From Christian Continente To Mission Fiel The Misional Discourse of The CCLA

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F R O M C H R I S T I A N C O N T I N E N T TO M I S S I O N F I ELD
THE MISSIONAL D I S C O U R S E OF T H E C O M M I T T E E O N C O O P E R A T I O N IN
L A T I N A M E R I C A AN D PRO T E S T A N T L A T I N AM E R I C A N S C O N C E R N I N G THE
M I S S I O N A L NEEDS OF L A T I N A M E R I C A
(1910 - 1938)
CARLOS F. C A R D O Z A O R LANDI
A D I S S E R T A T I O N S U B M I T T E D TO T H E FA C U L T Y
OF P RINCETON T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y IN P ARTIAL FULFIL L M E NT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FO R THE D E G R E E OF D O C T O R OF PHILOSOPHY
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
1999
UMI Number: 9930285
C o p y r i g h t 1999 b y
Cardoza-Orlandi, Carlos F.
All rights reserved.
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® Carlos F . Cardoza Orlandi
DEDICATION
A Carlos Andres, por su apoyo y sus abrazos cuando
menos se esperan y mas necesario son . . .
A Juan Carlos, po r su mirada tierna y su mente
inquisitiva, siempre aprendiendo . . .
A Carlos Esteban, el bebe, q u i e n con sus sonrisas hizo
los ultimos dias de esta tesis llevaderos . . .
A Lizzie, m i amada esposa, companera y amante, cuya fe
nunca vacila
A mi familia, mi verdadero examen en la vida, mi
verdadero doctorado
i n
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful for the support and advice of m y mentors,
Dr. A l a n Neely and Dr. Charles Ryerson. They opened m y eyes
to new insights and perspectives in missiology and the
history of religions. I am also grateful for Dr. James
Moorhead, who served on my dissertation committee.
I a m grateful to the community of Columbia Theological
Seminary who supported me during the writing of this
dissertation. There are too many colleagues to thank, for
their support and en c o u r agement.
I a m indebted to a cloud of witnesses that accompanied
me during this task. To all who, in one way or another,
helped me to persevere, THANK YOU.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vii
Introduction 1
Some Theoretical Considerations

Issues, Sources, Thesis and Outline of the
Dissertation
PART ONE. THE DILEMMA A N D THE PRELIMINARY

RESPONSES 12
Chapter
I. Is Latin America a M i s s i o n Field? 13

Boards Face the Edinburgh Decision,
1910-1913
The Exclusion of Latin America
North American Boards Respond
Latin American Protestants Res p o n d
Conclusion
II. The Missiological Justification 34

The Religious Justification
Mission as Education
Conclusions
PART TWO. FROM NEGLECTED CONTINENT TO CONTINENT

OF OPPORTUNITIES 57
III. Political, Economic a n d Cultural Changes in

Latin America, 1910-1938 58
Political Developments
Economic Changes
Political-Cultural Changes
IV. The Committee on Cooperation in Latin America,

1915-1938: A Missiology for a Continent Pregnant
w ith Opportunities 85
Robert E . Speer
John A. Mackay
Samuel Guy Inman
The CCLA Congresses: Panama (1915), Montevideo
(1925) and Havana (1929)
Conclusions
V. The W o r l d Missionary Conferences, the CCLA and
Latin America 146
Neely's Assessment
Jerusalem 1929
Tambaram 1938
Conclusions
VI. "As Latin Americans See It:" CCLA a nd the

Voice of Latin A merican Protestants 159
Latin American Protestantism: A Thesis
Reconsidered
Latin American Reports
O ther Voices
Conclusions
PART THREE. LATIN AMERICA: A MISSION FIELD? 180
VII. Conclusion 181
Appendix
Statistical Statement Regarding Mission
W o r k in South Am e r i c a 197
Bibliography 198
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1. U.S. Trade with Latin America

as a percentage total of Latin
American Trade 1913, 1918
and 1927 70
2. Latin America: Evolution of
External Trade 73
3. Reports o f the CCLA's Congresses 129
vii
ABSTRACT OF
FROM CHRISTIAN CONTINENT TO MISSION FIELD
THE MISSIONAL DISCOURSE OF THE COMMITTEE ON C OOPERATION IN
LATIN AMERICA AND PROTESTANT LATIN AMERICANS CONCERNING THE
MISSIONAL NEEDS OF LATIN AMERICA
(1910 - 1938)
BY CARLOS F. CARDOZA ORLANDI

ADVISOR: DR. A L A N PRESTON NEELY
Latin America was excluded, as a missionary field on the
basis that it was a Christian continent in the W o r l d
Missionary Conference of 1910 in Edinburgh. As a result,
North American mission boards, with an established
missionary endeavor in the continent, articulated a response
to legitimize the missionary activity in the neighbor
continent. Out of this missional response, the Committee on
Cooperation in Latin America (CCLA) was created in 1916.
This Committee became the m ost critical voice in the
continuing effort to claim Latin America as a m i s s i o n field.
The CCLA included North American missionary leaders and
Latin American Protestants. This particular configuration
allowed an inter-cultural dynamic unique to missi o n a r y
organizations during this t i m e . The available documents of
the Committee embody the interplay between religious
cultures, an encounter between North American Protestantism
(its missionary face) and the emerging Latin A m e r i c a n
2
Protestant face. Moreover, the interplay b et w e e n these
religious cultures is also shaped b y the ethos of the World
Missionary Movement and its conference and the R o m a n
Catholicism of the continent.
This dissertation explores the character of the
encounter between these religious cultures t hrough the
missional discourse— the justification of Latin A merica as a
mission field--of the CCLA. It seeks to find the Latin
American Protestant identity construed through this
encounter and discourse.
INTRODUCTION
En las concepciones vigentes sobre la historia hay u na

tendencia a reducir la labor del historiador a la
complilacion de d a t o s . Pero la buena historia no es la que
abruma con informacion, sino la que plantea en forma
coherente los problemas mas significativos de una epoca1
Fernando Pico, Historia General de
Puerto Rico
Some Theoretical Considerations
This dissertation studies the encounter of religious
cultures, particularly the encounter between North American
and Latin American Protestantism in the early twentieth
century. It is also about the character of the encounter
between two expressions of the Christian faith, Roman
Catholicism, and Protestantism. Although this dissertation
does not fall within the purview of colonial studies,2 it
provides an analysis through which to understand a
missiological discourse which promotes and encourages the
xIn the present discussions about history there is a

tendency to reduce the task of the historian to the
compilation of data. But good history does not overwhelm
with information, but rather posits in a coherent way the
most significant problems of an era. (Translation is m i n e ) .
Fernando Pico, Historia General de Puerto R i c o . (Rio
Piedras: Ediciones Huracan, 1988), 22.
2 Three very provocative and recent books on the topic

of colonial studies are Walter Mignolo, The Darker Side of
the Renaissance: Literacy. Territoriality and Colonization
(Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1995) and
Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books--Division
of Random House, 1978) and Culture and Imperialism (Vintage
Books--Division of Random House, 1993). These books provided
some critical insights for the type of research in this
dissertation.
extrapolation of one religious culture into another.3 It is
a study of the interpenetrations, crossings, cross
fertilizations and conflicts b e t w e e n the North American
Protestant missiological discourse and activity, and the
Latin American Protestant response.
Encounters are always medi a t e d and shaped b y context.
However, a missiologist rarely considers the context of the
encounters as a "protagonist," a critical and dynamic factor
in the character of the encounters. For example,
missiologists provide vague descriptions of economic and
political issues to give the reader a general understanding
of the context. Yet they seldom weave these descriptions
into the fabric of the research. Regretfully, the context
seems to constitute the working table of the seamstress
rather than integral threads for the f a b r i c . In this
research the context serves as a "protagonist" in the
e ncounter.
Two critical factors help the reader understand the way
I use the term "context" in this dissertation. First, I
understand context "as a dynamic exchange"4 between the
3I use Clifford Geertz's definition of religion when

referring to the terms religious culture. He defines
religion as "a system of symbols which acts to establish
powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations
in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of
existence and clothing these conceptions with such aura of
factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely
realistic." Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures
(New York: Basic Books, 1973), 90-91.
4Said, Orientalism. 15.
3
N o r t h American missiologists a n d L a t i n American Protestants
w i t h i n their own "intellectual a n d imaginative territory."5
Consequently, I explore the "hermeneutical dilemma for the
understanding subject interested in the hierarchy
established by the domination of one culture (its history,
institutions, and individuals, [and its religion] ) over
another."6 I concentrate on the hermeneutical dilemma and
missiological implications of the "locus of enunciation from
w h i c h the understanding subject [North American
missiologists and Latin American Protestants] comprehends
colonial [missiological, in our case] situations."7
Second, m y understanding of context does not "overlook
the fact that coexistence of perspe c t i v e does not always
take place without a display of p o w e r relations and
sometimes violence."8 For example, the W o r l d Missionary
Movement is a maj o r factor in the interpretation and
proposal of Latin America as a m i s s i o n field. The
conferences, papers, reports an d visits of the leaders of
the World Missionary Movement, as e xpressed in the
International Missionary Council, create a locus of
enunciation,9 a context of missiological discourse, that
sIbid.
6Mignolo, The Darker Side of the R e n a i s s a n c e . 18.
7Ibid., 16.
8Ibid., 15.
9Ibid.
cannot be underestimated in the North American/Latin
American missiological exchange. The political, cultural and
religious aura that the W orld Missionary Movement conveyed
to missiologists on both sides of the encounter created an
a symmetry in the exchange of discourse regarding m i s s i o n to
Latin America. In my analysis I contend that this
m i s s i o l o g i c a l a s y m m e t r y is a "protagonist" in the encounter
and resulting missiological discourse.
I want to return to the concept of the encounter of
religious cultures. As I mentioned above, all encounters are
mediated. In m y research I analyze the m e d i a of written
discourse. I adhere to Mignolo's new philology and
comparative approach to interpret these multi-leveled
discourses of North American missiologists, Latin American
Protestants and the World Missionary Conferences' reports.
Mignolo proposes,
The new philology to which I subscribe revolves around

two axioms: (1) every word is exuberant, because it
says more than intended; (2) every w o r d is deficient,
because it says less than expected. The two axioms were
proposed by Ortega y Gasset, who (like Bakhtin during
the same years) was reacting against Sausurean
linguistics and m oving toward a more pragmatic
understanding of language. Instead of looking into the
logic of Saussure's "language system," Ortega y Gasset
turned his attention to "the saying of the people [el
decir de la g e n t e ] ... I take philology to be an
analytical tool for describing descriptions, either
foreign to or far removed in time f rom the point of
view of the understanding subject.10
Mignolo argues for a comparative approach in colonial
10Ibid. , 8-9.
studies:
Two ma i n reasons support a comparative approach, to

colonial situations fro m the perspective of human
sciences: first, because the very definition of
colonial semiosis implies the coexistence of
interactions among a n d cultural production by members
of radically different cultural traditions,- second,
because the very act of understanding traditions that
are not ours (i.e., are not the one to which the
understanding subject belongs) implies a comparative
perspective between what is understood and the act of
understanding i t s e l f .11
This philological a nd comparative approach seems to fit
well in the field of colonial studies, particularly
Mignolo's and Said's work, which deal w i t h radically
different cultures.12 The cultures provide the sources for
comparative work, for example language. However, the
missiological discourse I examine in this dissertation
follows similar cultural p a t t e r n s . The sources of this
missiological discourse are reports, articles, minutes and
books sometimes written in the same language--ironically,
English. Regretfully, no sources exist wit h which to u s e the
comparative approach to examine the cotldianidad [daily
life] of missionary activity or local congregations. These
sources would provide additional loci of enunciation for the
comparative approach.
Therefore, the fact that patterns of missiological
11Ibid.
12Mignolo's study focuses on the 16th century encounter

of European and Amerindians and the imposition of language,
territoriality and religious space. Said's work focuses on
the cultural exchange in the Orient during the imperial era.
6
discourse for this dissertation are similar indicates that
the missiological discourse emerged in a n asymmetry of p o w e r
r e l a t i o n s . Consequently, I focus on the subtleties of the
discourse, rather than o n radical differences such as oral
history vis.a vis. w r i t t e n history. I try to uncover
differences in the discourse, discover multiple
interpretations, a pluritopic hermeneutic,13 to the
missiological justifications of Latin Am e r i c a as a m i s s i o n
field.
Finally, after d escribing multiple interpretations to
the missiological justification of Latin America as a
mission field, I move into a comparative analysis that
examines the ways in w h i c h these missiological discourse
constructed different loci of enunciation. The task does not
end w i t h a celebration of the diversity of the missiological
discourse, but also includes an awareness of the power
configuration that shaped the discourse and determined its
enunciation. This dissertation is another level in the
interpretation of the missiological justifications of Latin
America as a mission field. The process not only discovers
the multiple interpretations and power configurations of the
encounter, but helps me understand my role as an interpreter
13Mignolo defines p luritopic hermeneutics in the

following way: "Contrary to the monotopic understanding of
philosophical hermeneutics, colonial semiosis presupposes
more than one tradition and, therefore, demands a diatopic
or pluritopic hermeneutic, a concept I borrow from Raimundo
Pannikar." Ibid., 11.
of missiological discourse for Latin America.
Issues. Sources. Thesis and Outline of the Dissertation
This dissertation explores the following issues: (l)
the exclusion of Latin A merica as a legitimate mission field
at the 1910 W o r l d Missionary Conference in Edinburgh; (2)
the response of North American mission boards to the
exclusion of Latin America; and (3) the r eply of Latin
American Protestants b o t h to Edinburgh's d e c i s i o n and to the
missiological response of the North Ame r i c a n mission b o a r d s .
These issues unfolded from 1910 to 1938, p articularly f rom
1915 to 193 8.
The organizing committee of the E d i n b u r g h Conference
excluded Latin America as a legitimate m i s s i o n field because
members of the committee already considered it a "Christian
continent." Seeking broader denominational participation in
the Conference, the organizers narrowed the agenda to
consideration of missionary activity to non-Christian
territories only. Furthermore, the organizers of the
Edinburgh Conference stated that the m i ssiological problems
and challenges of non-Christian lands dif f e r e d substantially
from those in Christian territories.
In a wider scope, the Edinburgh Conference and the
exclusion of Latin America as a mission field embodied the
general controversy regarding missions w i t h i n Christendom.
This was not a new controversy, but it related directly to
the issue of missions to the largest Roman Catholic
territory in the world. Protestant mission boards within
Latin America needed a missiological justification for their
presence in the continent.
North American mission boards represented the largest
Protestant missionary presence in Latin America. These
mission boards felt responsible for developing a
missiological justification for their activity in the
continent. This need elicited three levels of response to
the decision of the Edinburgh organizing committee. First,
between 1910 an d 1913, North American mi s s i o n boards
published literature and celebrated a conference with
exclusive emphasis on missions in Latin America. The
conference created a continuing committee to coordinate
future conferences and activities related to missions in
Latin America.
Second, in 1916 this committee sponsored the first
Congress on Christian Work in Latin America. The Congress
was held in Panama, and the delegates voted to create the
Committee on Cooperation in L a t i n America (CCLA) . The CCLA
sponsored two additional congresses, one in Montevideo
(1925) and the other in Havana (1929).
The North American mission boards and the CCLA included
representation from Baptists, Disciples of Christ,
Methodists, Presbyterians and other mainline Protestant
denominations. The most prominent and articulate voices in
the committee during this period were Robert E. Speer (1867-
9
1947) and J o h n A. Mackay (1889-1983) , Presbyterians, and
Samuel Guy Inman (1877-1965) of the Christian Church
(Disciples of C h r i s t ) .
Third, the above-mentioned mission leaders who were
also representatives of the CCLA to the International
Missionary Council meetings in Jerusalem (1928) and Madras
(1938), articulated the CCLA's rationale for missions in
Latin America to the world missionary movement. They
incorporated that rationale within the purview of
Jerusalem's and Madras' missiological c o n c e r n s .
All three levels of response challenged Edinburgh's
decision and addressed the following question: A re the
problems and challenges of missions in non-Christian lands
different than those in Christian lands? The answer to this
question, developed in the historical p e r i o d between 1910
and 1938, not only legitimized Latin America as a mission
field, but also claimed Latin Am e r i c a as part of the world
missionary movement.
Moreover, the answer to the above question also
addressed the controversy regarding missions in lands
already predominantly Christian (or missions within
Christendom) . As the Committee on Cooperation in Latin
America gave a rationale for this missionary activity,
missions within Christendom began evaluating their work
based on the character of the Christian p resence prior to
their Protestant activity. Controversy surrounded the
10
criteria for this evaluation. Would this judgment be framed
in the missiological categories of E dinburgh and subsequent
pre-1940 missions conferences u s e d to judge other religions?
Would it follow the missiological critique of secularism?
Or, should the judgement of the character of Christian
presence be based on a combination of b o t h the religious and
the secular missiological critiques?
Ultimately, whatever the question o r combination of
questions in this controversy, the result was an evaluation
of Roman Catholic Christianity in Latin A m e r i c a on the terms
of North American Protestant missionary activity. It was a
"clash of civilizations" --a clash b etween two different
views of Christianity and the Christian m i s s i o n (a clash
between C h r istendoms ) .
Finally, f rom 1910 to 1938, Latin A m e r i c a n Protestants
also participated in all of the above levels of response. In
this dissertation I have considered Latin A merican
Protestants affiliated with either the CCLA, the North
American mission boards, or both. Figures such as Alberto
Rembao (1895?-1962), Erasmo Braga (1877-1939), Gonzalo Baez-
Camargo (1899-1983), and others helped shape the
missiological justification for Latin A m e r i c a and also
developed a Protestant Latin A merican thought that has not
yet been thoroughly researched. These m e n are interlocutors
between the Latin American religious context a nd the North
American mission boards, CCLA, and the W o r l d Missionary
11
Conferences of Jerusalem and M a d r a s .
This dissertation proceeds in the following format:
Part One (chapters I and II) describes the exclusion of
Latin America as a legitimate mission field at Edinburgh
(1910) and the North American mission boards' response to
that decision.
Part Two (chapters III, IV, V and VI) , focuses on the
missiological justifications for Latin America as a mission
field developed b y North American and Latin Americans.
Chapter III is an introductory description of the Latin
American context from 1910 to 1938. Chapter IV is the
response and missiological justification of the North
American mission boards and the CCLA between 1915 and 1938.
Chapter V expands the previous chapter's discussion of
impact of the World Conferences on Missions in Jerusalem
(1928) and Madras (1938) sponsored by the International
Missionary C o u n c i l . Chapter VI focuses on the Latin American
responses to this process from 1916 to 1938.
Finally, Part Three (chapter VII) explores the
implications of the issues discussed in the previous
chapters from the perspective of the encounter of religious
cultures, particularly focusing on the missiological
discourse as a source of inter-cultural knowledge and locus
of enunciation.
PART ONE
THE DILEMMA AND THE PRELIMINARY RESPONSES
CHAPTER I
IS LATIN AMERICA A MIS S I O N FI E L D ? : N O R T H AME R I C A N MISSION
BOARDS FACE THE EDINBURGH1 DECISION,
1910-1913
Boards face the Edinburgh Decision, 1910-1913
As already indicated, Latin Ame r i c a was excluded from
the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910 as an
illegitimate mission field,2 and as a result, N o r t h
American foreign m i s s i o n boards with missionaries already in
Latin America found themselves in a difficult position.
Though the number of North American Protestant missionaries
was relatively small at the time, their presence in Latin
America and the Spanish Caribbean was significant.3
Denominations had invested increasing human and economic
^ h e term "Edinburgh" refers here to the World

Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910 . Every time
"Edinburgh" is m enti o n e d in this chapter it refers to the
Conference.
2The South A m eri c a n Missionary Society (Anglican),

working among the Amerindians, was the only Latin American
mission society invited to the Edinburgh Conference. Kenneth
Scott Latourette, "Ecumenical Bearings of the M issionary
Movement and the International Missionary C o u n c i l , " in A
History of the Ecumenical Movement 1 , ed. Ruth Rouse and
Stephen Neill (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 19 86):
396.
3See Appendix One for information regarding the

presence of North A m e r i c a n missionaries in South America.
13
14
resources in Latin America.4 Protestant missionary w o r k was
influencing the continent's religious and political life
especially in terms of newly elected liberal g o v e r n m e n t s .
Presbyterian mission work in Guatemala is one e x a m p l e .
In 1882 President Justo Rufino Barrios visited the City
of N e w York to request the presence of North A m e r i c a n
missionaries from the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church. The Rev. John C. Hill was thus
appointed b y the Bo a r d and traveled b ack to Guatemala w ith
President Barrios himself. Rev. Hill built the first
Presbyterian church adjacent to the Presidential P a l a c e that
same year. By 1916, J. H. McLean, a Presbyterian m i s s i o n a r y
in Chile, praised the Presbyterian w o r k in Guatemala saying:
Since the field was opened to Presbyterian missionaries

b y President Barrios in 1882, our work there has
received the favor and protection of government
officials from the president down, and, in this
respect, has b e e n more favored then any un d e r t a k i n g in
Latin America.5
“For histories of North American missionary w o r k in

Latin A merica from the mid-nineteenth century to the m i d
twentieth century, see G. Baez Camargo and Kenneth G. Grubb,
Religion in the Repnbl ic of Mexico (New York: W o r l d Dominion
Press, 1935) , 87-124; Hans-Jurgen Priem, Historia del
Cristianismo en America Latina (Salamanca: Ediciones
Slgueme, 1985), 389-489, 711-800; Antonio Gouvea Mendonpa, 0
Celeste Porvir: A Insercao Do Protestantismo No Brasil (Sao
Paulo: Ediciones Paulinas, 1984); Jean-Pierre Bastian,
Historia del Protestantismo en America Latina ( Mejico: Casa
Unida de Publicaciones, 1990).
5J. H. McLean, The Living Christ for Latin A m e r i c a

(Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1916),
132 .
15
Interestingly, today Guatemala has one of the fastest
growing Protestant populations in Central America.5
Second, North A m e r i c a n missionary leaders feared that
Edinburgh's exclusion of Latin America as a mission field
would have terrible results in "the home pulpits."7 The
words of the Rev. Bishop W. F. Oldham of the Methodist
Episcopal Church (North) divulge concern and frustration as
he spoke during the Conference on Missions in Latin America
held in New York City. He said:
The action of the Edinburgh Conference in excluding any

consideration of missionary w o r k in Latin lands has
adversely affected the presentation of that w o r k from
our home pulpits. For it would seem on the surface
that the printed omission of all such fields f r o m a
world survey of missions by an ecumenical body w ould
indicate that the L atin missions are illegitimate or
negligible. Personally I regret that a clear statement
guarding against such a deduction was not made b y that
great assembly.8
North American missionary leaders faced a great
challenge. They wanted to legitimize the largest mission
field in which the predominant religion was any of the
historical forms of Christianity.1,9 At the same time, they
sDavid B . Barrett, World Christianity Encyclopedia

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), 800, 810.
7Foreign Mission Conference of North America,

Conference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a . (Pennsylvania:
Sowers Printing Co., 1913), 167.
8Ibid.
9Erasmo Braga, Pan-Americanismo: Aspecto Relicrioso.

translation from Portuguese to Spanish by Eduardo Monteverde
(Nueva York: Sociedad p a r a la Educacion Misionera en Estados
Unidos y Canada, 1917), 82.
16
wanted to participate in the Edinburgh Conference. In other
words, the North A m e r i c a n missionary leaders needed to
answer the question, how can we participate in a W o r l d
Missionary Conference which has excluded our closest
missionary field? Du r i n g this period of N o r t h American
missionary expansion into Latin America, this was a
difficult, but important question to answer.
This chapter explores: (1) the reasons for the
exclusion of Latin America as a mission field, particularly
the missiological concerns of the German societies a n d the
Anglo-Catholic movement; and (2) the N o r t h American response
and strategy to this decision. At the v e r y end I shall quote
a brief commentary from Erasmo Braga, a Latin American
Protestant, reacting to Edinburgh's decision.
The Exclusion of Lat i n America: German Societies and AngTo-

Catholics Arcrue for a "Missions to Non-Christians"
Conference
German societies first articulated reasons to exclude
Latin America from Edinburgh.
They objected to the introduction of Latin America

among the m i s sio n countries to be discussed at
Edinburgh, on the grounds of its being, nominally at
least, Christian, and because a proper use of current
terminology and a truly scientific m ethod of survey
would exclude Latin America for consideration along
with non-Christian lands, because of the essential
difference of the problems to be considered.10
10Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, Report on

the Concrress on Christian Work in Latin America, Panama,
1916. Vol. 1, (New Y o r k City: The Missionary Education
Movement, 1917), 6.
17
Gustav W a m e c k , the German missiologist, h a d a strong
influence i n the theology of missions du r i n g this period.
Though W a m e c k acknowledged that
the difficulties [for m issionary work] are to b e found

.... [among other things] in the m a n y offensive
hindrances put in the w a y of m i s s i o n a r y success b y the
large n u m b e r of nominal Christians scattered all over
the w o r l d , 11
his mission theology and terminology cen t e r e d on missi o n a r y
activity in n o n - W e s t e m countries a mong n o n - C h r i s t i a n s . In
fact, W a m e c k ' s mission theory, which considered the p e r i o d
1890-1910 the formative and most difficult stage in
Protestant w o r l d missions,12 was focused on the
responsibility of Christian missionaries to transform the
religious e thos of "the heathen." W a m e c k e x p l a i n e d .-
Much m o r e than heathen doctrine, it is heathen customs,

especially customs consecrated b y religion, which
occasion the chief struggles w i t h Christianity; it is
only n e cessary to think of caste, ancestor-worship,
polygamy, and circumcision. And conversely, the
reaction of heathenism is against C hristian ethics, the
new moral order of life, far m ore than against
Christian dogma. And a long time is n e e d e d for this
reaction to lose its p o w e r . 13
Ironically, in his Outline of a H i s t o r y of Protestant
M issions. W a m e c k included Latin America. In fact, he
described L a t i n America as "the neglected continent"14 with
“•Gustav W a m e c k , Outline of a Hi s t o r y of Protestant

Missions (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1903), 345.
“ Ibid., 344.
“ Ibid.
“ Ibid., 181.
18
respect to evangelical missions. Although, he reproached the
Roman Catholic Church for its incapacity to educate and
Christianize the people of Latin A merica,1S W a m e c k ' s
assessment of neglect did not center on missions to nominal
Christians, but on the Amerindians, and on people of Afr i c a n
and Chinese descent in the continent. His assessment of
missions in Latin America was thus consistent with his
general theological focus on the "heathen."
In the final analysis, neither W a m e c k ' s "scientific
method" and "survey" nor his missiological terminology
included missions to nominal Christians. In this respect,
the German societies' argument for the exclusion of
"Christian lands" from Edinburgh was consistent with their
missiology. This dissertation will explore whether the
problems of missions to non-Christian lands were as
different from the problems of missions to Latin America as
the organizers of Edinburgh seem to have believed.
The Anglo-Catholics provided the o t h e r objection to
include Latin America as a mission field. They demanded that
missions to "Christian countries" be o m i t t e d from the
purview of the World Missionary Conference as a precondition
to their own participation at Edinburgh. Latourette
explains:
They [in reference to the reasons f o r excluding

missions to nominal Christians] m a d e it possible for
Anglo-Catholics, who looked askance at missions by
lsIbid.
19
Protestants among peoples of other Christian traditions
than their own, to come to the Conference. The
narrowing of the scope of the Conference to missions
among non-Christian peoples made it possible to bring
in a larger number of societies and a greater variety
of ecclesiastical and theological convictions than had
been represented in any previous gathering.16
The Anglo-Catholic argument becomes m o r e clear when we
consider the historical background behind the discussion of
missions in the Church of England. First, Roman missions and
missionaries were a controversial topic w i t h i n the London
Secretaries' Association until 1870.17 A f t e r 1870,
however, no record exists of either major disagreements or
of agreements on this topic. In any case, British missionary
societies continued to develop missionary w ork in places
where Roman churches already existed.18
In light of this history, the London Secretaries'
Association took a particular position regarding Latin
America.
[A] n absence of interest in Latin A me r i c a may be shown

from the fact that from 1875, when the South American
Missionary Society's secretary joined the Association,
until the close of World War I, only three discussions
lsLatourette, "Ecumenical Bearings," 357.
17William Richey Hogg, Ecumenical F o u n d a t i o n s . (New

York: Harper and Brothers, 1952), 52.
18According to Richey Hogg in Ecumenical Foundations

(52), the meetings of the London Secretaries' Association
were "frank and open." No public documents of their
conversations though could be located. The resolution of the
conflict over relationships with Roman missions and
missionaries can only be answered by historical evidence of
actions in the mission field.
20
are recorded in the Mi n u t e s on Latin Am e r i c a . 19
It is evident that Latin A m e r i c a was marginal to the London
Secretaries' a g e n d a .
The second historical factor influencing their stance
on the participation of other mission societies working in
Latin America, stems from the difficulty w i t h which the
Anglicans themselves participated in Edinburgh.20 First of
all, there was the question of "full Anglican participation-
-not that of the Evangelicals alone, but of the whole
communion, 'High' and 'Low' .1,21 Historically, the "High
Church" had remained marginal to interdenominational events
and to conferences regarding missions. On the other hand,
Anglo-Catholics as a whole were reluctant "to co-operate in
an interdenominational v enture."22 Furthermore, Anglican
mission theory did not approve of missions in "Christian
lands," particularly in R oman Catholic lands. For Anglo-
Catholics
mission w o r k always proce e d e d from a given base, the

local church, and to that base, with its rituals and
avenues of grace, priests tried to draw potential
converts. One cannot start mission w ork unless one
19Hogg, 52 .
20For complementary accounts of the difficulties and

achievements of the International Committee regarding the
participation of the Church of England in Edinburgh see,
William Richey Hogg, Ecumenical Foundations. 110-115 and
Roger Lloyd, The Church of England, 1900-1965 (Great
Britain: SCM Press, 1966), 195-200.
21Hogg, 110.
22Lloyd, 198.
21
starts with, the church .... 'The right order [in
missions] is not: Christ--faithful individuals--the
Church; but Christ--the Church--faithful individuals
.... The visible church is a p a r t of the G o s p e l . ,23
W h y then consider missions to a continent w i t h not only
Christian presence, but with a Christian Church?
Denominational priorities also became criteria b y which
to decide the agenda and participation at E d i n b u r g h . The
organizing committee for Edinburgh w a n t e d the Ch u r c h of
England to participate in the Conference. Seeking this
purpose, a letter from the organizing committee to
Tissington Tatlow, leader of the Student Christian Movement,
invited Tatlow to b e part of the committee and "to b r i n g the
Church of England" with him.24 To b r i n g the Church of
England, in all its manifestations, meant the exclusion of
Latin America as a mission field.
Ironically, after the organizing committee had
struggled and managed "to bring the Church of England" to
Edinburgh, Bishop H. H. Montgomery, k e y leader of the
A n g lican Church at the Pan-Anglican Conference of 1908, "was
puzzled to know w h y the Anglican Communion had so long
neglected South America."25 Evidently, the Church of
23W. S. F. Pickering, Ancrlo-Catholicism: A S tudy in

Relicrious Ambicruitv (London & New York: Routledge, 1989),
70 .
24Hogg, 111; a n d Lloyd, 198.
2SH. H. Montgomery, "The Pan-Anglican Conference, and

After," The East and the West. 6 (1908) : 366; quoted in
Hogg, 131.
22
England was going through, a transitional p eriod m a r k e d by-
power struggles with the Anglo-Catholic M ovement.26 It
seems that Latin America simply "fell through the cracks" of
the denominational and political issues in the organization
of Edinburgh. However, denominational tensions do reveal the
priorities of a church, and in this case, Latin Am e r i c a was
marginal to the Church of England.
Finally, excluding Latin America as a legitimate
mission field was not an easy task for the Edinburgh
organizing committee. As all the above issues took shape
during the organization of Edinburgh, <T. H. O l d h a m faced
what he called "the gravest issue" with which he "had to
cope" as conference secretary.27 Sadly, Oldham's
correspondence and files are currently closed to the public.
The World Council of Churches has commissioned a group of
scholars to write his biography. Attempts by this researcher
to see some of his correspondence during this p e r i o d were
uns uc c e s s f u l .
In conclusion, m any factors were involved in the
exclusion of Latin America from the Edinburgh Conference.
Some factors point to the prevalent mission theology of the
time. Others demonstrate the level of denominational
tensions and the variety of missiological perspectives
involved in the preparation for Edinburgh. They also show
26Lloyd. The Church of E ngland. 12 0-141.
27Hogg, Ecumenical Foundations, 132.
23
the level of negotiation that the organizing committee had.
to achieve. On the other hand, these factors also
demonstrate the ambiguity of the church's m i s s i o n a r y
activity. It proves that mission is a risky m i n i s t r y full of
deceptions, political maneuvers and surprises.
North American Mission Boards Respond to -Edinburgh's

Exclusion of Latin America
The First Response .* A Called M e e t i n g
Edinburgh did not establish any particular policy
regarding representation to the Conference. This flexibility
enabled some North American mission boards to s end delegates
with knowledge of Latin America to Edinburgh. A s a result,
some delegates to the Edinburgh Conference m e t secretly to
discuss missions in Latin America.
The first clandestine meeting was led b y Robert E.
Speer, a distinguished Presbyterian leader. This meeting
created such enthusiasm that a second meeting was held.
This time some of the secretaries of the m i s s i o n boards were
present. The results of this second meeting are recorded in
the Report of the Panama Congress of 1916:
At this second meeting all agreed that, at some time in

the future, Latin America should have a conference to
do for all its mission interests what the Edinburgh
Conference was doing in such a splendid w a y for the
mission enterprise in other parts of the world. The
secretaries present agreed to give their h e a r t y support
at the opportune time.28
Furthermore, as a result of the second meeting, the
2aReoort on the Congress, Panama 1916, 1, 7.
24
group created a committee to write a statement for the North
A m erican churches. The statement supported missionary
activity in "Christian countries" and further defined the
position of North Ameri c a n mission boards in relation to
Edinburgh's original decision not to consider Latin America
a mission field.29 Th e spirit of the statement is fou n d in
the following excerpt from the Panama Congress:
The Church mus t not forget that missions in the Latin

and Oriental Christian countries are and long have been
a legitimate p a r t of the foreign m issionary enterprise
of the leading foreign missionary societies of the
United States and Canada. As such they could claim the
right to consideration in any Wor l d Missionary
Conference. Th e American Societies in waiving the
claim did not admit that these missions to peoples
nominally Christian are not p r o p e r l y foreign missions
and ought not to be carried on; but yielded their
preference in vie w of the fact that foreign missions in
Great Britain and in Continental Europe mean missions
to non-Christian peoples, and that British and
Continental societies are organized on this narr o w e r
b a s i s . This an d other facts made it clear to the
American Executive Committee that if the Conference
were to unite all Protestant Churches it must be on
this basis; a n d the World Conference was restricted by
the addition of the words 'to consider missionary
problems in relation to the non-Christian world.' The
Committee was justified in m ak i n g the concession. The
Conference was a glorious demonstration of the loyalty
of Protestant Christianity to Christ, of its u n i t y of
spirit, and of its purpose of active cooperation in
evangelizing the world.30
Evidently, the North American m i s s i o n boards wer e
caught in a perplexing dilemma. They considered the Latin
American continent a legitimate field of foreign mission,
while they also acknowledged the importance of their support
29Ibid.
30Ibid. , 8.
25
for Edinburgh. T hes e N o r t h American mission boards
acknowledged that support for the one was not a negation of
the other.
In fact, Robert E. Speer proposed yet a different
evaluation of the exclusion of Latin America. He said:
The subject [missions in Latin America] is all the more

important because of its omission from consideration by
other missionar y conferences within the last few y e a r s .
There were adequate reasons why it should not have been
included w i t h i n the scope of the E dinburgh Conference,
but some friends of missions in Latin Ame r i c a regretted
that they h a d there no opportunity of considering this
work, such as came to those who were carrying on w o r k
in the Mohammed a n a n d Pagan lands. I do not believe
the w o r k suffered from t h i s . Probably m o r e attention
was drawn to the m i s s i o n work in Latin America a nd more
attention g i v e n to the question of its urgency than
would have b e e n the case if this mi s s i o n work had been
included in the general purview, of the conference in
E d i n b u r g h .3i
Whether L a t i n America received more attention than it
would have received had it been included in Edinburgh's
agenda is debatable. What is clear is that the missionary
enterprise was hindered. North American missionary leaders
objected to the fact that Edinburgh had questioned the
legitimacy of L a t i n America as a missionary field and they
were not ready to remain silent about it.
The Second Response: A Case for Missions in Latin America
In 1912 the Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Chu r c h in the U.S.A. published a simple but
revealing pamphlet written by Robert E. Speer. This pamphlet
3IConference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a , 9.
26
dealt with questions and doubts that Edinburgh had raised in
the North American missionary setting. The title of the
pamphlet, The Case for Missions in Latin America,
immediately reveals the central issue: "Are our missions in
Latin America lands legitimate and necessary?1,32
The pamphlet is divided into four sections. The first
section deals with the above question. The second section
argues the issues of doing m ission in clearly Roman Catholic
countries. The third section recognizes the tensions and
hostilities between Catholic and Protestant missionaries,
but affirms the importance of the Protestant responsibility
to missionize Latin America. The fourth section briefly
prescribes how to engender more support for Protestant
missions to Latin America.
Speer is incisive and to the p o i n t . The urgency of
Latin America as a mission field is based on eight different
arguments w hich have moral, religious, and ecclesiastical
connotations. The main arguments are as fol l o w s :
1. The moral condition of the South American countries

warrants and demands the presence of those forms of
evangelical religion w hich will war against sin and
bring men the power of righteous life.33
2. The Protestant missionary enterprise with its

stimulus to education and its appeal to the rational
nature of m a n is required by the intellectual needs of
32Robert E. Speer, The Case for Missions in Latin

America. (New York: Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1912), 1.
33Ibid.
27
South America.34
3. Protestant missions are justified in South America

in order to give the Bible to the p e o p l e . 35
4. Protestant missions are justified a n d demanded in

South America by the character of the R o m a n Catholic
- priesthood.36
5. Protestant missions in South A m e r i c a are justified

because the Roman Catholic Church has not given the
people Christianity.37
6. Protestant missions are justified in South A merica

because the Roman Catholic Church is at the same time
so strong and so weak there.38
7. The Roman Catholic Church in L a t i n A merica needs the

Protestant missionary movement.39
8. ...evangelical Christianity is w a r r a n t e d in g o i n g to
South America because it alone can m e e t the needs of
the Latin American nations.40
By means of these eight arguments Speer defends the
urgency and legitimacy of Latin America as a missionary
field. His reflections can be summarized as follows: Given
the failure of the Roman Catholic Church to proclaim the
true gospel through its religious and educational
institutions, Protestant missions are n e e d e d in Latin
America. Furthermore, Protestant missions help raise the
“I b i d . , 2 .
'Ibid., 4.
:Ibid. , 5.
I b i d . , 5.
Ibid., 7 .
Ibid., 9.
o
H
Ibid.,
28
moral life o f Che people in these c o u n t r i e s .
Speer acknowledges that Protestant missions do provoke
conflicts w i t h the Roman Catholic Church. Alt h o u g h he
acknowledges some positive results f rom the presence of the
Catholic Church, Speer does not consider these results
sufficient to ignore the Protestant missionary imperative.
Even though R o m a n Catholics may consider Protestant
missionary ac t i v i t y proselytism, the truth m u s t be upheld.
Speer d e c l a r e s :
Most of the earnest members of the Evangelical Churches

in L a t i n A m e ric a have been devout Roman Catholics who
were d i s content e d with their v a i n search for life and
peace. If it is said that this is proselytism, my
reply is that I abhor p r o s e l y t i s m as m u c h as any man
from one form of Christian faith to another, but the
Latin A m e r i c a n form of Christianity is so inadequate
and misrepresentative that to preach the truth it is
not proselytism, but the Christian duty of North
American Christians both Protestant and Catholic.41
Thus, the second response to the exclusion of Latin
America f rom Edinburgh prompted a v e r y p articular reading of
the Latin A m e r i c a n context. In fact, Speer's w o r k on Latin
America corresponded to similar rationale as those used for
non-Christians c o u n t r i e s . He contended that, ultimately, the
form of C h r istianity present in L a t i n America h ad not
achieved w hat Protestant Christianity could achieve. Hence,
Latin America was a legitimate m i s s i o n field.
The Third R e s p o n s e .* The Conference on M issions in Latin

