the indigenous peoples are evangelizing us

The Indigenous Peoples Are Evangelizing Us

Elsa Tamez

There can hardly be a more appropriate moment to reflect on Christianity and Christian practice than the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Europeans in Abya Yala.’ The subject of the Christian faith and the conquest inevitably arises after five hundred years of European (and North American) infiltra- tion and evangelization, and resistance by black and indigenous peoples.

The subject is controversial and sensitive, for it affects the identity of the indigenous and the blacks, the mestizos and the whites alike; it profoundly calls in question Christianity’s theological discourse and methods of evangelism; and, at the same time, it turns the spotlight on an established church structure which is seldom tolerant of forms of discourse and practice not in line with those authorized by tradition.

So, having been the ones who have done the talking for the past five hundred years, now is the right time €or us to pause and listen; to reflect maturely and with open minds on the actual realities on which Christianity has set its seal; to assume, as Christians, the consequences of an invasion legitimated by a “Christian” theology; to take the decision for repentance and conversion for the next five hundred years.

The problem transcends the frontiers between North and South, or first and third world, because we are dealing with a religion present on both sides of the divide, and which is being questioned from different angles.

The challenge comes from two different but convergent sources of faith, one indigenous and non-Christian and the other Christian and prophetic. The same cry is arising from different religions, condemning the injustice done by one set of people who feel themselves superior to others. The prime example of this is to be found at the time of the conquest.

0 Dr Tamez is a Methodist lay theologian teaching at the Latin American Biblical Seminary in Costa Rica. This paper has been translated from the Spanish by the WCC Language Service.

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THE INDIGENOWS PEOPLES ARE EVANGELIZING US

The Maya prophet Chilam Balam already experienced the linkage of tribute and Christianity from the arrival of the Spaniards onwards. In his book El libro de 10s libros (The Book of Books) the experience of suffering and oppression linked to the Christian religion recurs repeatedly, especially in the Second Prophetic Cycle.

In this time the foreigners who come to the land will receive tribute, in this time when the masters of our souls come and gather the peoples together in groups according to the head of their households, when the teaching of the Holy Faith of Christianity begins, when the water of baptism begins to be poured on heads throughout the world.. . , when the time of the great tribute comes to them with the coming of Christianity, when the principle of the seven sacraments is founded, when the time of hard labour begins for the peoples and poverty reigns in the land.2

Fray Bartolorn6 de las Casas and (a few) other missionaries who preached prophetic Christianity likewise lamented the inhuman treatment and oppression of the indigenous peoples linked to practices of the faith which, in their view, were not consistent with the true gospel.

If we as Christians turn a deaf ear to the challenge coming from the indigenous peoples, we will miss a historic opportunity for a radical and urgently-needed conversion and a thoroughly reformulated gospel in faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

My intention in this article is to make Christians see the need for radical repentance and conversion in view of the sins committed when “bringing” the Christian religion to other lands, yesterday and today. This conversion to the God of life, justice and peace means listening in all humility to the criticisms of the indigenous people who have been marginalized for five hundred years. Accepting the historic challenge of the indigenous movement will give us an opportunity to take a critical and self-critical look at spirituality, missionary practice, theology, hermeneutics, ecclesiology and ecumenism.

An inverted Christianity From the beginnings of Christianity up to the present time we believe that God is

merciful, just and forgiving, that in his Son Jesus Christ he shows his great mercy to human beings who are sinners, because he does not condemn those who put Jesus to death, but instead forgives them. This God reveals his power over death by raising Jesus from the dead after his unjust condemnation. God, in his grace and mercy, receives all those who believe in God’s power and who in faith partake in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In recent years, with the theologies of liberation, this message has been histori- cized; and, as a result, theology and practice have been reoriented on the basis of questions coming from specific economic, political, social and cultural contexts. As we reread the scriptures we found lines to guide us in reflecting from the standpoint of the poor and marginalized. We rediscovered the God of life, who is on the side of the oppressed, who frees them from oppression; and we emphasized the historical actions of Jesus of Nazareth in favour of the poor and women. What he did was controversial in the context of the first century; nevertheless, through his love for the outcasts, the son of the carpenter and of Mary did not shrink from death on the cross. His Father raised him from the dead, thus endorsing his action in history. Believers follow his example in obedience to the gospel, in the certainty that Jesus Christ is the first of many to be raised from the dead.

