Course Summary

Native religion, Christian endeavor, and the current religious scene in South America

The course is organized in three modules: (1) Native Religion in Latin America, (2) The Changing Face of the Church in Latin America, and (3) Protestants, Pentecostals, and Catholic Renewal. 3 semester hours of graduate credit.

Objectives

1.  Relate the story of Christianity in Latin America.

2.  Identify characters, issues, events, and theological concepts found in the history of Christianity in Latin America.

3.  Contrast the current state of Christianity in Latin America.

Credit.  Credit for the course requires a score of 70% or greater on three multiple choice exams and two essays. Each graded element is valued at 20 percent of the final grade.  A sample multiple choice problem is given below.

The most challenging issue facing a person who would teach someone about Jesus Christ in Latin America is (A) a language barrier, (B) government restrictions on freedom of speech and religion, (C) a cultural barrier, (D) general disinterest in religious differences.

Resources

Ample resources are available in the Electronic Collection without cost to the student.  If preferred, the following hard copies can be substituted.

Cruz, Joel Morales. The Histories of the Latin American Church: A Handbook. Fortress Press, 2014. 656 pp. $35 ISBN: 978-1451465648

Hartch, Todd. The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity. A vol. of Oxford Studies in World Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2014. 304 pp. $21.31 ISBN: 978-0199843138

Lynch, John. New Worlds: A Religious History of Latin America. Yale University Press, 2012. 384 pp. $34.27. ISBN: 978-0300166804

Peterson, Anna L. and Manuel A Vasquez (eds.). Latin American Religions: Histories and Documents in Context. NYU Press, 2008. 352 pp. $27. ISBN: 978-081476732