America a n d the Committee on Cooperation in Latin America
41Ibid. , 20.
29
The N o r t h American mission boards continued to take
seriously the urgency of mission w o r k in Latin America. In
March of 1913 the Foreign Mission Conference of North
America, "the most representative missionary b o d y in North
A m e r i c a , 1,42 sponsored the Conference on Missions in Latin
America. Under the leadership of Robert E. Speer, the
Conference dealt with the following to p i c s :
I. The Present Extent and Condition of M i s s i o n Work

in Latin America; A Survey of What is B eing Done.
2. Unoccupied Fields and the Unreached Populations in

Latin America.
3. The Bible in Latin America, Work of the Bible

Societies, Attitude of the Roman Catholic Church
to the B i b l e .
4. Religious Liberty and the Problem of Church and

State in Latin America.
5. Conditions in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin

America Today as Compared with Twenty-five Years
Ago.
6. The Right Attitude of Missions in Latin America to

the Roman Catholic Church.
7. The Educational System of the Latin A merican

Countries and Educational Missionary W o r k in These
Lands.
8. Women's W or k in Missions in Latin America.
9. The Problem of the Native Church and Ministry in

Latin America.
10. Special Problems in Particular Fields, e.g.,

Cooperation in Mexico.
II. The Moral and Social Problems of Latin America.
12. Lessons Which the Modern Missionary Enterprise may
“ Report on the Congress. Panama 1 9 1 6 . 1, 8.
30
Learn from the Roman Propaganda.
13 . How to Interest the Church at Home in the Work in

Latin America.
14. How to Interest Latin America in Protestantism.43
It is interesting that out of the fourteen different
topics, four (almost one third) dealt directly with the
Roman Catholic Church. Ten of the fourteen reports discussed
the problem of the Catholic Church, and in one way or
another, all of them mentioned it. Obviously, controversy
with Roman Catholic Church was central to the debate about
Latin America as a mission field.
On the other hand, social themes such as illiteracy,
education, and morality also entered into the controversy.
Discussion of missionary work to Latin Amer i c a included the
social, economic and cultural conditions of the continent.
As the discussions continued, but seemed to go nowhere,
the Reverend L. C. Barnes from the Baptist Home Missionary
Society of the Northern Baptist Convention, suggested to the
Conference that the boards "standardize certain phases of
activity." He also asked about "the whole matter of
cooperation" and about the possibility of the boards helping
to "harmonize" the missionary "efforts" for the "common
object.1,44
Immediately, Frances C. Gage from the Y.W.C.A.,
43This report was prepared for the Conference, but lack

of time prevented its discussion. The report was included.
44Conference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a , 189 .
31
addressed Barnes' concern.
Would it not be possible to adopt a m i n u t e in regard to

the sense of the meeting on this subject? I do feel
that w e have been talking about possibilities for two
days, an d we are going away without e v e n a committee
left to consider the possibility of d o i n g better
w o r k .45
Barnes responded,
Those are m y s entiments. I move that Mr-. Robert Speer

be requested to associate, with himself, two brethren
of two other denominations, to deal w i t h this whole
subject of the work in Latin America a n d especially
with the question of cooperation, and to m a k e any
presentation they may d e e m desirable to the Boards.46
The Conference adopted the motion b y B a r n e s . This
action gave birth to a committee named b y Ro b e r t E. Speer,
including L. C. Barnes, Ed F. Cook, William F. Oldham, and
John W. Wood. Subsequently, the committee was n a m e d the
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America.47
Latin A merican Protestants Respond to Edinburgh's Decision
Latin A m e r i c a n Protestants were not quiet about the
Edinburgh decision. The general opinion of the emerging
Protestant Latin American community is e xpressed in
Professor Erasmo Braga's book, Pan-Americanismo: Asoecto
Relicrioso:
La particularidad de la Conferencia de E dimburgo fue

que la representacion quedo restringida a las misiones
que operaban en tierras no cristianas. E sto excluyo a
las misiones establecidas en paises en q ue la religion
4SIbid.
46Ibid. , . 190 .
47Report on the Congress. Panama 1916. 1, 9.
32
predominante es cualquiera de las formas historicas del
cristianismo. El mayor campo misionero en tales
tierras es la America Latina. Esta exclusion suscito
la cuestion de la propia legitimidad de mantener las
iglesias evangelicas sus misiones en este continente
siendo entre las tribus de indios p a g a n o s .48
Conclusion
In conclusion, N o r t h American m i s s i o n boards confronted
Edinburgh's decision to exclude Latin America as a
legitimate mission field. Through a series of meetings and
publications they hoped to shift the negative consequences
of Edinburgh's decision in the "home pulpits" to a m ore
focused and rationalized missionary justification for Latin
America, especially among board members and denominational
leaders. Al l of the above responses led to a particular
interpretation of Latin America's religious and cultural
reality which produced a missiological justification for the
expansion of Protestant missionary efforts.
Furthermore, the Christian boards and missionary
leaders became the predominant voice to articulate the
justification of Latin America as a m i s s i o n field. Erasmo
Braga, the Brazilian Protestant leader, responded to the
48 n-phe particularity of the E dinburgh Conference was

that the representation was restricted to the missions which
were operating in non-Christian lands. This excluded the
missions established in countries in w h i c h the predominant
religion was any of the historical forms of C h r i s t i a n i t y .
The major missionary territory in such lands is Latin
America. This exclusion surfaced the issue of the
legitimacy of Evangelical churches to continue supporting
missions in this continent except among the tribes of the
pagan i n d i a n s ." (Translation is m i n e ) . Erasmo Braga, 82.
33
dilemma in his report of the Panama Congress in 1916. As a
result, Latin American Protestants never r e s p o n d e d to the
Edinburgh decision on the same plane of reference. Their
response was mediated b y the North Americans m i s s i o n a r y
boards. The asymmetry is established since the v e r y
beginning of the dilemma.
The next chapter explores the elements that shaped this
missiological justification, their similarity w i t h
Edinburgh'' s general missiological proposal a n d the way they
perpetuated the prevailing stereotypes of the L a t i n American
people and countries.
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER II
THE MISSIOLOGICAL JUSTIFICATION: NORTH A M E R I C A N MISSION

BOARDS MAKE THE CASE FOR MISSIONS IN L A T I N A M E R I C A
1910-1913
. . . you will find, some places where idolatry is j u s t as

rampant as it is in the heart of China.
R e v . T . B . Ray
Rome makes the W o r d of God of none effect through, her

traditions.
Bishop E. R. Hendricks
Latin America had been considered a Protestant
missionary field long before the Edinburgh C o n f e r e n c e of
1910. Early in the sixteenth century Protestant immigrants
from Europe settled in different regions of the c o n t i n e n t .
Although some m a y not have considered this p r e s e n c e
missionary activity p e r se, it did begin the Protestant
missionary enterprise in Latin America.1 In the 1700s the
Moravians started mission work on the eastern c o a s t of
Central America and in the southern Caribbean. Subsequently,
in the early 1800s, through the work of colporteurs, the
propagation of Protestantism continued throughout the
continent. Gradually, the mission boards b e g a n
^ o m e of the regions were Argentina, Brazil, Chile,

Panama, and Venezuela. For a brief and informative history
of this Protestant efforts a n d establishments see Pablo
Alberto Deiros, Historia de Cristianismo en A m e r i c a Latina
(Buenos Aires: Fraternidad Teologica Latinoamericana, 1992),
591-603.
34
35
commissioning missionaries. Faith missions, such as the
Central American Mission, also sent missionary
representatives to Guatemala, Costa Rica, and H onduras in
the late 1800s. Thereafter, North American m i s s i o n a r y
presence in Latin A m e r i c a steadily increased.
As discussed in the previous chapter, Latin Am e r i c a was
not considered a legitimate mission field by the W o r l d
Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, 1910, and was excluded
from that meeting. This action put the North A m e r i c a n
mission boards in a difficult position. North A m e r i c a n
missionary activity included not only churches, b u t also
medical and educational organizations, Bible Societies and
Christian Youth O r g a n i z a t i o n s , such as the YMCA a n d the
YWCA.2 The boards contended that w i t h all this missionary
activity, how could any conference deny the legit i m a c y of
missionary work in Latin America?
By 1917, seventy-seven North American mi s s i o n
organizations had missionaries in Latin American, the
British ha d thirty-four, the Continental Europeans h a d
seventeen, and even the Australians had one.3 After a
short historical survey of the missionary presence in Latin
America, Braga concluded:
... podemos entonces decir que el fenomeno religioso de

mayor importancia e n la America latina, en cu a n t o a la
penetracion del evangelismo, es una faz de nuestras
2Braga, 22-24.
3I b i d . , 21.
36
relaciones con los anglo-sajones y especialmente con
los anglos-americanos .4
Missions in Latin Ame r i c a were not li m i t e d to evangelizing
efforts. Missions, for m a n y Latin A m e r i c a n Protestants and
North. American m issionary leaders, were an opportunity to
develop an inter-american relationship. At one level, the
recognition of Latin America as a m i s s i o n field opened
opportunities for cultural and religious exchange b e t w e e n
Latin A merican Protestants and North A merican missionary
colleagues. At another level, such recognition could
established a "door to the world" for Latin America. The
continent could not b e erased from the w o r l d missionary map.
A t still another level, recognized missions to Latin America
meant an "equal opportunity position" for Latin America
along with Africa and A s i a in the w o r l d missionary
enterprise.5 The exclusion of Latin A m e r i c a as a m ission
field from the Edinburgh agenda was significant. Too m u c h
was at stake.
The previous chapter explored (1) reasons for the
exclusion of Latin America as a mission field in the World
Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, 1910 and (2) responses
of the North American mission boards to that exclusion.
4"... one can argue that the religious phenomenon of

m ajor importance in Latin America, the penetration of
Protestantism, was part of our relationships with the Anglo-
Saxons and especially the A n g l o - A m e r i c a n s ." (Translation is
m i n e ) . Ibid., 22.
5This topic will be discussed further in Part Two.
37
These responses began to articulate a justification for
missions in Latin America. The arguments for Latin America
as a mission field moved from the historical claim of
missionary presence to a reflective and critical rationale
based on the continent's context and its parallels with
Edinburgh's themes of mission. North American mission boards
made a strong case for missionary activity in Latin America.
This chapter highlights and explains the different
arguments Nor t h American mission boards constructed to
legitimize Latin America as a mission field. The first
argument is based on a negative evaluation of the presence
and missionary activity of the Catholic Church in Latin
America. North American mission boards argued that the
religious ethos of Latin Americans justified Protestant
missions among them. I discuss both of these arguments under
the heading "The Religious Justification."
Secondly, the mission boards also addressed the theme
of education. As we shall see, that argument often
preferenced Anglo-American culture to the detriment of Latin
American and other cult u r e s . My discussion of this argument
is under the heading "Mission as Education. "
For the above arguments, I rely on the
interdenominational Conference on Missions in Latin America
held in New York in 1913. This Conference was the first
ecumenical gathering programmed to deal with the
consequences of the 1910 World Missionary Conference in
38
Edinburgh. Moreover, as explained above, it was also the
first interdenominational event that critically articulated
a rationale for missions in Latin America.
The Religious Justification
Discussions during the Conference o n Missions in Latin
America emphasized the problems and deficiencies of the
Catholic Church in Lat i n America. The presence of
deficiencies which contributed to a lack: of adequate
Christian witness would constitute the principal religious
justification for defending Latin Amer i c a as a legitimate
missionary field.
Though the Catholic Church in Latin America was a major
issue, the Catholic Church in the United States was not
discussed. Robert E. Speer, in his opening address in Ne w
York, stated:
Will y o u remember please, that the subject of the

Conference is not the Roman Catholic Church but
missions in Latin America. We are no t intending to
evade any problem that is involved i n carrying out the
work in these lands, but the religious conditions of
the U n i t e d States and of the Roman Catholic Church as
an organization do not fall within the purview of our
conference these two d a y s . We are considering missions
carried on in Latin American c o u n t r i e s .s
Despite Speer's warnings, the Catholic C h u r c h of Latin
America remained a central issue at the Conference. As
stated in chapter one, four of the fourteen topics in the
Conference on Missions in Latin America dealt directly with
the Catholic Church, a n d each report, in one way or another,
C o n f e r e n c e on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a . 10.
39
introduced the Catholic Church into the discussion. Perhaps,
some of the stronger statements can help us understand the
developing argument for Latin America as a mission field.
The Rev. George Smith, of the U nited Presbyterian
Church, p o i nted out "that the Church of Rome in South
America ha d lost her Prestige, Power and is losing her
People."7 Comparing the conditions of the Roman Catholic
Church twenty-five years earlier with those in 1913, he
pointed out three factors that contributed to the Catholic
Church's loss.- "Corruption," "Intolerance," and "Meaningless
C e r e m o n i e s ."8 Smith contended that after twenty-five years
a Church should demonstrate "enlargement in all departments-
-numerical growth, deeper spiritual life and financial
increase."9 He declared:
Now, it must be distinctly understood that the changes

that have been taken [sic] place in the Roman Catholic
Church in South America, have not b e e n any real and
deep spiritual changes, nor has there b e e n shown a
kindly spirit towards Evangelical truth. The attitude
is the same. The error is the same. The subtle,
cunning behaviour towards the humble missionary of the
Bible is the same. Rome does not, and will not change
in this particular.10
Smith then concluded:
She [the Roman Catholic Church] will always remain the
7I b i d . , 64. Emphasis in quotation is in italics in the

original.
8I b i d . ,64-65. Emphasis in quotations are in italics in

the o r i g i n a l .
9I b i d . , 61.
10Ibid., 66.
40
greatest enemy of true Evangelical teaching. No

overtures, no compromise~-unless it be our all--will
affect our relationship to bring it closer and more
friendly. We m a y as well recognize the fact that there
must be a great fight--we, using spiritual weapons,
and, Rome will use anything that comes along.11
On a more subtle note, Bishop E. R. Hendricks of the
Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, in his address "The
Right Attitude Toward the Roman Church," proposed:
Our attitude toward the Roman Catholic Church in Latin

America should be exactly that of our L o r d toward
Judaism in His day. We should come not to destroy but
to fulfill. The Roman Church is not without an
important measure of truth although g r e a t l y encrusted
in error. Its creeds teaches [sic] the divinity of
Christ, but its ritual worships the V i r g i n and Saints.
Its superstitions constitute the substance of its
faith. Rome makes the Word of God of no n e effect
through her traditions .12
If the Roman Catholic Church is unable to bring to life
the Word of God, then, what is left? Hendricks himself
provided the answer:
Now is there no duty which Protestantism owes to the

Roman Catholic countries of Latin America? Must they
be left without the pure gospel and remain forever the
slaves of a medieval Roman superstition? Is there no
one to help the lame into the pool of B e t h e s d a when its
waters are troubled? It is nothing more we owe than
pity for a backward people who are living in the
fifteenth century while the Great Powers are responsive
to the light of thought and discovery a n d the true
progress of the day?
As custodians of the truth it was in Protestantism that

all the nations of the earth were to be bles s e d had she
gone everywhere with the message and the zeals of the
apostles. The future health of Protestantism, no less
than the future weal of the backward nations, as in
Latin America, depends upon our activity and fidelity
11Ibid.
12Ibid., 86.
41
in the obedience of Christ.13
Hendriks contended that if the Christian witness of the
Roman Catholic Church in Latin America was incapable of
teaching the Word of God, the logical conclusion was the
need for Protestant missions to that continent. Furthermore,
he understood missions to Latin America as a requirement for
the continued life of Latin American Protestantism, and for
the progress of backward n a t i o n s .
The Conference exhibited an ambiguity about the
ministry and mission of the Catholic Church in Latin
America. Were Protestant missions a corrective to the R oman
Catholic tradition or were Protestant missions the only true
expression of Christianity? On one hand, Conference
participants acknowledged that the Protestant missionary
endeavor did not promote a new Christianity, but corrected a
misguided and corrupted faith. O n the other hand, they
maintained that Protestant Christianity was responsible for
telling "the truth about Christ."14 As a result of this
ambiguity, the North American mission boards instructed
their missionaries to go to Latin America w i t h the
conviction that they were teaching the truth of the Word of
God rather than with an antagonistic spirit against the
Catholic Church. Yet, the m i s s i o n boards were clear that
Protestant missionary work communicated a d e e p e r level of
13Ibid., 87.
14Ibid. , 93-94
42
truth regarding the gospel tha n had p reviously been taught
b y the Catholic Church.
The Reverend T. B. Ray, a Southern Baptist, also
communicated this missiological approach in his words at the
Conference:
In other words, we do n o t want to go to Lat i n A m e r i c a

lands for the purpose of raising a fight- on the
Catholics, but to pre a c h the gospel of Christ to peo p l e
who do not know it, an d if we find (and we are sure to
find that in some sections) there has b e e n the grossest
sort of twisting of truth so that we could not
recognize it as truth, y o u will find some places whe r e
idolatry is just as rampant as it is in the heart of
China. The faithful there should p r e a c h the gospel,
not fight the Catholics, but to tell the people the
truth about Christ. W h e n we have done that I beli e v e
that we have fulfilled ou r mission.15
The Catholic Church's inadequate C hristian witness thus
ma d e Protestants missions necessary, and p r o v i d e d a
religious justification for their missions in Latin America.
Theologically, Protestant missions had the r e s p onsibility to
br i n g forth the truth of the gospel to Latin America. The
argument developed that if b y this time (1913) the Catholic
Church had not given a witness of the gospel to the p e o p l e
of Latin America, it would n ot do it now. Furthermore,
Protestant Christianity ha d the opportunity to restore
Christian faith in the continent and Roman Catholicism
n e eded the vitality of the Protestant faith.15
15Ibid.
15See quotation in footnote number 11. In addition,

section number 6 of the Conference on Mission in Latin
America spells this position clearly. See pag e 18 of chapter
one.
43
In the political sphere, Protestant missions provided a
moral vision for progress and development in Latin America.
The mission boards expressed a sense of responsibility for
the future of the people, a n d Protestant m i s s i o n a r y activity
provided the means by which to contribute to the prosperity
of the c o n t i n e n t .
The religious justification discussed above was not
limited to the participants in the Conference on Missions in
Latin America. Some Latin American Protestants h e l d this
viewpoint earlier than 1913 . For example, an editorial in
the Mexican Presbyterian journal El Faro stated:
El Sr. Speer [Robert E. Speer] hablo de su viaje a Sud