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THE ECUMENICAL REVIEW

The inversion or totally opposite understanding of this gospel first took place many centuries ago. In this section we shall concentrate basically on the era which the Europeans insist on calling the “discovery of America”.

Much has been said about the bloody events of the conquest, and the theological arguments that accompanied and justified it. Biblical themes like the “entry into Canaan”, “election”, “chosen people” and others served as a basis for carrying out the conquest. The well-known phrase about the coming of the “sword and the cross” is not fortuitous.

Even before the conquistador Hernhn Cortes, Christopher Columbus had interpreted his arrival in “the Indies” in biblical terms, as a prophecy of Isaiah (66:19) finding its fulfilment in him. At the same time, the “exchange” of religion for material wealth was highly profitable in Columbus’s eyes, as is evident in one of his letters to the king and queen of Spain:

I believe that if you begin, you will soon succeed in converting a multitude of peoples to our Holy Faith, and winning great domains and riches and all their peoples for Spain, because without doubt there are vast quantities of gold in these lands (12.11.1492). 5

Of course, the Spaniards believed they were doing great good by bringing Christianity to the continent. The people engaged in missionary enterprises today believe the same. However, to consider those who are different as inferior6 and disparage their culture and cosmic vision is at least to misunderstand and at worst to pervert the very gospel they plan to spread. “Evangelizing” in exchange for money is an activity which did not stop with the Spanish and Portuguese conquest.’

The imposition of the Christian religion and punishment of those who reject it are elements of an inverted gospel which was very common in the age of the conquest. Even before the mass evangelization carried out by the conquistadors and the colonizers, Columbus had it in mind.

I hope in Our Lord that Your Majesties will determine on this [sending religious] with great diligence in order to bring such great peoples to the Church and to convert them, just as Your Majesties have destroyed those who refused to confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (6.11.1492).8

Hernhn CortCs, conquistador par excellence, attributed his victories in battle against the invaded peoples of this continent to the Holy Spirit. In his second Letter, CortCs clearly sees God as a conquistador, thanks to whom the war was won. He repeats this frequently in his letters.

For the indigenous peoples, on the other hand, God must have been the opposite - the God of death. Cortes relates his exploits; after writing that he had burned more than ten villages and in some of them there were more than three thousand houses, he continues:

... And as we were carrying the banner of the Cross and fighting for our faith and in the service of your sacred majesty in his most royal venture, God granted us such victory that we killed many people without receiving harm ourselves. ‘0

Such rigid conceptions of an all-powerful God intolerant of “infidels” - that is, non-Christians - were evidently widespread, because they recur among the different chroniclers. It should be remembered that at this time Spain had just expelled the Jews

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THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE EVANGELIZING US

and reconquered the lands the Moors had taken from it, and the occupation of Abya Yala was carried out entirely in the same religious spirit and ideology.

Subsequent theologians intervened with well-elaborated arguments, in which the inversion of the gospel is obvious, in order to justify the war against the inhabitants and the seizure of their lands and possessions.

Juan JinCs de Septilveda based his hardline position against the people of Abya Yala, whom he regarded as inferior, on Aristotle and the natural order of hierarchy. According to Sepblveda, the Spaniards had every right to impose “good” on the Indians because they are submissive, eat human flesh, make human sacrifices and are ignorant of the Christian religion. His suggested solution was to bum alive or set the dogs on those who committed these evils.

Gustavo GutiCrrezIZ has analyzed a document written in 1571 by Garcia de Toledo at the request of his cousin, the viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, to legitimate Spanish rule. It is strongly critical of Fray BartolomC de las Casas, the defender of “the Indians”. GutiCrrez clearly shows how the gospel of Jesus Christ was inverted.

