
The Americas' First Theologies
Early Sources of Post-Contact Indigenous Religion
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 24. August 2017
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-19-067830-2 (ISBN)
Description
The Theologia Indorum by Dominican friar Domingo de Vico was the first Christian theology written in the Americas. Made available in English translation for the first time, Americas' First Theologies presents a selection of exemplary sections from the Theologia Indorum that illustrate Friar Vico's doctrine of god, cosmogony, moral anthropology, understanding of natural law and biblical history, and constructive engagement with pre-Hispanic Maya religion. Rather than merely condemn the Maya religion, Vico appropriated local terms and images from Maya mythology and rituals that he thought could convey Christianity. His attempt at translating, if not reconfiguring, Christianity for a Maya readership required his mastery of not only numerous Mayan languages but also the highly poetic ceremonial rhetoric of many indigenous Mesoamerican peoples.
This book also includes translations of two other pastoral texts and parts of a songbook and a catechism. These texts, written in Highland Mayan languages by fellow Dominicans, demonstrate the wider influence of Vico's ethnographic approach shared by a particular school of Dominicans. Altogether, The Americas' First Theologies provides a rich documentary case example of the translation, reception, and reaction to Christian thought in the indigenous Americas.
This book also includes translations of two other pastoral texts and parts of a songbook and a catechism. These texts, written in Highland Mayan languages by fellow Dominicans, demonstrate the wider influence of Vico's ethnographic approach shared by a particular school of Dominicans. Altogether, The Americas' First Theologies provides a rich documentary case example of the translation, reception, and reaction to Christian thought in the indigenous Americas.
Reviews / Votes
For scholars of Mesoamerican religious history, religion, and literature, and transatlantic Catholicism, this study offers an important and understudied topic. Scholars of religion and rhetoric in the Americas will delight at the careful analysis of rhetorical and literary intercourse. * Daniel Jones, Religious Studies Review * This fascinating book is a time machine of sorts...The Americas' First Theologies is a landmark sourcebook in documenting the earliest period of interreligious encounter in the Americas. Although not an interfaith dialogue, the fact that two religious traditions are in conversation is a social phenomenon worth reflecting upon. Sparks and his colleagues have produced a text that not only is of historical and cultural interest, but a work that may have significant implications today as well. Use of The Americas' First Theologies in classroom settings may trigger some thought-provoking discussions. Recommended for university libraries, and commended as a prospective textbook for indigenous studies, religious studies, anthropology, comparative literature, and/or linguistics courses. * Christopher Buck, Reading Religion *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
681 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-067830-2 (9780190678302)
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Schweitzer Classification
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E-Book
07/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
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E-Book
07/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€63.49
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Persons
Garry G. Sparks is Associate Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He is the author of Rewriting Maya Religion: Domingo de Vico, K'iche' Maya Intellectuals, and the Theologia Indorum. His research is supported by the National Endowment of the Humanities and the American Academy of Religion.
Co-Author
Edited and translated
Associate Professor of ReligionAssociate Professor of Religion, Princeton University
Foreword
Content
Forward by Robert M. Carmack
Introduction
Chapter One: Domingo de Vico's "Theology 'for' or 'of' the Indians"
Vico's Theologia Indorum (1553 and 1554)
Chapter Two: Other Dominican Lessons in Highland Mayan Languages - Spoken and Sung
Coplas of Friar Luis de Cancer, O.P.
Doctrina christiana en lengua quiche by Friar Damian Delgado, O.P.
Chapter Three: Highland Maya Theological Production
Popol Wuj (ca.1554-ca.1558), folio 1 recto
Title of Totonicapan (ca.1554), folios 1-7
Xpantzay Cartulary I (ca.1552)
Title of the Tamub' I (1580)
Title of Santa Clara La Laguna (1583)
Title of the Tamub' III (1592)
Title of the Ilokab' (ca.1592)
Xpantzay Cartulary VI (ca.1658)
Another Colophon
Contributors
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
Chapter One: Domingo de Vico's "Theology 'for' or 'of' the Indians"
Vico's Theologia Indorum (1553 and 1554)
Chapter Two: Other Dominican Lessons in Highland Mayan Languages - Spoken and Sung
Coplas of Friar Luis de Cancer, O.P.
Doctrina christiana en lengua quiche by Friar Damian Delgado, O.P.
Chapter Three: Highland Maya Theological Production
Popol Wuj (ca.1554-ca.1558), folio 1 recto
Title of Totonicapan (ca.1554), folios 1-7
Xpantzay Cartulary I (ca.1552)
Title of the Tamub' I (1580)
Title of Santa Clara La Laguna (1583)
Title of the Tamub' III (1592)
Title of the Ilokab' (ca.1592)
Xpantzay Cartulary VI (ca.1658)
Another Colophon
Contributors
Bibliography
Index