship of the god of self. This should not surprise us. Paul reminds us that those worshipping pagan deities are worshipping demons:

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I Corinthians 10:20 “No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

Satan can only imitate God.

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II Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

II Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,”

He has no original thoughts nor anything he’s created. He is a creature of God who lusts for God’s power and glory and seeks to obtain that by accruing worship to himself under the guise of man-made religions and idols.

So, just as the One true God requires the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22), Satan’s counterfeit religions do as well but in the case of Satanic religions, it is those who bear the image of God who are the desired offerings because that is what Satan is trying to destroy.

So, this is what they walked into. Imagine if you opened the door of a room and found someone knifing someone, what would you do?

So, did the Spanish bring these people, who were in bondage to Satan, the light of the gospel? That’s what we’ll look at for the rest of our time.

Missionary Endeavors Among the Indigenous Peoples

I want to begin this section with some of Christ’s words to the Apostle Paul at his conversion regarding Paul’s mission to the Gentiles, or we might say, the pagans:

Acts 26:18 “...to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”

While there were multiple reasons for Spanish actions in the New World, it’s clear that one of them was the propagation of the Gospel.

Justo Gonzalez in “The Story of Christianity” gives the goal of Ferdinand & Isabella for the newly discovered lands in their own words:

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“Diligently seek to encourage and attract the natives of said Indies to all peace and quiet, that they may willingly serve us and be under out dominion and government, and above all that they may be converted to the holy catholic faith.”

It’s that last goal, or the way they went about that last goal, that I want to talk about for the rest of the time.

There were broadly two approaches to this that Christian History Magazine dubbed “Merciful Force” and “Merciful Persuasion.”

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The first of these, Merciful Force was advocated by Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who was also the official historian of the Spanish Crown.

Sepúlveda believed the Bible’s teaching on authority (husbands and wives, parents and children, etc.) extended to all relationship among human beings in that:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas (Use Force)

the most powerful and most perfect rule over the weakest and most imperfect. The same relationship exists among men, there being some who by nature are masters and others who by nature are slaves.

He, referenced scriptures like Proverbs 11:29 “Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.” in support of this.

He believed Spain, being civilized and in possession of the Christian faith, was destined to rule over the pagans in the New World because of their abominable practices:

The response to this is Merciful Force. Those who were willing to convert and be subject to Spain would come under Spain’s benevolent rule and those who refused would be forced to do so. Sepúlveda believed such action was just according to natural law.

As you can imagine, this tended to be the top down official approach of the Spanish Crown. They kind of liked this one.

In practice, one of the ways it was implemented was, any time a new people group was encountered, to read something called the Requermiento or “The Requirement” which was written by the Council of Castille in 1510.

This statement, read usually either in Latin or Spanish:

…explained that God made the world and put St. Peter and his successors in charge of everyone else, and that one of these successors had given lordship of (their land) to the Spanish Crown. If the Amerindians did not acknowledge and submit to this, they could expect the Spanish to enter their country and make war against them to bring about their submission. (see Zondervan History of Christianity, p. 287)

It read in part:

“...and they shall not compel you to turn Christians, unless you yourselves, when informed of the truth, should wish to be converted to our Holy Catholic Faith, as almost all the inhabitants of the rest of the islands have done.”

So, they didn’t have to become Christians, though that was strongly suggested they should, but they did have to submit to Spanish rule whether they converted or not.

What problems do you see with this approach?

(Orthodoxy —> Orthopraxis)

The other approach, as we mentioned was dubbed Merciful Persuasion. The representative of this approach was a Dominican monk named Bartolomé de Las Casas, who, as you can imagine, often found himself at odds with the establishment folks like Sepúlveda.

Those holding this view tended to be of more humble origin, local priests, monks, etc. People who, in many cases, were actually on the ground with the people.

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Las Casas believed:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas (Use Persuasion)

There are no races in the world, however rude, uncultivated, barbarous, gross, or almost brutal they may be, who cannot be persuaded and brought to a good order and way of life.…Thus, the entire human race is one; all men are alike with respect to their creation and the things of nature, and none is born already taught. And so we all have the need, from the beginning, to be guided and helped by those who have been born earlier.

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas Use Persuasion

All the races of the world have understanding and will, and that which results from these two faculties in man—that is, free choice. And consequently, all have the power and ability or capacity … to be instructed, persuaded, and attracted to order and reason and laws and virtue and all goodness.

Of the Merciful Force view he said:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas Use Persuasion

A method contrary to the one we have been defending would be the following: Pagans should first be subjected, whether they wished to be or not, to the rule of the Christian people, and that once they were subjected, organized preaching would follow.

But if pagans find themselves first injured, oppressed, saddened, and afflicted by the misfortunes of wars, through loss of their children, their goods, and their own liberty … how can they be moved voluntarily to listen to what is proposed to them about faith, religion, justice, and truth …?

Of evangelism he said:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas Use Persuasion

The one and only method of teaching men the true religion was established by Divine Providence for the whole world, and for all times: that is, by persuading the understanding through reasons, and by gently attracting or exhorting the will.

Divine Wisdom moves rational creatures, that is, men, to their actions or operates gently.… Therefore, the method of teaching men the true religion ought to be gentle, enticing, and pleasant. This method is by persuading the understanding and by attracting the will.

Hearers, especially pagans, should understand that the preachers of the faith have no intention of acquiring power over them.…

Preachers should show themselves so mild and humble, courteous and … good-willed that the hearers eagerly wish to listen and hold their teaching in greater reverence.