Among the arguments put forward to justify colonization and the campaign against the Indians was that the Inca government was tyrannical and its customs “inhuman”. In this way, as GutiCrrez points out, the kings of Spain appear as the saviours of the victims of the Incas. So the conquest is legitimate because it is undertaken out of neighbourly love. l 3

More surprising is the following paragraph in the document:

So I say of these Indians that one of the means of their predestination and salvation were these mines, treasures and riches, because we see clearly that wherever these were to be found, there the gospel was brought swiftly and competently; and wherever these were not to be found, but where there was poverty, this was a means of reprobation because there the gospel never came, because as great experience has shown, where the land is not endowed with gold and silver, no soldier or captain, nor even a minister of the gospel, wants to go there.

According to this argument, without gold there is no God. The choice in Matt. 6:24 - God or Mammon - is eliminated.14 Through a process of theological inversion, gold becomes the means of knowing Godi5 and a substitute for Christ because, thanks to it, the “conquered” are saved. l6

Of course, the desire to possess wealth was not new - greed had always existed in history, but not to the extent that all moral values were subordinated to gold. According to Todorov, this happened first with the conquest of America, and is a modem concept.

The desire to become rich is certainly not new and there is nothing specifically modem about the passion for gold. What is modem, however, is the subordination of all other values to that passion. [Money] is not just the universal equivalent of all material values, but also signifies the possibility of acquiring all spiritual values.. .This levelling out of values by money is something new and heralds the arrival of the modern, egalitarian, economic mentality. 17

The oppression imposed by the inverted gospel

God imposed by force as sole God and Lord. The God who came to this continent was not the all-merciful God of life, but the

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Christ, the God-man, appears dead on the crucifix, but not as someone who had sacrificed himself to give life to God’s creatures or the Son of God of the gospels, Jesus Christ. Possibly the Nhuas or the Mayas could see only a dead Lord who demanded that they believe in his death as salvation. In the logic of the conquest, those who do not believe in this God and submit themselves to him in baptism lose their lives, and those who submit but refuse to hand over their gold and possessions, or pay the tribute and conspire against the Spaniards, are likewise sacrificed. 18

There are many accounts of the violent way in which the gospel was imposed. Cuauhttmoc, the last Aztec emperor, was baptized and then had his head cut off for conspiring against the Spaniards led by Herniin Cortts. l9

The reaction of Yacotzin, the mother of Ixtlilxlichitl, the brother of the lord of Texcoco, shows the extremes to which the enforced evangelization could go. The account is contained in the Ramirez manuscript (Fragments 3 and 4). On the day when her son, Ixtlilxtichitl, wants her to be baptized twenty thousand people had been baptized. Yacotzin prefers to think about it first, then she orders him to set fire to the place where she was.

Finally she came out saying she wanted to be a Christian and for this he took her to CortCs with a great company and she was baptized and el CortCs was her godfather and they called her Doiia Maria, because she was the first Christian woman. And they did the same to the princesses her daughters, of whom there were four, and many other ladies. And in the three or four days they were there, they baptized a great number of people in this way.20

The lamentations of the Maya prophet Chilam Balam at the coming of Christianity are extremely revealing. In the document of chief Tecpantcatl there is mention of the need to accept Christianity for the simple reason of survival, though in the hope that this new God would offer something good. The chief says to his people:

And I agree to build a temple of worship where we have to place the new God the Spaniards have brought to us. They want us to worship him. What have we to do, my children? We must be baptized, we must submit to the men of Castille and perhaps then they will not kill us ... Now I say to you, so that they do not kill us, it is my will that we should all be baptized and worship the new God, because I have judged that he is the same as ours ...2I

Various methods of intimidation were used to make the people accept the Christian faith. Leonard0 Boff points out the emphasis placed in preaching on death and judgment, hell and eternal damnation in order to frighten the people and compel them to accept Christianity.22 These methods still persist today and it is not uncommon to hear them preached from the pulpit.