America y de la terrible corrupcion que hallo en la
Iglesia Romana en Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Peru y
Venezuela. Cito algunas cartas de los mismos obispos
para corroborar las condiciones lamentables y la
necesidad de convencerse de que Am e r i c a Latina tiene
tanta necesidad del Evangelio como c ualquier otro pais
p a g a n o .17
Furthermore, this religious justification also extended
beyond the North American missionary boards and their
meetings after 1913. Missionaries and M e x i c a n Protestants
wrote editorials (possibly already responding to the
exclusion of Latin America from Edinburgh 1910) informing
l7"Mr. Speer talked about his trip to South America and

the terrible corruption he found in the R o m a n Church in
Brasil, Argentine, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. He quoted some
letters from [Roman] bishops themselves to c onfirm the
regrettable conditions and the need to b e convinced that
Latin America has as much as a need for the Gospel as any
other pagan country." (Translation is mine) . Editorial, El
F a r o . 26 (enero 21, 1910): 39.
44
the Latin American Protestant community of the reasons,
motivations and future of Protestant missionary activity in
the continent. Consistent with the religious justification
of previous inadequate Christian witness b y Catholics,
Protestant editors of El Faro, b oth North A m e r i c a n and
Mexi c a n , s a i d :
Las viejas ideas religiosas emanadas de fuentes

e s p u r e a s , han demostrado con la historia de
cuatrocientos anos cuan poco h an servido p a r a el bien
de nuestro pais en los ideales apun t a d o s ,- como mas bien
han servido para perpetuar supersticiones,
explotaciones injustificables e inicuas, traficos
inmorales y mentiras piadosas que solo h a n rebajado la
dignidad humana; como han servido para entronizar
dinastias y despotismos, enriquecer a unos cuantos y
empobrecer a las masas populares y para perpetuar un
estado de ignorancia y atraso lamentables, que han
detenido el progreso de nuestra nacion.18
The arguments blamed the Catholic Church not only for
the religious conditions of the Latin A merican people, but
also for the deplorable social and economic conditions of
the nations in that continent. Once again, consistent with
the religious justification of Christian witness,
Protestants in Latin America gave the following missionary
presc r i p t i o n :
18"The old religious ideas [Roman Catholic] emanating

from spurious sources have demonstrated in the four hundred
years of history how little they have served the good of our
country in the mentioned ideals; rather, they have served to
perpetuate superstitions, unjustifiable and iniquitous
exploitations, immoral traffic and pious lies which have
only devaluated human dignity,* they have served to enthrone
dynasties and despotisms, to enrich a few a n d impoverish the
popular masses and to perpetuate a state of ignorance and
regrettable backwardness which has stopped the progress of
our nation." (Translation is m i n e ) . Editorial, "Una Llamada
a los Sabios," El Faro 26 (marzo 18, 1910): 167.
R eproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
45
La religion romana, o papista, necesita ser p urif i c a d a
p o r la accion saludable del Evangelio de Cristo;
necesita banarse en la piscina de la verdad cristiana
p ara lavar las impurezas que p o r siglos ha v enido
llevando como el estandarte de la santidad; n ecesita
urgentemente una regeneracion que solo su regreso al
Evangelio puede darle. Deseamos que desaparezca de la
h umanidad como sistema, como anhelamos la
transformation del mundo pagano y de las religiones de
Buda, Confucio, Mahoma, Mormon y otras, al Cristianismo
verdadero para que se transformen en el modelo divino y
sencillo de las ensefianzas del Evangelio..19
Roman Catholics, meanwhile, d id not ignore the public
and written accusations coming from b o t h North A m e r i c a n
missionaries and Latin American Protestants. Because
tensions between Catholics and Protestants were common (and
still are) , as excitement and justification for Protestant
missions grew, so did the Roman Catholic resistance and
response. Although this dissertation does not focus on Roman
Catholic responses to Protestant m i s s i o n a r y presence in
Latin America, the following excerpt from a prayer to the
Virgin Mother of Guadalupe shows the level of antagonism
between the traditions.
Oracion a Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe contra la

Secta Evangelista. Ved el lobo sectario, que se llama
Evangelismo, ha penetrado en esta vuestra parroquia.
19"The Roman religion, the Popish religion, needs to be

purified b y the healthy action of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ; needs to be bathed in the pool of the Christian
truth to wash-off the impurities that for centuries have
been offered under the banner of sanctity; it needs a
regeneration that only a return to the Gospel can p r o v i d e ,-
we want it to disappear from h umanity as a system just as we
hope for the transformation of the p a g a n world and the
religions of Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Mormons a n d others
to true Christianity so that they will transform in the
divine and simple model of the teachings of the Gospel."
(Translation is m i n e ) . Ibid.
46
Viste piel de oveja, encubre sus hereticas doctrinas

bajo la capa d e falsa religiosidad y piedad ficticia, y
reparte libros y escritos que son crimen de la lesa
verdad contra las ensenanzas de vue s t r o Divino Hijo
Jesus.
No permitais que vuestra Parroquia se inficione

con el veneno heretico. Alzad vuestras manos, Senora y
Madre, bendecid esta feligresxa c o n todos y cada uno de
los pueblos y hogares que la f o r m a m o s . Vos, Virgen
Poderosa, habeis aplastado con v u e s t r a planta
inmaculada todas las herejias: a p l a s t a d ahora, Os lo
rogamos fervorosamente, la vibora enganadora y
ponzonosa del evangelismo. Haced que las incautas
victimos y los desgraciados ministros de Satanas, que
es el padre de la mentira, abran los ojos a la verdad
catolica y vuel v a n a la Religion salvadora por vuestro
Hijo Divino,--Asx sea.
*E1 Hno. y Rmo. Sr. Arzobispo de Santiago de Guatemala,

don Ricardo Casanova y Estrada, se digno conceder cien
dxas de indulgencia, una vez al dxa, a los fieles que
con devocion y arrepentimiento de sus pecados recen la
anterior oracion.20
20"Prayer to ou r Lady of Guadalupe against the

evangelistic sect. Hark, a sectarian wolf, called
evangelicalism, has invaded our parish. It is dressed in
sheep's clothing, disguises its heretical doctrines under
the cover of false religiosity and fictitious piety, and
hands out books and tracts that criminalize the truth of the
teachings of God's divine Son Jesus.
Do not allow this parish to be i nfected with the

heretical poison. Raise your hands, L a d y and Mother, bless
this membership and all the towns and families which we
represent. Powerful Virgin, you who have crushed with your
immaculate feet all heresies, crush, we p l e a fervently, the
treacherous and poisonous viper of evangelism. Make the
unwitting victims and the damned ministers of Satan, who is
the father of all lies, open their eyes to the Catholic
truth and return to the saving Religion b y your Divine Son.
Amen.
*The brother and most reverend Bishop of Santiago de

Guatemala, Don Ricardo Casanova has conceded one hundred
days of indulgence, once a day, to the faithful who with
devotion and repentance of their sin p r a y this prayer.
(Translation is m i n e ) . Editorial, "Oracion a Nuestra Senora
de Guadalupe contra la Secta Evangelista," El Faro 26 (enero
21, 1910): 50.
47
Evidently, the encounter between Roman Catholicism and
North A merican and Protestant missionary efforts in Latin
America resembled the tensions in the encounter between non-
Christian religions and Protestant missionary efforts in
non-Western countries. Arguments emphasizing either the
corrective character or the exclusive claim of the
Protestant faith in non-Christian countries were also
observed in the Latin A merican context. G iven the above
religious justification, the case for Latin America as a
mission field was as strong as for any other non-Christian
territory considered in Edinburgh.21
Mission as Education
Education was the second argument legitimizing Latin
America as a field for missionary activity. The Report from
the Conference on Missions in Latin America entitled "The
Educational System of the Latin American Countries and
Educational Missionary W o r k in These Lands" stressed that
seventy-five percent of the population was illiterate. The
report b l a m e d many of the problems of the educational
deficiencies on the influence and control of the Roman
Catholic Church. It concluded that Roman Catholic education
21Similar descriptions to the ones u s e d b y North

American missionaries for Latin America can be found in the
following reports from Edinburgh: World Missionary
Conference, 1910, Report of Commission I. Carrying- the
Gospel to all the Non-Christian World and Report of
Cotnmdssion IV. The Missionary Message in relation to Non-
Christian Relicrions (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1910) .
48
had. failed for two reasons: First, it lacked a curriculum
that w o u l d give the student "a broader and vocational
instruction which the n ew centuries had demanded22 and
second, this "Ecclesiastical S ystem of education" failed to
teach morality and religion.23 The Rev. W. E. Browning m ade
the following remarks about education and the Roman Catholic
Church.
Such is, in barest outline, the story of the rise and

influence of the R oman Catholic Church in educational
matters in Latin America. It has done some g o o d work;
it might have done a great deal more, and done it
better. There have b e e n a few splendid m e n and women,
among its teachers who w o u l d fain have broken the bonds
of tradition and ecclesiasticism, and would have led
their students to higher and broader planes of
intellectual and spiritual life. But the chains of
obscurantism and m onarchic ecclesiasticism have b e e n
too strong and they have had to yield to the system.
At the best, their little light has shone but faintly
and has gone out, leaving the darkness blacker than
b e f o r e .24
Browning also faulted the governments of Latin Ame r i c a
for p o o r education. He cited problems related to the
p a tronato and old colonial order in education. Likewise, he
explained that the p r i m a r y and secondary public education
systems were weak and lacked the proper resources for the
implementation of adequate education.25 Browning observed
that the states had wr i t t e n laws that indicated a desire to
22Conference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a . 108.
23Ibid.
24Ibid.
2SIbid. , 115-117.
49
improve education, but that in reality those laws were not
enforced.26 As a consequence, he concluded:
Analphabetism claims f r o m 50 to 90 p e r cent of the

entire population. It w o u l d probably be more than fair
to say that on an average, 75 per cent of the
inhabitants of Latin Am e r i c a are illiterate.27
This devastating educational condition led to low standards
of morality, Browning asserted, the lack of interest in
religion in some sectors of society, and religious
superstition among the people.28
The Conference agreed to discuss the missionary work
done in the area of education and the goals which had b e e n
achieved.29 The final report stated that w h e t h e r primary or
secondary schools, or university level, "the ultimate a i m in
all educational work should be the winning of the youth f or
Christianity."30 In addition, the report stressed the
importance of educational w o r k already accomplished by
Protestant missionary agencies in Latin A m e r i c a and the
recognition of such an activity b y liberal governments.
Our missions have made a beginning of educational w o r k

in Latin America. That it is appreciated by the
parents who have children for whom they desire the b est
educational advantages is evidenced f r o m the fact that
our schools are overcrowded. That the liberal
governments appreciate what we are d o i n g is proved b y
26Ibid., 117-118.
27Ibid. , 117.
28Ibid.
29Ibid. , 121-122 .
30Ibid. , 12 0.
50
the fact that they imitate our methods, and, more than
once, educational missionaries have b een importuned to
go into government service at salaries g r e a t l y in
excess of those paid b y the Boards.31
Furthermore, the following statement reinforced
education in Latin America as a rationale for missions and
revealed the self-'understanding with which N o r t h American
missionaries approached their work.
This must also be said in favor of an E n g l i s h education

in Latin America,- it opens up to the y o u n g m e n and
women a splendid literature which will, in great part,
win them from the reading of the too often errotic
[sic] and pernicious literature that abounds in their
own tongue, or in that of France. It is a long step
toward the m a k i n g of a b o y into a stronger a n d cleaner
man, if he can be interested in Dickens, a n d
Shakespeare, and Longfellow, and Henty, T h e Youths'
Companion, and the McClure's or Harpers' Magazine, thus
winning hi m from even that which is best in French and
Spanish literature, to say nothing of that Puerile,
often vulgar and indecent, ephemeral literature, that
is sown broadcast b y the local press, and whose
teaching, often vile and degrading, is the usual
intellectual food of the Latin youth who k nows not a
stronger and nobler language than his own.32
As the above citation shows, North American m i s s i o n boards
not only devalued Latin A merican literature and media, but
also considered other cultural expressions in Europe to be
less than satisfacto r y . Global education needed to be
grounded on the English system and culture.
Regarding education and morality, the Conference
members urged a specific approach:
That consideration should be given to the importance of

establishing a carefully p lanned system of Christian
31Ibid., 123 .
32Ibid., 119-120.
51
schools--of primary, gr a m m a r and high school grades.
Without these, the children of today will inevitably
inherit the indifference, agnosticism a n d infidelity of
the adults today.33
Evidently, the Protestant boards were concerned not only
about the transformation of the religious chara c t e r of Latin
America, but also about the secular and agnostic trends that
were invading the continent as p a r t of the pro c e s s of
modernization. This latter concern had also surfaced in the
documents of the Edinburgh Conference.34
Conclusions
In conclusion, the Conference on Missions in Latin
America established both a religious and educational
justification for Latin America as a mission field.
Interestingly, the arguments for these justifications seem
to correspond to the language and. descriptions u s e d for non-
Christian countries at the Edinburgh Conference in 1910.35
33Ibid. , 185.
34Again, similar arguments c a n be found in the

educational report of the Edinburgh Conference. See, World
Missionary Conference 1910, R eport of Commission III,
Education in relation to The Christianisation of National
Life (New. York: Fleming H. Revell, 1910) .
3SSee the following reports of the 1910 W o r l d

Missionary Conference for similarities to the justifications
articulated by the Conference on Missions in L a t i n America.
For a general evaluation of the conditions of o ther
religions in the non-Western w o r l d and Christian missionary
activity see, Report of Commission I . 11-49. A l s o see the
Report of Commission I V . 129-142 for Islam; 168-171 for
Hinduism; and "The General Conclusions," 215-280. For the
Christian education and missions piece, see R eport of
Commission II I . 69-78 for China; a nd 172-175 for Africa.
Interestingly, some of Edinburgh's reports are more
sympathetic to non-Christian religions than a re some of the
52
It is difficult to say whether or not this tendency was
programmed b y the organizers of the Conference. Most likely,
the similarities are the result of the common
cultural/linguistic milieu of the Missionary M ovement and of
the stereotypes of N o r t h American missionary leaders towards
Latin American peo p l e and culture.
These religious and educational justifications were not
ne w to the N o r t h American mission boards. In fact, the
development of similar justifications coincide with the
period in which the committee of the Edinburgh Conference
began to consider excluding Latin Am e r i c a as a legitimate
mission field. Th e most intriguing example of these early
justifications comes from Hubert W. Brown, a m i s s i o n a r y in
Latin America f rom the Presbyterian b o a r d of missions.
Hubert W. Brown's lectures on "The Religious
Development and N e e d of Latin America" were p r e s e n t e d at the
Princeton Theological Seminary p r i o r to the Edinburgh
Conference in 1910. His lectures anticipated m u c h of the
rationale that was used in the 1913 Conference. Accor d i n g
to Brown, the R o m a n Catholic Church had failed in its
mission to p r o c l a i m Christ and to create a b etter society.
A fter an extensive analysis of the R o m a n Catholic Church's
mission and educational work, B r o w n concluded:
conclusions of the Conference on Missions in Latin America

to Roman Catholicism. On the other hand, the educational
report from Edinburg h and the conclusions of the Conference
on Missions in L atin America are quite congruent.
53
It is the universal testimony of all such that the
Romanism of L a t i n America has failed as a religious
guide and educator. There is a need for a reformation
similar to that which awakened Europe in the days of
the great religious reformers. It is b o t h our duty and
our priviledge [sic] , to oppose truth to error, and win
the victory for the pure gospel against Roma n i s h
idolatry.36
He also emphasized the m a i n purpose for Protestant
missions in Latin America. Again, the similarities between
his argument and the rhetoric of the Conference on Missions
in Latin America are astounding:
Our purpose is to complete the w o r k of religious and

spiritual education. Our work is twofold. In its
general aspects, it is to raise the moral standard of
the whole country in beliefs and p r a c t i c e s .
Specifically, it consists in building up a self-
supporting, self-propagating native Protestant
church.37
Brown also affirmed that missions improved the quality of
life in Latin A m e r i c a and established superior moral values
and a truly Christian civilization.
We feel justified, after giving due credit to the

other factors, in claiming much for our m i s s i o n work.
In proof of this we can cite the judgement of
congressmen, state governors, cabinet officers, and
even the presidents of these r e p u b l i c s . All these see
in the Protestant worker one who will help them in the
prosecution of their r e f o r m s .
We have already stated that, owing to this very

cause, evangelical Christianity has, at times, run the
risk of being drawn into politics. These facts show
that enlightened Latin Americans see in evangelical
Christianity a n ally-of liberalism; a reformatory
36Hubert W. Brown, Latin America (New York: Young

People's Missionary Movement of the United States and
Canada, 1909), 121.
37Ibid., 237.
54
influence of the highest character.38
Thus, Brown w o u l d have agreed with the Conference on
Missions in Latin America of 1913 that Latin Amer i c a met the
criteria established b y Edinburgh in 1910 for determining a
missionary field. Lat i n America was, according to the
Conference on Missions in Latin American of 1913, "surely as
pagan as any tribe in the heart of Africa."39 F r o m Brown's
lectures to the Conference in 1913, the arguments for
recognizing Latin America as a m ission field revealed the
following:
. . . that the vast majority of the people of Latin

America, especially men, claim no vital relation, and
acknowledge no allegiance to the Roman communion.
Religious indifference, agnosticism and infidelity,
especially in the more enlightened Latin-American
countries, have laid a strong hand upon mo s t of the
seventy-one millions of people who dwell in these
lands. Moreover, there are several unevange1 ized
Indians and other native p e o p l e s . They are surely
pagan as any tribes in the heart of Afri c a . 40
Finally, Protestant Latin Americans accepted these
justifications, sometimes at the cost of embracing a very
negative evaluation of their own cultures. They wanted North
American Protestant missions to transform the social and
religious conditions of the Latin American continent. The
missiological arguments though also belonged to these Latin
American Protestants . The younger churches of Lat i n America,
38Ibid. ,259.
39Ibid., 183.
40Ibid.
55
just as the younger churches of A f r i c a and Asia, took upon
themselves the missionary responsibility. Hopes a nd
expectations were high. In the words of the editors of El
Faro
A pesar de las arraigadas y seculares preocupaciones,

de injustificables prejuicios, de anejos atavismos, de
la rebeldxa de mal y la d u r e z a del corazon, abrigamos
la mas completa seguridad, la mas halagadora esperanza
de que el Cristianismo evangelico, sencillo y puro como
se encuentra en la paginas sagradas de los Evangelios y
de las Cartas de los Apostoles, conquistara al fin a la
gran mayoria de nuestros compatriotas m e x i c a n o s . Nos
sirve de consuelo y aliento e n nuestras luchas
presentes por la evangelizacion del pais, la seguridad
que abrigamos de que todas las resistencias cederan al
influjo saludable de las doctrinas de Cristo, las
unicas que podr x a n hacer de nuestros compatriotas
mejores ciudadanos, de vidas mas puras y rectas, de
altruxstas ideales y sentimientos y elementos de
verdadero progreso moral, intelectual y econoraico para
nuestra patria.41
As time passed, the conversations about these topics
broadened. Part Two of .this dissertation begins to explore a
new era in missions to Latin A m e r i c a in which the main
interlocutors are the North A m e r i c a n mission boards, the
41"In spite of deep-rooted and age-old concerns, of

unjustifiable prejudices, of ancient atavisms, of rebellious
evil and hardness of heart, w e h o l d to the most complete
certainty, the most heartening hope, that pure simple and
evangelical Christianity, as we found in the sacred pages of
the Gospel and the Apostolic epistles shall at the end win
the vast majority of our fellow Mexicans. We are consoled
and inspired in our present struggles for the evangelization
of the land b y the certainty that every obstacle will yield
to the salubrious influence of the doctrines of Christ,
which alone can make of our own countrymen better citizens,
with pure and righteous lives, w i t h altruistic ideals and
with the feeling and elements of true moral, intellectual
and economic'progress for our motherland." (Translation is
mine) . Editorial, "Una Llamada a los Sabios, " 167.
56
International Missionary Council, and Latin Am e r i c a n
Protestants. The Conference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a of
1913 created a committee to wo r k w i t h the different concerns
for missions in the continent. The Panama Congress of 1916
n a m e d this committee the Committee on Cooperation in Latin
America, the CCLA.42 From 1916 on, b o t h North A m e r i c a n
missionaries and leaders and L a t i n American Protestant
leaders continued to develop a missiological justification
for Latin America as a mission field. In the following
chapters, after a description of the Latin A m e r i c a n context
from 1910-1938 (ch.Ill), I continue to explore these
developments through three different l e n s e s : the N o r t h
American mission boards and the Committee on Cooperation in
Lat i n America (ch. IV), the World Conferences on Missions
sponsored by the International M issionary Council that
follow Edinburgh 1910 (ch.V) , and the voices of L a t i n
American Protestants (ch.VI) .
42Throughout the rest of this dissertation, I shall use

the acronym CCLA to refer to the Committee on Cooperation in
Latin America.
PART TWO
FROM NEGLECTED CONTINENT TO CONTINENT OF OPPORTUNITIES
CHAPTER III
POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CHANGES IN L A T I N AMERICA
1910-1938
The government of Yrigoyen, like the Radical Party, was very-

