Tropical Idolatry

Download or read book Tropical Idolatry written by R. L. Green and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Tropical Idolatry, R.L. Green examines how thinkers within the Society of Jesus attempted to convert indigenous peoples of New Spain, the Philippine Islands, and the Mariana Islands to Catholicism during the early modern period. Through the close readings of Jesuit authored theological treatises and historical texts, all placed firmly within a rich, vibrant, and nuanced Catholic intellectual tradition, the evolution of ideas on the topic of indigenous religion within an imperial context becomes apparent. The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the importance that both religious and political beliefs played in the establishment of the Church in the Spanish Pacific world. The intent is to reconsider some commonly held assumptions regarding the Jesuit missionary enterprise and its role in the origins of global Catholicism.