Among the history books on my shelf are works covering general church history (with a strong European focus), Christianity in Asia, Africa, the United States and Canada. Having read all of these, it was inevitable that I should try to read up on what happened in the church in South America.* The uncle and niece team of Justo and Ondina González have put together a wonderful little book which does a good job of covering the past 500+ years of Christianity in Latin America. After presenting the theological and social state of the church in the Iberian peninsula in the late 1400s, the doctors González show how the religion was planted and grew amongst the natives of and immigrants to those areas of the Americas conquered by Spain and Portugal. They also show how the church in turn was affected by the Christians of Latin America. At 310 pages, it's not an exhaustive study. But it does give an excellent overview that's written with a view and respect for believers amongst the rulers and oppressed alike.
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* Of course, it took my wife to actually obtain such a volume in a timely manner, but we won't go there.

--J. ( )