much alive. Its spirit, its coloration, was that of the
people.
Manuel Galvez, "Vida de Hipolito
Yrigoyen, " in Latin A m e r i c a n
Civilization: History a n d Society,
1492 to the Present
In the field of world policy, I w o u l d dedicate this nation

to the policy of the Good N e i g h b o r ."
President Roosevelt, M a r c h 1933,
Inter-American Highlights, 1890-
1940: Outstanding Events during the
Fiftv-vear History of t he Pan
American Union
This chapter briefly summarizes the political,
economic, and cultural changes w h i c h took place i n Latin
America at the turn of the twentieth century. T h r e e reasons
highlight the selection of these themes. First of all, Latin
America experienced more political pluralism than ever
before. Existing political groups, such as the conservatives
and the liberals, diversified, thus confusing political
boundaries that h a d become traditional during the m i d
nineteenth century. New political groups, p r i m a r i l y the
socialists, communists, and various labor movements, also
emerged demanding political rights and adequate w o r k i n g
conditions for the working class and peasants. T his period
58
59
marked a time of deep political transformation in the
national and international political a r e n a s .
Secondly, Latin American economies changed drastically
during the first two decades of this century. On o n e hand,
during W o r l d W a r X Latin America's p r i m a r y source of foreign
investments and exports shifted from Great Britain to North
America. For m a n y in Latin America, these new investments
meant increased opportunity for industrialization a n d
development. T hey prompted economic ventures into
mercantilism and capitalism. However, this economic shift
also caused political tensions and conflicts b e t w e e n the
United States and Latin American governments. Paradoxically,
it was a time of economic hope and political frustration.
On the other hand, two decades later during the Great
Depression, Latin America experienced a decrease i n
investments and trade w ith both the Un i t e d States and
Britain. The economies of the region suffered and
governments b e g a n establishing protectionist policies in
order to survive the economic c r i s i s . These policies led to
some development of national production and manufacturing
and to less dependency on foreign imports. In short, as a
result of its former heavy economic dependency, Latin
America suffered drastic economic upheavals during the
1930s.
Thirdly, in the midst of all these political a n d
economic changes, positivism became a strong influence in
60
shaping Latin A me r i c a n ideology. As shown below, positivism
developed f r o m an abstract methodology in the social
sciences to a n ideological principle u n d e r w h i c h Latin
American governments organized p ublic l i f e . It also
contributed to the spirit of political liber a l i s m in Latin
America, a political tendency supported b y bo t h N o r t h
American m i ssion boards and Latin A m e r i c a n Protestants.
These three themes are interwoven. The developments and
transformations that took place within each of t h e m overlap
and affect ea c h other. However, in ord e r to present a clear
picture of these various changes, I will discuss them
separately. Furthermore, since this chapter's p u r p o s e is to
offer a general overview of the above-mentioned changes, the
presentation will summarize the events and include
bibliographical references which point to other sources and
to further clarification.
Political Developments
The political context of Latin A m e r i c a b e t w e e n 1910 and
1938 is characterized b y the following factors: (1) constant
changes in p o w e r and the lack of clarity in political and
ideological positions; (2) military-political conflicts and
the development of caudillismo; (3) conflicts b e t w e e n church
and state; and (4) the intervention of the U n i t e d States in
the internal politics of various Latin American p o l i t i c s . We
shall consider each of these in turn.
61
Historians have traditionally identified two political
tendencies in Latin America after the wars of independence--
conservative and liberal. The conservative position tended
to retain the colonial order as much as possible. This was
closely connected to the patronato a n d to the hegemony of
the native aristocracy.
The liberal position sought to abolish man y elements of
the colonial system, including the patronato. This position,
therefore, supported individual rights and the separation of
church and state. It also favored new economic models such
as mercantilism, the investment of foreign capital, and
industrialization. The liberals, who were mostly middle-
class people such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, merchants
and small capitalists, affirmed individual freedom and the
abolition of past prejudices and privileges, especially
those privileges that the church had traditionally
enjoyed.1 Enrique Dussell describes liberalism's
contribution to the political culture of Latin A merica as
fo l l o w s :
On the level of culture and of the mythical -nucleus,

liberalism for the first time m a d e an impact on the
opinion of the political-cultural elite. This resulted
in a veritable transformation of the elements of the
collective Latin American conscience, first at the
level of the institutions and subsequently among the
populace as a whole. A pluralistic society, a secular
civilization developed in Latin America and is a
twentieth-century fact--especially in the large cities,
xLynch, .John, "The Catholic Church, " in Latin America

Economy and Society, ed. Leslie Bethell (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989) , 303-304.
62
the universities, the labor unions, and among the
ruling minorities.2
By 1910 conservatives and liberals in Latin America had
diversified. The more traditional conservatives developed
into a right w i n g faction which supported populist and
military dictatorships, usually allied w i t h the Catholic
Church. Since m u c h of their power came f r o m their control of
la.tifundia, they objected to capitalist industrial
development. T h e y showed little sympathy for the rights of
workers, including p e a s a n t s . The long dictatorship of
Mexican General Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910) exemplifies this
right wing conservatism.
A more moderate w i n g also existed a m o n g the
conservatives. This political tendency, influenced b y its
conflicts w i t h various forms of liberalism as well as b y
socialism and communism, preferred compromise on matters of
political and economic structure rather than losing its
oligarchic power. They differed from the m o r e conservative
wing which rejected any such compromise. These compromises
included: (1) a n openness to foreign capital investments,*
(2) concessions in matters of suffrage as well as more
openness in the political system,* and (3) concessions to the
lesser bourgeoisie in a number of other political matters.
Between 1890 a n d 1916, for example, m o d e r a t e conservative
2Enrique Dussell, A History of the Ch u r c h in Latin

America, t r a n s . Alan N e e l y (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981),
101.
63
Carlos Pellegrini of Argentina, compromised w i t h radical
movements such as the Union Civica, best represented by-
Leandro Alem a n d Hipolito Irigoyen, in order to retain his
political power.
The liberals diversified into a moderate a n d a more
radical wing. Moder a t e liberals are sometimes confused with
moderate c o n s e r v a t i v e s . However, this particular win g of
liberalism, composed of members of the new oligarchic
bourgeoisie, w a s responsive to pressures aris i n g from the
new social classes in the cities. Whereas m o d e r a t e
conservatives were not. With their openness to economic and
political changes, moderate liberals promoted the
development of labor organizations and collective
bargaining. The labor movement in many countries of Latin
America thus b e g a n with the aid of this g r o u p .
Liberalism also produced its own radical wing. This
branch of liberalism sought populist political and economic
transformations whi c h would improve the living conditions of
the masses. The situation of such populist liberal movements
in Latin America was always precarious as they sought to
navigate between the conservative and sometimes moderate
oligarchy and the interests of the new bourgeoisie. An
example of this political navigation was the conflict
between moderate liberal Francisco Madero of Mexico, who had
been instrumental in overthrowing Porfirio Diaz, and the
more radical Emiliano Zapata, who led the indigenista
64
movement during the Mexican Revolution. The presid e n c y of
Hipolito Irigoyen (1916-1922) of Argentina was another
example of populist liberal maneuvering. Irigoyen faced
pressures by both the working class a nd the landed e l i t e s .
Sadly, these pressures ended in what is known as the Semana.
Tragica. [Tragic Week] in which Irigoyen's populist and
radical government crushed labor strikes and focused its
political program o n the middle class and u niversity
students.
The tension between the oligarchy and the new
bourgeoisie resulted in frequent changes in g o v e r n m e n t s .
These changes were often accompanied b y the political
intervention of the armed forces in support of one side or
the other. The leadership of Guillermo Billinghurst of the
Democratic party i n Peru, exemplified such change.
Billinghurst's government reform legalized strikes,
collective bargaining between workers and management and the
eight-hour work day. As a result, in 1914 a coalition of
political conservatives and the military overthrew him.
Since all of these political tendencies were present
among the military, it too was often divided b y inner
conflicts. Conservative generals and middle-class junior
officers often supported different political i n c l i n a t i o n s .
The former backed the oligarchy and elites, while the latter
favored more liberal and progressive positions, especially
when those policies benefitted the military.
65
The church also played an important r o l e in all of
these political and military conflicts. A c c u s t o m e d to
functioning within the structure of the p a t r o n a t o in which
it enjoyed a number of benefits as well as th e protection of
the colonial government, the church in the e a r l y twentieth
century faced radical transformations that destabilized its
social position. For instance, in the midst of the radical
transformations and conflicts that took p l a c e in Mexico, the
church retained its alliance with the conservative oligarchy
which guaranteed the continuity of the p a t r o n a t o and
ecclesiastical control over many of the latifundia. Later,
under the influence of movements such as Cath o l i c Action,
the church began seeking a political p o s i t i o n more
compatible with some of the ideals of m o d e r a t e liberalism.3
The church though always sought a protection similar to that
which had existed during the colonial p e r i o d .
Finally, it is important to consider th e frequent
intervention of the United States in the internal political
lives of several countries in Latin America. Such
interventions happened so frequently that "fr o m 1898 to
1932, the United States intervened m ilitarily in nine
Caribbean nations a total of thirty four t i m e s . " 4 These
3This political compatibility results f r o m the proposal

of Pope Leo XIII and the development of Catholic social
thought in Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891) .
4Benjamin Keen, A History of Latin America, 2

(Princeton: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992), 524.
66
political and m i l i t a r y interventions sought to protect the
private investments of United States' citizens and
corporations in those countries. In some c o u n t r i e s , such as
Panama and Cuba, these interventions were a predominant
political factor until 1933, w h e n the "Good N e i g h b o r Policy"
of Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to change the w a y the
United States related to Latin America. Significantly,
Panama and Cuba respectively hosted the First and Third
Congress on Christian Work sponsored b y the C C L A in 1916 and
1929 .
Ironically, the United States' interest in protecting
capital investments as well as a growing concern over Latin
American public opinion led it to a more m o d e r a t e foreign
policy after 1923 . The readiness of the Un i t e d States to
compensate Colombia for lost territory in Panama when
Colombia threatened the cancellation of a n u m b e r of
concessions it h a d made to N orth American companies was an
example of this n e w moderate tendency. A nother example of
change was the withdrawal of the United States' military
from Cuba, the Domini c a n Republic, and Nicaragua between
1922 and 1925. Finally, the U n i t e d States exhi b i t e d the same
tendency in the self-restraint with which resp o n d e d to the
Mexican Revolution.
As the 1920s gave way to the 1930s, the U n i t e d States
moved further away from its previous interventionist
policies justified b y the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 as applied
67
b y Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. President Herbert Hoover
published the C l a r k memor a n d u m which declared that "the
United States w o u l d no longer interfere in the internal
affairs of Latin A m e r i c a n nations under the provisions of
the doctrine [Monroe] . "s Furthermore, "the Good Neighbor
Policy" was established early in the 1930s u n d e r Franklin D.
Roosevelt's leadership. This new policy ended direct
military intervention, but led to increased political
pressures and a p o l i c y of holding frequent inter-American
meetings. As a result, the United States abrogated the Platt
Amendment in 1933-1934s, and a new treaty regulating Cuban-
American relationships was signed in 1934. Likewise, several
countries signed reciprocal trade agreements w i t h the United
States seeking for a "broad and comprehensive p r o g r a m to
restore inter-American commercial relations."7 T h e high-
point of this pol i c y was the Inter-American Peace conference
in 1936.
sKeen, 532.
sAfter the Spanish-American war (1888-1898) , Cuba was

under military occupation. In 1901 the U. S. encouraged the
Cubans to have a constitutional convention and a charter was
produced that same year. However, the U.S. government "forced
the Cubans, under protest, to incorporate an amendment (the
Platt Amendment) w h i c h gave the U.S. the right to oversee the
Cuban economy, veto international commitments, a n d intervene
in domestic politics at Washington's discretion. This proviso
remained in force until 1934, making Cuba a n American
protectorate." Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith, M o d e m
Latin America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) , 250.
7William Manger, Inter-American H ighlights, 1890-1940

(Washington: U.S. Government Print Office, 1949), 49.
68
As already stated, the United States justified its
numerous military interventions, as well as its later
diplomatic interventions, on the basis of the n eed to
protect its capital investments in Latin America. These
investments also changed the economic life of the continent.
We now turn to a brief overview of the m o s t important of
these changes during the period under consideration.
Economic Changes
In order to understand the economic changes that took
place in Latin America during the p e r i o d under
consideration, it is best to divide that p eriod into two
eras. The first stage, from 1910 to 1929 includes the years
of the First World War. The second, from 1929 to the end of
the next decade, includes the Great Depression.
The First Stage: Market Growth and Investments in Latin

America
The first stage was characterized b y two international
developments. First, there was a shift in trading partners
from Great Britain to the United S t a t e s . Before the First
World War, Great Britain was already fa c i n g the effects of
American competition in Latin America. D u r i n g the War, the
British continued losing economic influence in Latin
America. At the same time the United States increased its
investments and various manufacturing projects in the
region. Rose Mary Thorp describes these changes as follows:
69
But though Britain remained predominant, the role of

the United States in trade and in investment was
increasing rapidly from the turn of the century: b y
1913 Mexico, all the republics of Central A m e r i c a and
the Hispanic Caribbean, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador
an d marginally, Peru w e r e already importing m o r e form
the United States than from the United Kingdom--which
represented a major switch compared to 1890s. United
States investment was m a k i n g rapid headway in, for
example, Mexican mining and railway, Peruvian copper,
Chilean nitrates, Colombian bananas and Cuban sugar, as
well as in a number of Central American e c o n o m i e s .8
The growth of trade bet w e e n Latin America and the
United States is evident in Table I.9 The table shows the
speed of growth, particularly during the First W o r l d War. At
the same time, the War hindered Great Britain's ma r k e t in
Latin America. The United States took advantage of Britain's
we a k n e s s .
aR ose Mary Thorp, "Economy 1914-1929," in Latin America

Economy and S o c i e t y . Leslie Bethell (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989), 58.
9Ibid., 60. Sources for Table 1 are found in M.

Winkler, Investments of U.S. Capital in Latin America
(Boston: World Peace Foundation, 1929); James W. Wilkie,
Statistics and National P o l i c y . Supplement 3 (1974) ; UCLA,
Statistical Abstract of Latin A m e r i c a . (UCLA Latin American
Center, Los Angeles: University of California, no d a t e ) .
70
Table 1. U.S. Trade w i t h Latin A me r i c a as p e r c e n t a g e total
Latin American Trade 1913, 1918 a n d 1927
1913 1918 1927

South America
Imports from U.S. 16.2 25.9 26.8
Exports from U.S. 16.8 34.8 25 .2
Mexico, Central A m e r i c a and -
the Caribbean
Imports from U.S. 53 .2 75 .0 62 .9
Exports from U.S. 71.3 73 .4 58 .4
The second economic development du r i n g this stage was
the growth of North A m e r i c a n investments in Latin America.
These investments doubled between 1914 a n d 1929, r e a c h i n g a
total of $3,462 billion U.S. dollars.10 Towards the e nd of
1929, 35 percent of N o r t h American foreign investments were
in Latin America, distributed throughout such fields as oil,
agriculture, mining, transportation and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e .11
Enthusiastic Latin A m e r i c a n governments supported these
N orth American economic interests. For instance, the
government of Augusto B. Leguia in Peru rejoiced in the
accelerated growth of foreign c apital. These factors led
toward the development of neo-colonialism in Latin America.
These foreign investments benefitted some countries
10L . S. Stavrianos, Global Rift: The Third W o r l d Comes

of Acre (New York: Wi l l i a m Morrow and Company, 1981) , 574.
“ Keen, 524, 531.
71
more than others. For instance, the oil producing countries,
Venezuela, Mexico and Peru, r eceived enormous investments
from the United States. Other, smaller investments, were
channeled towards manufacturing projects connected with
copper and nitrates in Chile, sugar in Cuba, and meat in
Argentina. All of these investments, in one w a y or another,
contributed to the process of industrialization and to the
development of infrastructures that improved the conditions
for trade and still greater i n v e s t m e n t s . They also supplied
additional funds for the budgets of Latin A merican
governments. M a n y countries i n Latin America considered this
their economic "Golden Age."
This growth in trade and investments came to a halt at
the beginning of 1929 when the capitalist world fell into
the Great Depression. The "Golden Age" disappeared.
Three principal sets of economic forces worked, in

varying degrees, to b r i n g to an end the 'Golden Age' of
the export-led growth. T h e first and most obvious was
an early weakening in demand, or even its total
collapse. The second was growing resource c o n s t r a i n t s .-
it is clear that the remarkable expansion following
1840 was largely 'extensive', incorporating more land,
labour or other resources in a process requiring little
or no increase in productivity. The third factor was a
shift in the composition of exports toward those that
were foreign-owned and returned a relatively low
proportion of export v alue to the local economy, which
could not only slow down the rate of growth but also
introduce distributional tensions.12
The structures that had b e e n created previously in
order to develop trade and encourage North American
12Thorp, 67.
72
investment resulted, in economic stagnation and growing
dependency during the 1930s. Ironically, the economic
activity which so much benefitted Latin America at an
earlier stage now became its worst enemy. The entire
continent had fallen p rey to neo-colonialism.
The Second Stage: Changes in Trade, Reduction in Foreign

Capital and the Inner Policies of Latin A merica
Carlos F. Diaz Alejandro describes the economic changes
in the 1930s as follows:
Latin American development experienced a turning-point

during the 1930s. The contrast between 'before and
after 1929' may often be exaggerated, but there is
little doubt that the decade witnessed a closing toward
international trade and finance, and a relative upsurge
of import-substituting activities, primarily but not
exclusively manufacturing. Other trends visible before
1929, such as urbanisation and a growing interest by
the State in promoting economic development, continued
into the 1930s and accelerated in some countries.13
The first change described b y Diaz Alejandro was the
decline in Latin American exports. The crisis in the
economic centers of the time, Germany, Great Britain, Japan
and the United States, led to this decline. The reduced
demand also resulted in "sharp changes in relative prices:
dollar export prices collapsed m ore steeply than dollar
import prices."14 Countries whose economies depended on the
13Carlos F. Diaz Alejandro, "Latin America in the

1930s," in Latin America in the 1 9 3 0 s : The Role of the
Periphery in World C r i s i s . Rosemary Thorp, ed. (New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1984), 17.
14Ibid., 19.
73
value of their exports suffered a drastic reduction in
income.15 The fact that the producing countries could not
control the prices of their commodities--mostly agricultural
products in cases such as Brazil or mineral products as in
the case of Chile--in the international market made the
situation worse. On the other hand, some countries did not
suffer the same dire consequences. For example, Argentina
had an established market for its m a i n exports (cereals and
meat) and, therefore, had better control over their prices.
This helped Argentina negotiate its economic crisis.
A second economic change during this stage was a drop
in import p r o d u c t s . The reduction in exp o r t s , as indicated
in Table 2,16 led to a parallel drop in imports.
Table 2. Latin America: Evolution o f External Trade
Quantum of Terms of Capacity to

Exports Trade Import
1930-34 -8.8 -24.3 -31.3
00
1
1935-39 -2 .4 -12.9
'
H
o
Diaz Alejandro explains the consequences of export decline
in relation to the drop in i m p o r t s :
After m i d - 1930 little fresh capital came in. With the
15Ibid.
1SC . F u r t a d o , Economic Development of Latin America