[Preachers must] possess that same love of charity by which Paul was accustomed to love all men in the world that they might be saved: “You are witnesses and God also, how holy and just and blameless was our conduct towards you who have believed.”

Lastly we could say there was a combination of the two methods represented by the actions of Hernando Cortés who defeated Montezuma and the Aztecs. While Cortés did take the “submit or be defeated” approach, he seemed to have a desire to end the idolatry and sacrifice of the natives and see them come to Christ:

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Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas (Hernando Cortés (1485–1547))

Cortés presented the gospel to various Indian chiefs, urging them to replace their idols with a Christian altar, cross, and images of the Virgin Mary. Once, when Cortés stumbled upon a room filled with Aztec idols—its walls stained with blood from human sacrifices—he exclaimed, “O God, why do you permit the Devil to be so greatly honored in this land?” Then he began to smash the idols with an iron bar, shouting, “Shall we not do something for God?”

Again, what would you do in such horrific circumstances?

Other than the leaders and those responsible for the atrocities, he also seems to have treated the native population better than some:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas Hernando Cortés (1485–1547)

Cortés kept his men from plundering the Indians; when two of his soldiers were caught stealing from Indians, he had them hanged.

As a result of Cortés’ efforts, Prince Ixtlilxochitl of Texcoco was converted. Per a native account preserved in the Codex Ramirez:

Christian History Magazine—Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas Accepting Christianity

The brothers and a number of the other lords gathered to hear him, and he told them that the emperor of the Christians had sent him here, so far away, in order that he might instruct them in the law of Christ. He explained the mystery of the Creation and the Fall, the mystery of the Trinity and the Incarnation, and the mystery of the Passion and the Resurrection. Then he drew out a crucifix and held it up. The Christians all knelt, and Ixtlilxochitl and the other lords knelt with them.

“Cortés also explained the mystery of baptism. He concluded the lesson by telling them how the Emperor Charles grieved that they were not in God’s grace, and how the emperor had sent him among them only to save their souls. He begged them to become willing vassals of the emperor, because that was the will of the pope, in whose name he spoke.

“When Cortés asked for their reply, Ixtlilxochitl burst into tears and answered that he and his brothers understood the mysteries very well. Giving thanks to God that his soul had been illumined, he said that he wished to become a Christian and to serve the emperor.… The Spaniards wept with joy to see their devotion.

In the end, all of Central and South America as well as much of the West Indies became heavily Roman Catholic. How many of the natives became true Christians is not clear. It’s also not clear how many of the Spaniards were true Christians. However, the Lord knows and used imperfect people and an often imperfect message to bring the light of the Gospel to a pagan land.

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Christian History Magazine sums it up like this:

The fact that native Americans came to know the Christian God is testimony to more than the immense firepower of the conquistadores. It shows also the power of a faith that was able to reach people despite tremendous obstacles—not the least of which were produced by Christians themselves.

Thomas S. Giles, “How Did Native Americans Respond to Christianity?,” Christian History Magazine-Issue 35: Columbus & Christianity in the Americas (1992),.

See: Pedro de Quiroga, p. 309 in “A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America 1450 - 1990”

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PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTH AMERICA

(A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa & Latin America 1450 - 1990”, pp. 361-66)

It’s is believed Protestantism came, officially at least, to Latin America in 1810.

The independence movement in South America began around 1808 and lasted until 1825. It wasn’t until independence from Spain and Portugal that practicing Protestantism became possible.

This first happened in Brazil.

Brazil became independent in 1822 but a trade agreement between Portugal and England in 1810 allowed Protestant English subjects to practice their religion for the first time. They built a chapel in Rio de Janeiro in 1819 and this is believed to be the first Protestant church in Latin America. The pastor, one Robert Walsh reported that they built the Anglican chapel under the stipulations of the treaty which was that it could not be built as a public building but a private residence and must not have bells. Seems the government still didn’t want it to present itself as a church to the public.

After Brazil became independent, Emperor Dom Pedro I and the new constitution guaranteed religious freedom in Brazil. Article V of the Brazilian constitution said:

“The Roman Apostolic Catholic religion will continue to be the religion of the Empire. All other religions will be permitted, with their domestic or private worship, in houses destined for this purpose, but under no circumstances outside the temple.”

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The first missionary of the North American Presbyterian Church to Brazil was Ashbel Green Simonton from Pennsylvania. While at Princeton Seminary Simonton was moved by a sermon by the great Charles Hodge to become a foreign missionary. He was ordained a minister in 1859 and immediately left for Brazil, arriving there on August 12 of that year. (Wikipedia)

On January 12, 1862, the first native Brazilian convert was baptized and this is considered the founding day of the Presbyterian church in Brazil.

Simonton died of malaria on December 9, 1867 at only thirty-four years old.

Today, Protestantism is the second largest religious group in South America. Protestantism has had a minority status on the continent for most of its history but has experienced tremendous grow since the late 20th century. Brazil has the highest number of evangelicals in South America, with about 44 million Brazilians identifying as Protestants which is about 22.2% of the population. We have an entire lesson coming up later in the course on Christianity in Brazil.

Protestants also make up the second largest religious group in Chile, with 13% of Chile’s population identifying as Protestants. Protestantism was introduced in Chile in the 19th century by missionaries from America and Germany.

In Colombia where Grace Fellowship does mission work, World Atlas says Protestants make up about 15% of the population. Protestantism came to Colombia when British soldiers came to assist Colombia’s political rebels during their struggle for independence. Many of these soldiers remained after independence, and some wrote letters to Britain and the US, calling for missionaries to evangelize in the new country. (World Atlas)