Prophetic voices of opposition It would be unfair not to refer to certain distinctive voices which condemned the

inhuman treatment of the indigenous peoples, as well as the use of abusive evangelizing practices and the manipulation of the gospel. The arguments put forward by the Dominicans against the granting of concessions to the colonizers were based on the same Christian theology, and its canon, the Bible. We have two opposing interpretations of the same gospel. Much has been said about the prophetic voice of Las Casas, whose life and work stand out in history as an inspiration for Christians today. Despite all the criticism to which he has been subjected, what he did was unique in his own time,23 not

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THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE EVANGELIZING US

least because of his courage shown by him and others in facing up to an imperial tide of brutal exploitation. It is rare to find this current of self-criticism, which existed within the Spanish colonial enterprise itself, in non-Spanish colonial ventures. 24

However, over-emphasizing these prophetic voices could serve to neutralize attitudes that might otherwise lead us to genuine conversion. My intention is rather to present the unadorned truth about what has been done in the name of Christianity in order to shock us and encourage us to reformulate our faith.

In fact I have altered the names to differentiate the negative from the positive. I have given the name Christianity to this complicity between church and power, or Christianization instead of evangelization. And rightly so, because, as many people would agree, what came here to this continent was Christianity but not the gospel, what happened was not evangelization but Christianization.

Nonetheless, the historical events of the conquest, supported by a compliant Christian theology, alert us to the inherent possibility of ambiguity in the understanding of the Christian God and the disastrous consequences this can have. Would it not be a good thing if we could get away from hermeneutical arguments and engage instead in a sincere analysis of the actual theological discourse of the Christian religion in general? This is not a matter of intellectual concern but of honesty about the ready justification of unjust practices by theology and the Bible.

I have presented some typical historical examples of the barbarity of the conquest with which the Christian religion was associated. But if we listen to the testimonies of indigenous people, blacks and women today we will realize that the “conquest” is still continuing, although with different agents, and there is no difficulty in identifying a line of theological discourse to justify it.

The theological situation today is different from that at the time of the conquest and colonization. Many of the peoples of the third world have taken the gospel for themselves and are reading it to their own benefit. They are discovering the key to liberation offered by the God of life in solidarity with those who are excluded. And by taking this key, which is the God of the poor or the marginalized as a theological focus, they have been able to reorient both their theology and their pastoral practice. The historicizing of the gospel has been a great contribution to humanity and, without setting out to do so, has led to a revaluation of Christianity. The key once more unlocks the promise of life offered by the Christian God. What is more, popular liberation movements of the poor, indigenous peoples, women and blacks have been inspired by this re-reading of the gospel in favour of justice and peace - although the gospel of liberation is unfortunately not present everywhere and at all levels. There are still plenty of examples of arbitrary acts legitimated by biblical-theological arguments; shameful conflicts between different Christian confessions and the imposition of the Christian religion on other non-Christian religions.

A straightforward, quantitative stock-taking of the role of Christianity throughout history makes it abundantly clear that many of the things done by those who call themselves Christians are definitely being called in question, not least by the God of Jesus Christ himself. This is what is known in Christian theology as sin.

The indigenous peoples are evangelizing us If we reflect objectively and maturely on the history of Christianity, with its light

and dark patches, we are brought up short. Our reactions can vary: one reaction can be

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to reject Christianity as a religion capable of bringing human beings to self-fulfilment. This has been the attitude in the Christianized sectors of indigenous populations, who have rediscovered their ancestral cultural and religious heritage. A similar attitude is to be found among “post-Christian” feminist women, mainly in the first world, who have come to the conclusion that the Bible and Christian tradition have nothing to offer women, because of their inflexible patriarchy. Another reaction can be to deny the facts or rationalize them by exaggerating the positive role which the Christian message has undeniably had in countless situations. Another reaction to the facts can be repentance, which in the Hebrew Bible is expressed by rending one’s garments and putting on sackcloth as a sign of suffering and mourning.