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970),40; and
Stavrianos, Global R i f t , 575.
74
dollar price level falling unexpectedly b y no less than
one-quarter between 1920-1 and 1932-3, debt servicing
rose dramatically in real terms, compressing the
capacity to import beyond what data o n the purchasing
of exports suggest. During the early stages of the
crisis the import quantum fell even m o r e than the
purchasing pow e r of exports in most countries, as they
struggle to meet debt obligations in spite of the
cessation of capital inflows.17
The third economic change was a drop in foreign
investment. The above-mentioned economic centers began
establishing economic policies within their o w n political
hegemony, to say, their colonies and p rotectorates.18
Furthermore, through diplomatic and political negotiations
under the banner of "The Good Neighbor Policy, 11 the United
States retained political and economic control of countries
such as Haiti, Cuba, Colombia and Nicaragua.
The combination of all these changes f orced the Latin
American nations to develop new economic activities,
especially in the field of manufacturing, to replace earlier
imported products. In other words, Latin A m e r i c a began to
create its own national market. In order to support this new
economic project and to defend fragile national production
and markets, Latin American governments imposed high tariffs
on imports, thus forcing the population to b u y national
products. This protectionist policy, particularly under
populist governments such as those of Cardenas in Mexico and
Vargas in Brazil, provided a certain political space for
17Diaz Alejandro, 20.
18Ibid. , 21.
75
populist movements. In general though, Latin A merica
suffered from the effects of the neo-colonial structure that
had been established late during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
The effects of these changes could be felt at different
levels. First of all, Latin A m e r i c a n governments delayed
payments on their foreign debt. The debt, therefore,
increased. Secondly, budget deficits forced various
governments to curtail their educational and welfare
p r o g r a m s . Thirdly, governments established new monetary
policies in order to safeguard the value of their currencies
as related to national gold reserves and to stop accelerated
inflation. These policies kept alive the economies of those
countries at the expense of losing the value of the currency
in relation to the gold reserve.
Finally, and most importantly, the economic crisis
impacted the life of the population. Diaz Alejandro
describes that impact as follows:
On the whole income and w ealth distribution during the

1930s were buffeted by contradictory influences. Groups
linked to traditional exports must have seen their
relative and even absolute p osition decline, in spite
of government actions aimed at ameliorating the
external blows. Entrepreneurs in import-substituting
agriculture and industry m ust have accumulated handsome
profits, with their output fetching high domestic
prices while labour and raw-materials costs were
unusually low. Entrepreneurs who had inherited excess
capacity from the 1920s were especially fortunate,
receiving unexpected capital g a i n s . High- and middle-
class families, with budgets having low shares for
foodstuffs and high shares for imported consumer goods,
faced unfavourable relative price trends. Beloved
durable goods, such as automobiles, or European
76
vacations, became very expensive, a n d their consumption
often was to be postponed for many y e a r s . For lower-
income groups, whether urban or rural, it is unlikely
that real income gains in terms of foodstuffs could
have been very substantial; the best guess is that even
in reactive countries performing reasonably well b y the
late 1930s real wages for unskilled a n d semi-skilled
labour... were no higher than the earlier decade.19
Political-Cultural Changes in L a t i n America
The most important political-cultural change of this
period is the influence of positivism on Latin American
cultural elites.20 Positivism in Latin A m e r i c a encompassed
more than the scientific revolution in combination w ith
Auguste Compte's methodological proposal. Positivism also
included Herbert Spencer's and Charles Darwin's
evolutionism, Stuart Mill's utilitarianism, and other
philosophical variations of the scientific method.
For the Latin American elite posit i v i s m became an
important resource for ordering social a n d political life.
Education within the philosophical framework of positivism
began as early as the late 1800 and continued to influence
Latin American political life to this day. Historian Hans-
Jurgen Priem describes the attraction of posit i v i s m during
the early decades of the twentieth century:
19Ibid., 45.
20For a detailed history of the influence and

developments of positivism in Latin Am e r i c a see, Charles A.
Hale, "Political and Social Ideas," in L a t i n America:
Economy and Society. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1989), 240-272.
77
La impresion enorme que causo el positivismo europeo en
A m e rica latina se puede explicar por el h echo de que
pudo e n l a z a r con una precomprension difusa y de que
ofrecia respuestas a muchas cuestiones realmente
existentes en efecto, no solo facilitaba la abundancia
de nuevos conocimientos cientificonaturales y
filosoficos acumulados sobre la humanidad. . . , sino que
al m ismo tiempo ofrecia u n sistema filosofico para su
ordenacion y control, del que tambien se echo
[corroborar] mano para los problemas sociales,
virulentos tambien en Am e r i c a latina desde su
e m a n c i p a c i o n .21
In the words of Mexican philos o p h e r Leopoldo Zea,
...los miembros de esta g eneracion [finales del siglo

19 principios del siglo 20] tratan de comprenderla [a
America Latina] para p o n e r fin a tan grandes d e s a s t r e s .
El mal no estaba fuera, lo llevaban los americanos en
sus e n t r a n a s . Y mas que en sus entrahas en el c e r e b r o .
El modo de pensar y, p or lo mismo, en su u n i c o modo de
a c t u a r .22
The impact of positivism on Latin America can best be
understood in the following political-cultural developments
and responses. First, positivism began to ground education.
21 "The enormous impression caused by European

positivism in Latin America can be explained b y its juncture
with a d i ffused pre-understanding and the fact that it
offered answers to many existing issues: in fact, it not
only facilitated the abundance of new natural-scientific and
philosophical knowledge accumulated b y humanity. . ., but at
the same time it offered a philosophical system for its
ordering and control, which was used to solve the social
problems, e q u a l l y difficult in Latin America after
emancipation." Translation is mine. Hans Jurgen-Priem,
Historia del Cristianismo en Am e r i c a La t i n a . (Salamanca:
Ediciones Sigueme, 1985), 500.
22 "... the members of this generation [late nineteenth

century to e a r l y twentieth century] attempt to comprehend it
[Latin America] in order to end its great d i s a s t e r s . Evil
was not on the outside; the [Latin] Americans carry it in
their entrails. A n d more than in their guts, in their brain.
In their w a y of thinking and, b y the same token, in their
only way of behavior." Emphasis and translation are mine.
Leopoldo Zea, Filosofia de la Historia A m e r i c a n a . (Mexico:
Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1987), 208.
78
Education was to be the means b y which people would go
through "revoluciones mentales [mental revolutions] which
would extend to the society and modify not only the opinions
of particular persons, but all the masses of the people."23
Proponents believed positivism w ould help the Latin A merican
people order their l i v e s . It m o v e d society away from
barbaric influences and toward true civilization.
Second, the Catholic church in Latin America found
itself in a difficult position vis-d-vis the positivist
spirit among the educated e l i t e s . The philosophical
interpretations of positivism clashed w ith the colonial
ethos and world-view of the Catholic Church. A n t i
clericalism once again came to the foreground in discussions
of the relationship between church and state.
On the other hand, Protestantism found an ally in the
liberal-positivist attitude of the cultural elite. Although
in disagreement w i t h the more radical consequences of
positivism, especially in its anti-religious and
authoritarian expressions, Protestant missionaries and Latin
American liberal leaders coincided in some political-
cultural projects. Issues such as the discussion of
religious liberty became important junctures for political,
religious and educational alli a n c e s . The sympathy with which
President Justo Rufino Barrios (18 73-1885) and Manuel
23Leopoldo Zea, El Positivismo en Mexico (Mejico: Fondo

de Cultura Economica, 1975) no page; quoted in Zea, Filosofla
de la Historia A m e r i c a n a . 208.
79
Estrada Cabrera (1898-1920) and their liberal-positivist
successors regarded Presbyterian missionary work in
Guatemala was an eloquent example of such collaboration.
Third, positivism shaped the political agendas of Latin
American countries in an unprecedented manner. In the
political battles of the time, positivism evolved from a
philosophy to a political ideology.24 Zea describes this
process of transformation:
Un nuevo orden se alzaba en cada p a i s : pero ya no era

el orden colonial, sino u n orden apoyado en las ideas
del progreso y la ciencia. U n orden que parecia
preocuparse por la educacion de sus ciudadanos y su
comfort m a t e r i a l . A este orden se habia sacrificado las
libertades polilticas, p o r considerarselas innecesarias
y perturbadoras. En cada pais se alzaban oligarquias
que se encargaban de este orden y de su expresion en el
campo politico. La unica libertad p o r la cual se
luchaba era la libertad p o r el enri que cimi en to y
predominio material de los mas aptos, tal como
mostraban las nuevas corrientes filosof i c a s .25
Positivism also spawned other political-cultural
240ne striking example of the evolution of positivism from

a philosophy to a political ideology is the motto which
appears in the national Brazilian flag, "Ordem e Progresso," -
-definitely a positivist ideal.
25 "A new order was emerging in each country. It was no

longer the colonial order, but rather an order supported b y
the ideas of progress and science. An order that seemed to
be concerned for the education of its citizens and their
material comfort. To this order political liberties were
sacrificed, for they were considered unnecessary and
disturbing. In each country oligarchies emerged that would
take care of this order and its expression in the political
arena. The only freedom defended was the freedom for the
enrichment and materi'al domination of the m ost capable, just
as the new philosophical trends showed." (Translation is
m i n e ) . Zea, El Positivismo en Iberoamerica, 68. For an
English summary of the impact of positivism in Latin
American thought and politics, see Harold E. Davis, Latin
American Thought (New York: The Free Press, 1972), 97-134.
80
trends that shaped the cultures of Latin A m e r i c a n elite.
These trends constituted both a continuation a n d a reaction
to positivism. Authoritarianism and some expressions of
radicalism (or radical liberalism) developed in continuity
with positivism. Socialism a n d idealism emerged as reactions
to this philosophical ideology. From a more autochthonous
perspective, the philosophy of indlgenismo, a m e r g i n g of
socialism with the defense of Amerindian people in political
and economic plans of government also developed in reaction
to positivism. Perhaps, the m o s t eloquent figure for
Indigenismo was Jose Carlos Mariategui in Peru.
In conclusion, although they have been d iscussed
separately for reasons of convenience, the political,
economic and cultural changes in Latin America w e r e
interwoven. These interconnections lead to the following
general descriptions of the changes in Latin A m e r i c a during
the period under study.
First, Latin America went through a period of political
pluralism and economic development within the framework of
dependency. Dependency proved difficult to channel in ways
that promoted the development of Latin American society.
During this period old political tendencies b e c a m e more
diversified and n e w positions emerged. The economic upsurge
of the United States and its offer to help develop the Latin
American continent overwhelmed those countries in the midst
of their growing pluralism. Political pluralism, changes in
81
trade, and the enormous growth of foreign investment
produced instability in governments and a United States
policy of intervention. National political alliances as well
as the impact of North American economic interests on
national politics often crushed hopes for internal
developments.
Second, economic and political crises forced Latin
America to follow risky economic policies which sometimes
did lead to the inner development of various c o u n t r i e s . The
same situation le d other countries to take political and
economic actions that affected North American economic
interests in L a t i n America. The Great Depression forced
Latin America to focus on its own resources. At the same
time, the Uni t e d States' interventions in the Caribbean and
Central America produced resistance and suspicion toward
that neighbor. Economic and political policies on the part
of some Latin A m e r i c a n countries forced the U n i t e d States to
modify its interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine and its
corollaries and to move toward the "Good Neighbor Policy" of
Franklin D. Roosevelt. In other words, Latin A m e r i c a n
nationalism, althoug h leading to bitter controversies in
domestic matters in some countries, also helped solidify the
continent in relation to the United S tates.
Thirdly, m ost of these changes in Latin A m e r i c a
appeared p rimarily among the elites. The majority of the
people of the continent remained marginal to the various
82
proj ects of political and economic d e v e l o p m e n t . Although
there was political space for socialist and communist groups
and for labor movements, they generally remained subject to
the interests and political alliances of m o r e traditionally
political parties and the military.
Fourth, the political and religious b a s e of the Roman
Catholic Church within the new Latin American societies
changed drastically. After the disappearance of the
p a t r o n a t o , the church had to form its own alliances with the
reigning oligarchy in order to keep its status and influence
in Latin American culture. On the other hand, Protestant
missions found a significant affinity with L a t i n American
liberalism and with the more moderate expressions of
positivism. In the midst of political and cultural
transformations, such as freedom of worship, Latin American
Protestants and missionaries contributed to the liberal
discourse and affirmed the Protestant faith as a vehicle
toward a better quality of life.
In general, this was a period of profound
transformation at the national, regional and international
l e v e l s . The genesis of the changes described above was
multi-dimensional. Within this context North A merican
Protestant mission boards and Latin American Protestants
faced the challenge of articulating an answer to the
question, "Are the problems and challenges of missions in
non-Christian lands different from those in Christian
83
lands?"
Furthermore, this question cannot be e x p l o r e d without
acknowledging that the previous description of the economic,
political, and social transformations in Latin A me r i c a
fueled the asymmetry of the missiological discourse. As a
result, new questions are added to our investigation: "How
did the above transformations shaped the missiological
discourse between the North American missionary boards and
leaders and the Latin American Protestants?" "Is there any
evidence of the relationship between these transformations
and the missiological discourse in either side?" "How were
these transformations used in the missiological discourse?"
"Did these transformations change the locus of enunciation
for the missiological discourse?"
As one studies the documents of the CCLA, the Latin
American responses to the Protestant project of justifying
their land as a mission territory, and the reports of the
World Missionary Conferences sponsored by the International
Missionary Council, the questions become more focused: To
what degree did the CCLA take into account the context just
described? What factors of this complex context w ere
included or excluded in that conversation at the Latin
American, inter-American and the ecumenical levels? Is there
a connection among the various levels of discussion
regarding Latin America as a missionary territory, or are
they rather disparate discourses, indicating a theological
84
pluralism as complex as the political pluralism of the
times? How did the CCLA's assessment of the context shape an
answer to the missiological issue of missions to a
"Christian land?" I will explore these questions in the
following ch a p t e r s .
CHAPTER FOUR
THE COMMITTEE O H COOPERATION IN LATIN AMERICA, 1915-1938:

A MISSIOLOGY FOR A CONTINENT PREGNANT W I T H OPPORTUNITIES
It was an admirable example of the Conferencla sin Culto1,

the religious address without ritual act or ceremonial
accompaniment, w h i c h should constitute an essential feature
of pioneer evangelism in our day.
John A. Mackay in The Other Spanish
Christ
But the fact that there are yet sadder things [in Latin
America] shows how deep is the need and h o w strong is the
appeal from this continent of long-neglected opportunity.
Robert E . Speer in South American
Problems
This chapter examines the missiology of the Committee
on Cooperation in Latin America from 1915 to 193 8 in four
se c t i o n s . The first part analyzes literature published by
three prominent members of the CCLA, Robert E. Speer, John
A. Mackay, and Samuel Guy Inman. Each of these men both
participated in the International Missionary Council and
also helped the C CLA articulate its missiology. Robert E.
Speer published South American Problems in 1915, one year
before the official organization of the CCLA. He later
served as chair of the CCLA from 1916 until the late 1920s.
John A. Mackay, a missionary to South A m e r i c a and
influential theologian in the World Missionary Movement,
literally, a "Conference without Worship."
85
86
published, two important books during this period, The Other
Spanish Christ (1933) and That Other America (1935). Samuel
Guy Inman, executive secretary of the CCLA until 193 8,
published numerous books and articles on the theme
"religious panamericanism. "
The second section examines the three CCLA-sponsored
congresses on Christianity in Latin America. Both North and
South Americans participated in these congresses in Panama
(1916), Montevideo (1925), an d Havana (1929). This chapter
examines these congresses from the perspectives of the North
Americans, while chapter six focuses on the viewpoints of
the South American participants. The third section of this
chapter uses CCLA minutes to complement the material
published by leaders of the CC L A and the congresses. It
concludes wi t h a synthesis of the multiple perspectives of
the missiological discourse of the CCLA.
Published Literature by the CCLA Leaders
Robert: E. Speer
The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions
published Robert E. Speer's South American Problems one year
before the Panama Conference in 1916. This book ma y have
served as a preparatory document for the Conference, though
I have not found any strong evidence to prove this
possibility. In South American Problems Speer expands and
revises his arguments made in The Case for Missions in Latin
87
A m e r i c a .2 This section focuses on those changes.
In South American Problems Speer emphasizes that the
ethnicity of the people make the continent "backward." He
reveals his denigrating attitude toward native Latin
Americans through a description of European and North
American immigration to South America and its role in the
continent's future. A t the end of chapter two, "The South
American Republics To-day," he states,
It is the new b l o o d and character from wit h o u t which

account for the progress which South A m e r i c a is making.
Even in Chile, where it m a y seem to be Chilean, the men
who are leading the nation b ear names that show their
British or German ancestry. W i t h us [U.S.A.] it is now
the native stock that dominates and improves the
imported blood. In South America the imported blood
dominates and improves the native stock. The governing
class is European rather than American. B e n e a t h this
governing class, of course, is the great b o d y of people
with the heavier strain of native blood, uneducated,
u n a w a k e n e d .3
Speer then concludes,
It is this heavy strain of Indian blood, and of negro

blood as well in Brazil, and the unfavorable climatic
conditions of South America w h i c h are u s u a l l y charged
with the responsibility for the backwardness of South
America.4
2See chapter one of this dissertation for a discussion

of The Case for Missions in Latin A m e r i c a .
3Robert E. Speer, South American P r o b l e m s . (New York:

Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1915), 72.
4Ibid. Moreover, Speer reinforces his c l a i m that

ethnicity is responsible for this "backwardness" by
disallowing climate as a cause. He states, "South America
cannot plead her climatic or physical conditions as excuse
for her moral or political problems or her industrial
b a c k w a r d n e s s . These conditions are a d v a n t a g e o u s . A different
people would have worked out a far different result. Speer,
South American Problems, 72-73. (Italics are mine) .
88
To reinforce this ethnic-geographical interpretation of
the situation in South America S p e e r quotes Charles Darwin's
comparison of Australia and South America: "Here [Australia]
in a less promising country, scores of years have done many
times m o r e than an equal number of centuries have effected
in South America."5
A l t h o u g h Speer uses the term "ethical" to describe the
fundamental political problems of the continent, he
maintains his view of ethnicity as the central c a u s e . Speer
writes that "the fundamental trouble in South America is
ethical."6 He expounds on the moral deficiency of the Latin
American people, particularly the poor and the uneducated,
b y referring to their sexual misbehavior, their lack of
conscientiousness, their irresponsibility in marriage and
family life, and the illegitimacy of children.7 He
concludes that the continent needs a new character and that
only education and religion can produce this change. Speer
thus proposes an anthropological rationale for the political
and moral underdevelopment of the Latin American
c o n t i n e n t .8
5Ibid.
6Ibid.
7I b i d . , 73-81.
8Speer's discussion of Latin America's "backwardness"

fits Charles R. Taber's description in The World Is Too Much
With U s : Culture in the M o d e m Protestant Missions (M a c o n :
Mercer University Press, 1991), 43-53, 59-68.
89
Speer adds a lack of religious liberty to ethnic
"backwardness" as one of Latin America's problems. In
chapter four of South American Problems he describes the
relationship between church and state through a discussion
of immigration to Latin America and its role in the
continent's development. He advocates the constitutional
principle of religious liberty for nations because it
provides a legitimate political channel for the propagation
of new religious p r a c t i c e s . These different practices both
sustain the immigrants who come to contribute to the future
of the continent and also provide a new ethic for the Latin
American people. Speer's description of the issue echoes the
words of an Argentine publicist, " [T] he dilemma is fatal--
either Catholic and unpopulated, or populated an d prosperous
and tolerant in the matter of religion."9
Speer defines the struggle for religious liberty as a
dilemma between "a healthy development in freedom and the
wholesome privilege of enlightened self-government" and the
Roman Catholic Church's "influence against such development
and in favor of medievalism, popular ignorance a nd
ecclesiastical authority."10 Facing this dilemma means
making difficult decisions in light of the well-established
9Speer, South American Problems. 129.
10Ibid. , 130.
90
pattern of church-state relations.11 The Roman Catholic
Church' s domination of church-state relations m e a n the
"rejection of those agencies and institutions of liberty,
without which they could call their states republics, but
could not call their people free."12
Speer describes the struggles and ambiguities of the
political principle of religious liberty in Latin America
throughout his chapter four. While acknowledging that the
countries of Latin America had made progress toward
obtaining the principle of religious liberty, Speer
maintains,
The movement of religious liberation in South America

contains many alternations. A republic which has taken,
under liberal guidance, advanced ground on questions of
freedom of religion and free education, may u nder
clerical control reverse all its progress, while a
state which has been dominated by the [Roman Catholic]
Church in the most degrading way m a y suddenly break
through its enslavement into liberty.13
Religious liberty is not yet an integral part of Latin
American society. He does not discuss the role of the
13-For a detailed history of Church--State relations in