Another reaction, the most desirable one as I see it, is to acknowledge our complicity in the events of colonization in past years and in present-day marginaliza- tion, not because we have been active agents, but because, in some way or other, by belonging to the church and professing and practising the Christian religion, we are implicated. This is because, according to the historical facts, the church and Christian theology not only enabled the invasion from Europe to take place but also gave it legitimacy. Now is the time for self-criticism and for confronting the concrete challenges presented by the victims of misguided Christian practice. History since the conquest is a mirror in held up to us Christians and the church. The mirror of history shows us what we are, what we have done and what we have to do. The prophets constantly condemned the religion, the sacrifices and the fasts of the people when they were not linked with concrete action. For them, it was impossible to worship God and at the same time oppress orphans and widows.

Once we have acknowledged the sin committed and our complicity in it, we should repent and ask forgiveness for those “Christians” who used Christianity to subjugate individuals and peoples. This is a great step towards achieving at least some inner purification and a certain measure of peace. Obviously, it is not enough to acknowledge our sin, repent and lament. Real conversion produces the fruits of repentance. That is what we Christians can leam from our own scriptures, which we should be re- reading at this critical time. We can thus state that the indigenous peoples, out of their situation and with the challenges they present us, are evangelizing us. We are being indirectly called to be converted to the gospel of liberation. We are being invited to reread our scriptures.

We find different approaches to conversion in the Bible. The Hebrew word shuv means literally to turn to God in the sense that the whole person turns completely around. 25 In other words, a person leaves present ways which are contrary to God and takes up new ways. The ritual practice of penitence was criticized by the prophets because it was an outward sign which did not involve practising justice.26 After the exile, conversion was understood as turning to the ways of the Law, being converted to the Law and fulfilling it.*’

In the New Testament we find a new element. The term epistrepho used in the Septuagint to translate the force of the Hebrew word shuv (turning to God) is not picked up. The New Testament uses the word metanoia, literally, change of mind, change of thinking, change of will. The ideas of conversion and repentance are included as experiences leading up to the change of attitude. Metanoia cannot be interpreted as an intellectualization of shuv. According to Goetzmann, the intellectual understanding of metanoia as a change of mind or ideas has little to do with the New

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Testament - because it is not just a “turning around”, or a change of ideas,** but repentance for the evil done to others, turning away from the path of sin, turning to God and producing the fruits of repentance. That is conversion.

After taking stock of what has happened since Christianity came to Abya Yala, we as Christians must undergo a process of conversion, of metanoia. This means that on discerning the realities of the situation we acknowledge the injustices committed against @e indigenous peoples and the blacks; we acknowledge too that the Bible has been interpreted ahistorically, and to the benefit of Spanish and Portuguese colonial interests; we deeply regret that even in our age the indigenous and the blacks are still being marginalized and that even today evangelization enterprises aimed at imposing Christianity continue, albeit using more subtle methods. This insight must lead us to repentance and to a change of noia, a change of will to correct our thoughts, attitudes and actions towards those who are excluded. Conversion to the neighbour is a conversion to God, and that conversion manifests itself in the real fruits of solidarity.

In this critical review of history we are being evangelized by the Spirit through the indigenous peoples and the challenges that come from them, and we should give thanks to God for this. Because to recover the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ is to receive good news, turning us back to the real meaning of evangelism and mission and the practice that goes with them. The indigenous people are inviting us to re-read our canon with fresh and humble eyes, free of ideas of dominance and universalism.

The honest reader who is willing to listen humbly to the challenges coming from the indigenous movement will understand that God in his infinite mercy has revealed himself in all cultures and in different forms and that Christians have respectfully to recognize the right of one and all to express their faith in different ways. Just as no culture is perfect, so no religion holds the whole truth. 29 Dialogue is essential for the mutual edification of the different expressions of faith in God the creator, God of justice and freedom. This is good news for a world which lives with wars and a human race living on a rapidly degenerating planet. Solidarity among all humankind is more vital than ever as we mark five hundred years of invasion.

NOTES

I “Abya Yala” is the name used by the native peoples of Latin America to designate what is traditionally called the “American continent”. It means “mature land”. The name “Latin America’’ given to it by Europe excludes the indigenous and black peoples as well as various non-Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean. In this article the name Abya Yala will be used to refer to Latin America.