Latin America see J. Lloyd Mecham, Church and State in Latin
America (Chapel Hill: North Carolina Press, 1934) .
12Speer, South American Problems. 132. See also Taber,

The World Is Too Much With U s , 60-68; and Andrew Walls, "The
American Dimension in the Missionary Movement, " in Earthen
Vessels, Joel A. Carpenter and Wilbert R. Schenk (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1990), 14-16. Taber points out that
dissenting voices used this political and religious
arguments for missionary justification. Taber quotes William
Hutchinson, "Modernism in Mission" in Christianity in C h i n a ,
ed. John F. Fairbank (Cambridge University Press, 1974),
116, 393.
13Ibid. , 135.
91
Protestant missionary movement in chapter four, b u t does
blame the R o m a n Catholic Church for dela y i n g the development
of political and religious liberty in the region.
A description of the nature of Christianity constitutes
a third revision and expansion in South American P r o b l e m s .
Moving bey o n d the problems of education and the R oman
Catholic p r i est,14 Speer claims that the people of South
America "do not know what Christ taught or what the New
Testament represents the Gospel to b e . " 15 He illustrates
this failure through his own interpretation of c r u c i f i x e s .
The v e r y crucifixes of which South America is full

misrepresent the Gospel. They show a dead man, not a
living Saviour. South American Christianity knows
nothing of the resurrection and of that w hich signifies
life. . . . An d even the representations of the death of
Christ are false. Some of the figures are too terrible
for description, and their whole significance is untrue
to the Gospel.15
Speer also criticizes the relationship between Jesus
and Mary w hich he identifies in the Latin American Christian
faith,
And even the dead Christ is the subordinate figure. The

central place is M a r y ' s . Often she is shown holding a
small lacerated dead figure in her lap, and often she
is the only person represented at a l l .... This
supremacy of Mary is not in church art a l o n e . It is the
practical religion of the land. When, on G o o d Friday
morning, 1909, the two processions bearing the images
of M ary and Jesus moved out of the Church of San
14For further discussion of this topic see South

American P r o b l e m s . chapter five and chapter two of this
dissertation.
15Ibid. , 169.
15Ibid. , 169-170.
92
Nicolas in Barranquilla and in the opposite directions

about the plaza, the multitude followed the figure of
Mary an d the figure of the Saviour was deserted. Mary
is the central religious person.... A n d Mariolatry is
the religion of the land because the Church taught it
as true Christianity17
Speer concludes that the religious condition of the
continent justifies the need for the presence of a
renovating Christian force. "Foreign priests are bringing in
a new energy,"18 but "the hand of decay" predominates.19
Whether Protestant or Roman Catholic,20 Speer clearly
suggests that such a renovating Christian force must come
from the o u t s i d e , not from the continent itself.
The true was tainted with the false and shadowed with
an e ver darkening shadow, a shadow which in all charity
but in the relentless truth we must call a moral night.
That is the light that is now shining from the Roman
Catholic Church over South America. If religion has
nothing to do with morality, then it is all well. We
can leave South America alone. But if as we believe
religion is nothing but a living morality, the morality
of a true and loving fellowship with a Heavenly Father,
a righteousness alive in Christ, if true religion and
undefiled is this, that a man should visit the
fatherless and the widows in their affliction and keep
himself unspotted--then we are no [sic] Christians if
we do not, whether American Protestant or American
17Ibid., 170.
18Ibid. , 194.
19Ibid.
20Speer ends his sixth chapter, "Present Religious

Condition (continued) , " by quoting extensively two Roman
Catholic priests, one of them identified as Father Charles
W. Currier from Washington D. C. Speer supports his
arguments from a Roman Catholic North A merican perspective
through these quotations. See South American P r o b l e m s . 187-
194.
93
Catholic, carry such a religion to South America.21
A fourth area of revision in South American Problems
concerns the political, cultural and religious situation of
the Amerindians.22 He begins chapter seven with the
statement that "[t]he Indians in the Jesuit Mission were
probably happier and better off than the pure blooded
Indians have ever b ee n since."23 He also concedes that not
all the Amerindians enjoyed the protection of the Jesuits.
He admits that they experienced slavery and that " [t] he
general conditions [of the Amerindians] were evil."24
This historical setting provides the background in
which to discuss the contemporary situation country by
country of the Amerindians in Latin America. Speer provides
statistical information and comments on the political
conditions for Amerindians in each republic. He emphasizes
the inadequate political and educational programs for this
population.
The South American Governments [sic] have not sought to

do m u c h among them, and the rubber trade and other
enterprises have despoiled them. Gruesome stories are
told of their exploitation in the rubber regions. The
Quichas [sic] and Aymaras are m o r e hopeful than our
North American Indians and adequate educational and
evangelistic w or k among them w o u l d surely effect in a
few generations greater improvements than have been
21Ibid. , 194-195.
22Speer uses the term "Indians" to describe the

indigenous people of Latin America.
23Ibid. , 198.
24Ibid.
94
wrought among them by the agencies which have
controlled them for the past four hundred y e a r s . 25
Several of Speer's presuppositions emerge in his
description of cultural and religious conditions of the
Am e r i n d i a n s . His accounts and quotations assume that
Amerindians live under extreme exploitation, moral decay,
ignorance, and superstition. For instance, Speer quotes Dr.
T. B. Wood, a veteran missionary, to refer to Amerindians in
Peru. Their "moral condition b e i n g on decline, they are
lower in the moral scale to-day than [sic] were u n d e r the
Incas."26 A Christian worker among the Amerindians of
Paraguay describes a visit to their Amerindian community.
Led b y the native guide, we found the Indians hidden

away behind the shelter of almost impassable swamps,
across which we could not take our horses, amid the
most savage conditions, and in great poverty.27
Speer also assumes that Amerindians live with
superstition and under terrible religious exploitation.
Citing Wood again, Speer s a y s :
The friars and priests who s w a m e d [sic] in a m o n g them

with the Spanish conquest and have dominated their
religious life ever since, instead of teaching them
better things, have kept them in ignorance and
superstition, and exploited their vices to get m oney
from them, for nearly four hundred y e a r s . Their
numerous religious festivals and saints' days, instead
of stimulating them to holiness and usefulness, on the
contrary overwhelm them w i t h temptations to drunkness
and other forms of moral relaxation, sinking e a c h new
25Ibid. , 215-216.
2SIbid. , 212.
27Ibid. , 199.
95
generation lower than its predecessors.28
Speer believes that the religious condition of the
Amerindians is b o t h a significant obstacle for the
propagation of the gospel and the reason for "going to
them.1,29 He regards the Amerindian context both as a
stumbling block and as the imperative for mission. B a s e d on
this paradox, Speer concludes that the political, cultural
and religious condition of the A m e r i n d i a n shows "how deep is
the need and ho w strong is the appeal from this continent of
long-neglected opportunity."30
Speer's final chapter in South American Problems
focuses on current and future Protestant missions in Latin
America. A f t e r outlining a detailed history of Protestant
missionary activity on the continent, he addresses the
question of its legitimacy. Arguing against the contention
that Latin A m e rica is Roman Catholic and, hence, part of
Christendom, he cites the relationship of the Roman Catholic
Church to the Oriental Chur c h e s .
The R oman Catholic Church, w h i c h objects to our foreign

missions in Latin America, does so on principles w h i c h
it rejects in its dealings w i t h these Oriental
C h u r c h e s . It has for years carried on foreign missions
among them wit h a view to absorbing them in the R o m a n
Catholic Church.3L
28Ibid. , 212-213.
29Ibid. , 215.
30Ibid. , 215.
31Ibid. , 228.
96
Since the Protestant churches "have done just what the Roman
Catholic Church has done [among the Oriental C hurches],"32
no moral foundation exists for the R oman Catholic claim to
its own exclusive presence in Latin America.
Speer also argues that the question of mission in
Christian lands is not new.
But it will be well now, in closing, squarely to face

the question of the legitimacy of foreign mission work
among the nominal Christians of S o u t h America. It is
not, however, a n e w question. It is as old as the
Reformation. And in the modern missions it was a more
living question seventy-five years ago than it is t o
day. The American missions to the Nestorian and the
Armenian peoples in the ancient S yrian and Gregorian
Churches, to the Greeks of Turkey and to the Copts of
Egypt, and the efforts to meet the dire needs of South
America, which was renouncing b o t h Spain and Rome and
religion, raised this issue then as vividly as it can
be raised to-day. The objection then and now rests upon
two assumptions, first, that these nominal Christians
are Christian and do not need m issionary work in their
behalf, and second, that foreign mis s i o n work among
them is simple proselytizing and therefore illegitimate
and unworthy.33
He relies on the same missiological rationale used in the
late nineteenth century for Protestant missionary activity
among the Oriental churches to validate twentieth century
mission in Latin America.34
32Ibid.
33Ibid., 227.
34Speer basically identifies three arguments for

Protestant missionary activity among the Oriental Churches .
First, " [T]he conditions of these churches demanded help
from Christendom." Speer claims that "they were
illite r a t e ..., their worship often was in dead l a n g u a g e s ...,
their polity was tyrannical...," and "their religion was a
travesty of Christianity." Second, " [T] h e y were an
insuperable obstacle to the evangelization of the
97
The book ends with two important statements that
illustrate Speer's missiology. The first statement shows
that the legitimacy of missionary activity is based, on
"proving" the accuracy of the conditions in Lat i n America
which justify that activity. "[B]ut we must take pains to be
absolutely accurate, and then we must speak out
unflinchingly the facts..."35 Speer thus promotes the
urgency of Protestant missions because he feels his
descriptions and data confirm the failure of Roman
Catholicism. The second statement demonstrates a
relationship between missionary responsibility an d economic
welfare and imperialism.
We must challenge the conscience of Great B r i t a i n and

America. The South American Jouznal states that Great
Britain has 555,142,041 pounds capital inve s t e d in
South America, and that her dividends from these
investments in 1909 were 25,437,030 pounds. That is
more each month than the total expenditure on
evangelical missions in South America in a hund r e d
y e a r s . In the face of such a statement as that quoted
from the Bishop of Argentina, can a nation
conscientiously do such a thing as this, draw a stream
of national wealth fro m these lands and contribute to
them no moral or spiritual treasure, or next to
Mohammedans." Speer believes that to neglect the missionary

responsibility "in the name of an ecclesiastical theory
would have been a shame an d reproach which the Christian
spirit of the American churches refused to bear." Third, the
purpose of missionary activity among these churches included
spiritual vivication. For Speer, spiritual renewal means to
help these churches "exert a commanding influence in the
spiritual regeneration of Asia." Ibid., 228.
3SIbid. , 255.
98
none?35
With, this statement Speer's missiology echoes Carlos
Esteban Deive's description of the evangelization of African
slaves in the Caribbean: "Se encadeno el cuerpo del esclavo
para, en recompensa, ofrecerle salvacion a su al m a . " 37
John A. Ma.cka.y
John A. Mackay, a distinguished Presbyterian leader in
the missionary and ecumenical movements, published The Other
Spanish Christ in 1932 and That O t h e r America in 193 5. Both
books identify the idiosyncracy of the Latin A m e r i c a n
person, the cultural and political conditions of the
continent, and the role of Protestant churches in the
formation of the c o n t i n e n t . In That Other America M a c k a y
also offers missiological reflections on evangelism. While
The Other Spanish Christ is a philosophical and
anthropological treatise, That O t h e r America uses a
descriptive approach employing images and symbols to explain
35Ibid., 256. By this time [1915], the United States

government ha d joined Britain in their imperialist w ar to
gain a foothold in La t i n America. Furthermore, as discussed
in chapters two and three of this dissertation, Britain's
Anglo-Catholics opposed the inclusion of Latin A m e r i c a as a
mission field in the Edinburgh Conference of 1910.
37"The body of the slave was chained in recompense for

an offer of saving his soul." (Translation is mine) . Carlos
Esteban Deive, La esclavitud del negro en Santo D o m i n g o ,
(Santo Domingo: Museo del Hombre Dominicano, 1980), 377.
99
the Latin America reality and its challenges.38
Latin American Anthropology and Culture
Mackay's anthropology of the Latin American person, is
difficult to describe and is divided b y regions. O n the one
hand, b oth of the writings that I examine in this chapter
(and others as well) denote a strong Iberian and Southern
European influence.39 Mackay perceives that the Latin
American person celebrates individuality, passionately
cultivates beliefs and ideals, praises a cosmopolitan
spirit, and reveres a sense of history. He asserts the
importance of the most recent European immigration,
especially to the southern cone region, and identifies this
immigration as a critical factor in the formation of a
liberal and cosmopolitan spirit in the region.40 His
examples refer to Argentina, Chile, a n d to a lesser extent,
Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil.
On the other hand, Mackay recognizes the Amerindian
heritage of the Latin American person in his anthropology.
Referring to Mexico, and particularly to the Mexican
educator Jose de Vas c o n c e l o s , Mackay acknowledges "that the
38Alberto Rembao, "La Melodia Basica de Nuestra

Existencia Espiritua l , " La Nueva Democracia (Junio 1935): 8-
10 .
39John A. Mackay, The Other Spanish Christ (New York:

Macmillan Company, 1932), 3-22, 95-102; That Other America
(New York: Friendship Press, 1935), 1-22, 43-56.
40Mackay, That Other America. 8.
100
true America is Indian America, that is to say, the America
in which Indian blood is basic."41 Having admitted this,
Mackay then defines the "type" of Indian heritage acceptable
for the Latin American political project. His writings point
to those Amerindian cultural traits which contribute to the
modern character of a nation. He asserts,
The new rulers of Mexico were proud of their Indian

heritage. They m a d e the Indian feel that he was a
Mexican and not simply an Indian. They enkindled a new
sense of tradition. They resuscitated the country's
historic past. T h e y delved d o w n into the Indian's soul
and environment and strove to incorporate those Indian
millions into a modern civilization which should be
specifically Mexican in character. That is to say, the
new Mexicans would have none of a merely exotic culture
for their people. They adopted from the outside that
which could most easily be adapted to developing the
Indian's soul, to promoting a renaissance of Mexican
arts and crafts, and to preparing a rural population
among whom they divided up the great estates.42
Mackay's anthropology of people in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia
and the countries of Central America, as well as in Mexico,
acknowledges a "selective" process b y which A merindian and
European cultures have blended together. He proposes that
the traits of Mexican people, for example, are m olded by
"that which could most easily be adapted to developing the
Indian's soul"43 and which contribute to the modern
political project.
In addition to this selection of positive traits,
41Ibid. , 11.
42Ibid. , 10.
43Ibid.
101
Mackay communicates definite ideas about what culture should
avoid from the Amerindian h e r i t a g e .
How deep is the pathos of the situation we have today

in Peru I The condition of the Indian population,
numerous and relatively prosperous in the days of the
Incas, beggars [sic] description. Their sensibilities
dulled b y the mastication of the cocoa [sic] leaf,
going from one drink orgy into another, living in
virtual serfdom to feudal lords, they are, as a recent
Peruvian writer has called them, a pueblo sin Dios, a
people whom God seems to have forsaken. Small w o n d e r
that there should be today Fire on the Andes, the title
of a recent book by Mr. Carleton Beals, and that the
once prosperous Mexican state of Morelos should have
turned into a wilderness b y the violence of the Indian
uprising under the agrarian revolutionist, Emiliano
Zapata.44
Mackay portrays the Amerindian population as addicted to
drugs and alcoholism, as violent, and as living in a stage
of peonage. He claims they are a people dominated by
superstition and ignorance.45
Mackay identifies an even deeper problem in people of
mixed race. Under the subtitle of "Congenital
Indifferentism" he says,
A fourth cavern is the congenital indif ferentism which

is so prevalent in L atin America in regard to the
deeper values of life. The Argentine sociologist,
Carlos Bunge, in a famous study of Latin A merican
traits entitled Nuestra America, finds in p ereza
(sloth) the basis of this mood. This is the p e r e z a or
44Mackay's translation of a p ueblo sin Dios is strange.

The literal translation is a "people without God" w h i c h is
different from "a people w h o m God seems to have forsaken."
Mackay's translation puts the action of the verb on God. God
seems to have forsaken the people. However, a p ueblo sin
Dios is a descriptive phrase regarding the nature of people
in relation to God. Ibid., 64.
4SIbid., 61; Mackay, The Other Spanish C hrist. 95-102,

109-117.
102
inertia so characteristic of the mestizo, or mixed

race, an d of the creole, the descendant of foreign
parents b o m in L atin America... "This indif ferentism
which is universal throughout the South American
continent, " says Keyserling elsewhere in the book which
we have already quoted, "is one of the most stupendous
phenomena I know of. It does not m e a n lack of interest,
nor lack of anything whatever: it means blind
e x i s t e n c e . "4S
Mackay intertwines his anthropology w i t h his
understanding of Latin A m e r i c a n c u l t u r e . Demonstrating a
vast knowledge of Latin A m e r i c a n literature in his own book
That Other A m e r i c a , Mackay creatively describes Latin
American culture using the images of peaks, caverns, and
smoking craters. Peaks por t r a y the beauty, success, and
majesty of L a t i n America's geography and cultures. Caverns
depict the terrible side of the continent. Smoking craters
describe the political turmoil in many of the countries.
His descriptions of peaks reaffirm! Mackay's
characterization of the Iberian and European influence on
the Latin A m e rican person. As he describes the caverns of
the Latin A m erican culture, however, he negatively drops the
4SMackay, That Other A m e r i c a , 69, 70. Mackay's

description of the Amerindian "congenital indifferentism"
coincides with North A me r i c a n literature regarding people of
mixed race. See Frederick Pike, The U nited States and Latin
America: Myths and Stereotypes of Civilization and Nature
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992), 39-57. However,
during the 1920s Pike identifies an attitude of adoption
towards Amerindians and Latin Americans influenced by the
romantic literature of the period that does not fit Mackay's
interpretation. Pike, 235-246.
103
reader into the selva. [wilderness/forest] .47 He quotes
extensively from. Keyserling's book South American
Meditations on Hell and Heaven in the Soul of Man which
underlines the primitive character of the Latin American
reality. M a c k a y summarizes Keyserling's description of the
continent:
The theory of Keyserling. . . is that both physical and

human nature in South America are of this elemental,
cavernous quality. He calls it "the continent of the
Third D a y of creation." Here all life belongs to the
stage in which the cold blood of the reptile prevailed.
To immerse oneself in South American reality
signifies... to suffer a disintegration of one's total
personality, to sense life at a lower level than blood,
and to see everything from the point of view of
earth.48
Mackay agrees with Keyserling's theory and admits that this
"earthy" reality is common to most Latin Americans. Mackay
concedes,
Still more is this true of Latin American nature as a

whole, whether in its Argentine or Mexican expression.
But for that very reason, contemporary Latin America is
in a remarkable degree a micr o c o s m of the basic
problems of human nature and of the world today. It is,
at the same time, because of the very elemental and
inchoate condition in which we find it, the part of the
world w h i c h offers the largest possibilities of
spiritual formation.49
That Other America includes five "caverns" that shape
Latin American culture and reality. They are cultural
47Mackay uses the category of wilderness to describe

the pejorative elements of the Latin American person. Pike
demonstrates the wide use of this category.
48Ibid., 58.
49Ibid., 59.
104
primitivism, 50 economic feudalism,51 ethical naturalism, 52
congenital indif ferentism,53 and spiritual escapism.54
Cultural primitivism deplores the superstitious character
and fanaticism of the Latin American culture. Mackay blames
this "backwardness" on the people's lack of education and
cultural exploitation by "an unscrupulous priesthood who
have done nothing to end the reign of night."55 He also
argues that violence in Latin American governments is the
necessary result of this cultural background.
Economic feudalism "is a social situation that is in no
small degree responsible for perpetuating the cultural
status quo in many parts of the continent" and "offers the
most favorable soil for communism. "5S The exploitation and
abuse by her landlords and powerful people create a
devastating cycle of violence and poverty that threatens the
future of democratic governments in the region. At the same
time, Mackay recognizes the complicity of North American
industries in promoting this economic lifestyle. He claims,
North American industrial concerns must bear a large
50Ibid. , 60-62.
S1lbid. , 62-65.
“ Ibid., 65-69.
“ Ibid., 69-73.
S4Ibid. , 73-76.
“ Ibid., 60.
56
Ibid., 62.
105
share of responsibility for the economic situation
obtaining today in m a n y countries in Latin America,
especially in the Caribbean area. Some of these
concerns have shown a very real interest in their
employees, but the conditions u n d e r which they have to
operate within our present economic order, and the fact
that most of the m oney earned is spent abroad, have
caused a blight in m a n y a fair region of Puerto Rico,
Cuba and the lands of Central America.57
The relationship of ethics, geography, and m i s s i o n
theology in the world missionary m ovement affect Mackay's
description of the third cavern--ethical naturalism.58 He
connects ethical naturalism to "the m a n who is p rimarily
flesh and of the earth."59 Ethical naturalism "turns out to
be in m a n y instances purely reflex action, that is to say,
action produced by a natural response to stimuli."60 Mackay
describes this condition in terms of morality.
The absence of external moral standards and sanctions,

whether in tradition or in current life, and the still
more tragic absence of a spiritual absolute in thought,
have earned for Latin America the titles of the
"continente a-moral" and the "continente a- m e t a f i s i c o,"
that is, the continent that is lacking in b o t h a moral
sense and a spiritual principle.61
He refers to Latin American attitudes toward sexuality to
S7Ibid. , 64-65.
S8For a discussion of the relationship among ethics,

geography, and mission theology in the world missionary
movement see chapter one of this dissertation; G u s t a v
Warneck, Outline of a History of Protestant Missions (New
York: Fleming H. Revell, 1903) , 345 - 360 and Charles Taber,
The World is Too Much With Us 36-53, 121-130.
59I b i d . , 65. See also Mackay, The Other Spanish C h r i s t .