’E l libro de 10s libros de Chilam Balam, Mexico, Fondo de Cultura Econ6mic0, 1948, pp.70-71. ’Today on analyzing the events from the point of view of this continent various formulations are used: Latin America (cf. note l), Indians, indigenous, discovery of America, encounter of two worlds, etc. America is a European name, Columbus died thinking he had reached India; the word “discovery” refers to the European view. For many people today, especially in the indigenous movement, the conquest was a disastrous invasion. Cf. Luis Rivera Pagan, Evangelizaci6n y violencia. La conquista de AmPrica Latina, Puerto Rico, CEMI, 1990.

’Taken from Tzvetan Todorov, La conquisra de Amkricu tarina. El problem def otro, Mexico S X X I , 198?, p.52. According to Todomv, the consequences produced by the denial of the other’s difference are fatal. It is an easy step from regarding the other as inferior to treating them as slaves and adopting colonialist attitudes.

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In the first case the other is treated as an object; in the second case, as a subject capable of producing objects. In both cases, the feeling of superiority made it easy to behave as they did. Todorov, op. cir.,

Cf. Hugo Assmann, La iglesia electrdnica y su impact0 en America Latina, San JosC, DEI, 1987, cf. p.57.

pp.52-56. ‘Quoted from Todorov, op. cit., p.58.

“The Lord willed that.. .”, “and to continue the victory which God has given us.. .”, “our Lord helping us, we won...”, in Crdnicas de la conquista, introduction, selection and notes by Agustin Yanez, Mexico, UNAM, 1987, p.91.

“Hernhn CortCs, Carras de relacidn de la conquisra de Mkxico, Madrid, Espasa-Calpe, 1970, p.41. I ‘ Juan Jints de Sepulveda, Tratado sobre las justas causas de las guerras contra 10s indios, 1547, Mexico,

”Gustavo Gutitrrez, Dios o el or0 en las Indias, siglo XVZ, Lima, CEP, 1989. l 3 Ibid., pp.90-99. l4 Ibid., p. 120. ”Ibid., p.123. I‘ Ibid. 17Todorov, op. cit., p.154f. I 8 Elsa Tamez, “Quetzalcbatl y el Dios cristiano, alianza y lucha de dioses”, Pasos, no. 34, 1991. l9 “ ... He took.QuatCmuc and threw him into prison, and on the third day of his imprisonment he was taken

out and baptized, and it is not certain whether he was given the name Don Juan or Don Fernando, and after he had been baptized they cut off his head and nailed it to a tree in front of the house of the gods that was in the village of Yaxam ...” Copied from Miguel Le6n-Portilla, El reverso de la conquista, Mexico, UNAM, 1987, p.95.

*‘Taken from Miguel Leon-Portillo, La visidn de 10s wencidos. Relaciones indigenas de la conquista, Mexico, UNAM, 1989, p.99. Ajusco document, D.F., the fragments are taken from Notebook no. 8 , published by CENAMI, 1989. A quinientos anos.

Fondo de cultural econ6mico. 1987.

’* Leonard0 Boff, Nuewa Ewangelizacidn, Buenos Aires, Lumen, 1990, p.33. 23 I refer to his ambiguous position - which he later corrected - concerning the treatment of black slaves

and also his assimilative position concerning difference (he identifies the values of his own ego in the other); his over-riding concern to evangelize without taking account of the other’s religion and customs, even though he did so peacefully.

24 Cf. Enrique Dussel, “1492: diversas posiciones idtologicas”, in La interminable conquisra, San JosC, DEI, 1990, p.87.

” J. Goetzmann, “Conversion”, in Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown ed., Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1979, p.357.

’‘ Bauer, Diccionario de reologia biblica, Barcelona, Herder, 1967, p.211. 2 7 T h i ~ nomistic approach is found in the Koran. Cf. Bauer, op. cir., p.211. 28 Goetzmann, op. cir., p.358. 29Cf. Hans Kung, Theology for the Third Millennium. An Ecumenical View, Garden City, NY, Doubleday,

1989.

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