12-16.
S0Mackay, That Other A m e r i c a . 65-66.
61Ibid.
106
sustain his a r g u m e n t .
We cannot, of course, discount racial factors and the

recognized demoralizing influence of the tropics. But
chief among the causes of the p r e v a i l i n g attitude
towards sex are two. First, the traditional religious
leaders in Latin America have n e v e r taken a decided
stand against sexual immorality; they have condoned it
too easily and they have themselves too frequently set
an example of moral laxity. Secondly, youth have
imbibed, especially from French sources, a subtle
philosophy of life which glorifies expression and even
suggests the unethical, not to speak of the anti-
hygienic, consequences of contingency.62
The fourth cavern, cogenital indifferentism, negates
any Latin American interest in "the d e e p e r values of
life."63 Mackay holds the Roman Catholic Church responsible
for fostering this cultural trait. He writes,
Thoughtful students of the situation attribute this

religious indifferentism on the p a r t of the multitudes
throughout the continent to the failure of the Roman
catholic [sic] church [sic] hitherto to justify
religion intellectually and ethically in the minds of
serious people. This church in latin [sic] American
lands has a most unsavory, a most cavernous, record.64
Spiritual escapism, the final cavern, is "a flight from
reality."65 Mackay refers to Luis Alberto Sanchez' novel
62Ibid., 67. "American Arielists from the 1890s to the

1930s" believed that "men of education and ability and even of
inherited traditions h ad some special responsibility for
maintaining [society's] standards." Likewise, Mackay tackles
the elite with no mercy and points to their lack of ethical
standards in the development of the continent's spiritual and
moral being. In this case, he goes against the intellectual
current of his time. Pike, The Un i t e d States aad Latin
America. 198.
63Mackay, That Other A m e r i c a , 69. See also footnote 46

above.
64Ibid., 71.
“ Ibid., 73.
107
America: Novela sin Novelistas fAmerica: a Novel Without
Novelists 1 to describe this spiritual condition. People in
this state lack a sense of the present "because there has
been a shrinking from the eternal."66 The lack of a correct
attitude towards the eternal unites "present, past and
future in a n overarching bow of buoyant faith."67
The image of smoking craters compares two explosive
situations in the Latin American politics and explores the
role of religion in them. Mackay compares the Mexican
Revolution with the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana
[Popular Revolutionary Alliance of America or A P R A movement]
in Peru. Haya de la Torre, a personal friend of Mackay and a
frequent writer in the CCLA journal La Nueva D e m o c r a c i a , was
APRA's most eloquent representative.
Mackay declares the necessity of both political
revolutions and asserts that they mark a crucial turning
point in the political life of the continent. He agrees with
the democratic and liberal character of the leaders, the
agrarian reforms that both movements advocate, and their
proposed separation of church and state. He is well aware of
the conflicts and political turmoil involved i n these
movements as well as the obstacles to be overcome for their
success.
Mackay is not uncritical of the Mexican Revolution. He
66Ibid.
67Ibid., 75.
108
identifies the exclusive materialistic character of the
rulers to date as a critical problem. Positivism defines
this materialistic character, which differs from the
historical materialism of Marxist polit i c a l philosophy.
Positivism's anti-religious attitude undermines the spirit
of all Latin Americans. Mackay argues that "it is the
absence of a spiritual conception of m a n that is the central
weakness of the Mexican revolution."58 Exclusive
materialism means living "entirely on the plane of the
horizontal"69 with the revolution as the only objective.70
Mackay believes the A P R A movement to be politically
realistic and ethically sound.
It keeps a window open towards the et e r n a l . By doing

so, its revolutionary influence will be profounder and
more permanent. It is as anti-clerical as the Mexican
movement is, but it is not anti-religious.71
The spiritual dimension in the APRA movement embodies the
hope "which points the way to new conditions of living and
to a new type of [Latin American] personality."72
The Christ of Christendom and Mackay's Missionary Proposal
Mackay's examination of Latin America's religious
legacy from the colonial era (1492) to the 1930s is
S8Ibid. , 100.
69Ibid. , 115.
70Ibid.
71Ibid., 115-116.
72Ibid. , 116.
109
poignant. The history of the evangelization during this
period troubles him most. He denounces the abuse and
exploitation of the Amerindians and even accuses the Jesuits
of manipulating the Amerindians in Paraguay for their own
interest. He does make an exception with Bartolome de Las
Casas w h o m he names an anti-conquistador a n d a defender of
the A m e r i n d i a n s .
In his examination of religious practices in Latin
America during the colonial period, Mackay argues that the
evangelization and religious practices of the time degrade
true religious experience. For example, he contends that
religious festivals in Latin America do not guide the people
towards religious ends, but rather "accentuate in the people
their original superstitions."73 Mackay explains,
Fr o m b eing a tremendous crusading p o w e r imposing its

rites and tenets upon indigenous races b y fair means or
foul, religion sank by swift degrees into a magical
means of obtaining what could not be secured in the
ordinary w a y s . Christ and the Virgin became
regionalized, and were g iven significant titles
according to some special grace or b e n e f i t associated
w i t h their numberless i m a g e s . The saints began to take
first place in the popular religious consciousness,
b e coming patrons of individual as well as collectives
d e s i r e s .74
A l though Mackay's missiological assessment is critical
of the Jesuits, he does not deplore everything about Roman
Catholicism. He writes about a priest in the early
nineteenth century called Juan Ignacio Gorriti whose story
73Mackay, The Other Spanish C h r i s t . 52.
74Ibid. , 53.
110
resembles popular understandings of Martin L u t h e r . 75
According to Mackay, Gorriti emphasized "the habit of
reading the Gospels and meditation upon the maxims they
contain"75 as a method of moral education. G o r r i t i also
"honoured Protestant practices of family worship and Sabbath
observances.1,77 Mackay uses Gorriti's writings to locate
the strength of Protestantism in the family.
The good man [Gorriti] puts his finger u p o n the

spiritual source of Protestantism's strengths in its
best d a y s : family religion, a family a l t a r and a family
Bible. South American religion has n e v e r possessed
either, from the time of the Conquest to the present
day. The concentration of religion in a chapel and of
Christ in a material substance [eucharist? crucifix?]
has robbed the home of the real Presence.78
Mackay also expresses appreciation for the Roman
Catholic Church in Latin America for its current
missiological changes. "De-Christianized" attitudes of the
educated people influenced b y positivism, liberalism, and
Protestant missionary wor k all combined to convince the
Roman Catholic Church of the need to change its emphasis.
Many of these changes in mission began under the influence
of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) .
These Roman Catholic missionary activities include the
Catholic Youth Movements, w h i c h emerge out of a concern
75Ibid., 64-65.
75Ibid., 65.
77Ibid.
78Ibid., 66.
Ill
about national identity, social stability, traditionalism,
and political power.79 The Cardinal Ferrari Movement is
another aspect of a changing missiological e m p h a s i s . This
movement "is directed chiefly towards the conversion of
people living outside the ordinary ministrations of the
Church."80 The Ferrari Movement encourages and organizes
cultural activities, especially for the elite, w h i c h promote
family values, women's issues and concerns, and Scripture
reading.81 All of the above renewal movements and
organizations related to the modern cultural influences in
the continent w i t h an attitude of toleration.
The Roman Catholic Church also relies on n e o
scholasticism for r e n e w a l . This return to the Scholastic
method of the Middle Ages uses Aquinas as a primary
theological resource. Mackay's judges the neo-scholastic
movement, based on the weekly magazine Criterio [Criterion] ,
saying, " [I]t resolves itself simply into a fanatical
defence, not so m uch of the Catholic faith as of the Roman
Catholic institution. 1,82
Just as Mackay's anthropology relies on Iberian and
Southern European sources, so does his description of Latin
American religious v a l u e s , particularly concerning the image
79Ibid., 78-81.
80Ibid. , 82.
81Ibid. , 83-84.
82Ibid. , 86.
112
of Christ.83
It might be said, in general terms, that the Christ who

became naturalized, in South A m e r i c a is the Christ who
was born in Tangiers, the Christ of popular religious
tradition in Spain. It would be an interesting study to
consider how far religious life in S o u t h America has
been a simple prolongation of the religious life of
Spain and Portugal, and ho w far it is different; how
far the Creole Christ is a simple replica of the
Spanish Christ and in what respects He has been
modified.84
Mackay's appraisal of the Creole Christ has three
dimensions. The first dimension asserts that the Creole
Christ lacks true humanity. Mackay claims that Latin
American religious culture limits Christ's image to his
infancy or "to the role of a suffering a n d bleeding
victim.1185 This reduction of Christ's life condones a
patronizing attitude whi c h serves as an "emotional safety
valve," while it disregards Christ's ethical
significance.86
Mackay vehemently attacks this interpretation of
Christ. He claims that Christ's "teachings have never bee n
made a rule of life nor the most impressive aspects of His
conduct become an inspiration for living."87 This lack of
emphasis on Christ's earthly life isolates Christ from the
83Ibid. , 93-109.
84Ibid. , 110 .
8SIbid.
86Ibid., 111 .
87Ibid., 112 .
113
problems a n d struggles of daily existence.
The second dimension of Mackay's critique claims that
Latin Americans discard the theological implications of
Christ's resurrection and sovereignty over all affairs in
life.88 M a c k a y argues that the Creole Christ has been
domesticated and reduced to a pathetic symbol of weakness
and misery.89 The people have a "Christ... who becomes lost
to life b y a process of dehumanization [and] is later
restored as a fetish."90 Consequently, the image of the
suffering a n d dying Christ overshadows the vision of a
resurrected Lord. Mackay underscores how this Christological
understanding perpetuates the " [V] irgin [as] the real
divinity of popular religion. The Trinity crowns her and the
saints lead up to her."91 He contends,
A most extraordinary thing has happened [referring to

popular Christology] . Christ has lost prestige as a
helper in the affairs of life. He lives in virtual
banishment, while the Virgin and the saints are daily
approached for life's necessities.92
To p rove his argument, Mackay describes various
examples in which Christ has been domesticated and reduced
to a particular c o n t e x t . He refers to images of Christ in
Lima, Peru, named El Senor del Sepulcro [The Lord of the
88Ibid. , 112.
89I b i d . , 113.
90Ibid.
91Ibid. , 112-113.
92Ibid. , 112.
114
Sepulchre] , El Senor de los Mila.gros [The L ord of the
Miracles] , El Senor de Lurin [The Lord of Lurin] and the
worship of the Sacred Heart, common in all L a t i n America.
In addition to its presence in religious practices and
celebrations, this image of a domesticated Christ also
occurs in people's everyday jargon. Mackay comments,
Perhaps nowhere in the world does there exist so

terrifying a phrase, so darkly luminous a phrase, as
that used b y an average Argentine when he wants to say
about somebody or other that he is a p o o r bedraggled
human, a piece of sub-humanity from w hom nothing is to
be expected. "Es un pobre C r i s t o ", he says, "He is a
poor Christ." When the central figure of Christianity
is associated in the popular m i n d with one whose
fateful career ended utterly at the foot of the
cross, . . . we realize how unnatural it w o u l d be for a
progressive and socially minded young m a n to link
either message or life-transforming power to the figure
of the Crucified.93
Through all of these examples, Mackay points to the
people's obsession with Christ's death and suffering, to the
miracles attributed to these Christs, and to the magic found
in his name. His assessment remains that these Christs do
not convey the true Christ, "Jesus, the Saviour from sin and
the Lord of all l i f e ."
The third dimension of Mackay's critique of the Creole
Christ leaves the descriptive arena and attempts some
constructive theological work. He writes,
The special qualities of Christ requiring to receive

greatest emphasis in South American lands to-day cannot
be symbolized by His h e a r t . Their best symbol would be
His eyes, those apocalyptic eyes which could blaze on
occasion like a "flame of fire"... It is the Christ of
93Mackay, That Other America. 128-129.
115
the whip and not the Christ of the Sacred Heart that
South America needs to be confronted [sic] .94
Mackay does not clarify the meaning of these symbols [heart
and e y e s ] , but advocates for a Christology which fosters
inward spiritual experience and an outward ethical
expression; a confrontation with the culture.95
Mackay's analysis of religious life i n Latin America is
not limited to popular Christian expressions or to a
critique of the Roman Catholic Church. He also analyzes
contemporary social forms and their influences on religious
affairs. Although his conclusions about h o w much religious
influence each of these social forces generates v a r y from
movement to movement, he remains engaged in critical
theological conversation with them, regardless of their
religious inclination.96
Mackay bases his analysis of religious life in Latin
America on three overarching observations. First, he
acknowledges a growing hunger among the Latin America elite
to integrate an inward spiritual experience with social
responsibility and morality. Yet, he points out that many
social movements attempt to replace religious sentiments and
practices with rationalistic, positivistic, and romantic
94Mackay, The Other Spanish Christ. 116.
9SIbid., 122.
96Ibid., 159-230; Mackay, That Other A m e r i c a . 117-140.
116
ideals.97 The m o d e m world v i e w requires the elimination of
superstition and popular religious p r a c t i c e s . It avoids the
restraints imposed b y a religion (and a state) which deny
human liberties and progress.98 At the same time, Mackay
argues that m a n y of these movements do not achieve the
aspirations or ethical expectations they promise and create
an existential crisis in the followers.
Mackay also confronts other religious proposals growing
in the continent. Under the heading of "The Lure of the
Esoteric," he describes, analyzes, and confronts
Spiritualism (Kardecian Spiritualism) and Theosophy.99 He
perceives them as deceptive, but indicative of a spiritual
need among the people. These observations thus ratify his
missiology. The religious fervor in Latin A m e r i c a is a sign
of opportunity for the evangelization of the continent.
The third principle observation is ecumenical in scope
and demonstrates Mackay's knowledge, appreciation, and
openness to Latin American literature. M a c k a y finds allies
for his religious critique and Protestant proposal for the
"Mackay's discussion of positivism best illustrates this

analysis, The Other Spanish Christ. 167-170.
"Mackay, The Other Spanish Ch r i s t . 164-165.
"Mackay's discussion of Theosophy includes an ardent

critique of the influence of Asian religious thought in
Latin America, particularly that of the H i n d u theosophist
and philosopher, J i n a r a j a d a s a . He discusses in detail
Jinarajadasa's lectures published under the title Dioses en
Cadena [Gods in Chains] . Ibid., 177-188; particularly pp.
182-186.
117
continent in Gabriela Mistral, Jose Zorrilla de San Martin,
Ricardo Rojas, and Julio Navarro M o n z o .100 All of these
writers are from, a Roman Catholic background and proclaim
themselves Christ i a n s . Mackay's missiological proposal
incorporates the following concerns they voice: (1) Latin
America needs a renewal of its Christian faith; (2) the
present religious and social transitions in Latin America
represent an opportunity for the continent to move forward
and take a prominent place in world affairs; (3) the
continent needs to re-discover in the image of Christ a
source of ethical inspiration for life; and (4) Christianity
needs to become a social force that enhances democracy and
progress in all dimensions of life.
Mackay's words regarding Rojas' b o o k El Cristo
Invisible [The Invisible Christ] apply to each of these
writers and to their contributions to the renewal of
Christianity in the continent.
In this regard its significance and value are simply

incalculable. It inaugurates a n e w and more Christian
South American letters, and has done more than any
other volume to stimulate interest in Christ and the
B i b l e .103-
100Gabriela Mistral visited the headquarters of the CCLA

in the 1930s. The specific date is unavailable, though there
are minutes of a meeting with her in N e w York City.
Furthermore, Samuel Guy Inman will also refer to her in his
book America Revolucionaria (Madrid: Ediciones Morata,
1933), 203. Ibid., 199-230.
101I b i d . , 207.
118
Samuel Guy Inman
Samuel Guy Inman, an ordained m i n i s t e r of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) , was the executive secretary of
the CCLA from its creation until 1940, w h e n Stanley Ryncroft
succeeded him. Inman wrote prolifically and m a n y considered
him to be an expert on Panamericanism, a n d in particular on
the historical and political consequences of the United
States' foreign policy in Latin America. His book, Problems
in Panamericanism102 contains his major concern and
passion:
. . . to help us [the people of the Un i t e d States]

magnify the good qualities of our neighbors [Latin
Americans] and scrutinize carefully our own bad
qualities as the best policy for b u i l d i n g
international, as it is for bui l d i n g personal
friendships .103
Inman takes upon himself the responsibility to
articulate a religious perspective for the Panamerican
Movement.104 In search of renewed Panamerican dreams in
both Latin America and the United States, he develops a
102Samuel G. Inman, Problems in Panamericanism (New

York: George H. Doran Company, 1921).
103Ibid., vi.
104For a detailed history of the Panamerican Movement

see Wade Crawford Barclay, Greater Good Neighbor Policy
(Chicago: Willett, Clark and Co., 1945); Earl T. Glauert and
Lester D. Langley, The United States and. Latin America (MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1971); Joseph Byrne Lockey, Essays in
Panamericanism (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1939); Herbert L. Matthews, The United States and Latin
America (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1959) . Nicolas
Roosevelt, Wanted: Good Neighbors: The N e e d for Closer
Ties with Latin America (New York: The National Foreign
Trade Council, 1939).
119
theology of international friendship w i t h i n the circle of
the CCLA and its Christian Conferences. Inman's theology of
international friendship constitutes another dimension of
the CCLA's missiological discourse. I r e l y on the following
books written b y Samuel Inman to present his thought:
Christian Cooperation in Latin America (1917), Problems in
Panamericanism (1921) , Ventures in Inter-American Friendship
(1925) , and America Revolucionaria (1933) .
A New Missiological Foundation
In agreement with Speer and Mackay, Inman discovers "an
unprecedented opportunity for enlarging"105 the Protestant
work in the continent. He identifies two factors that
demonstrate this opportunity. First, Inman perceives a
change in the attitudes of the Latin A m e r i c a n elite
regarding religion. Suspicion and cynicism about religion
erode as the liberal elite of the continent look to religion
a source for moral guidance and character.105
Second, Inman identifies in Latin Americans "a changing
attitude toward North America."107 He mentions the
developing friendship between the two c o n t i n e n t s ,
particularly in the area of commerce, and notes that the
105Samuel G. Inman, Christian Cooperation in Latin

America (New York: Committee on Cooperation in Latin
America, 1917), 6.
105Ibid.
107Ibid., 7.
120
United States is gradually changing its own "attitude toward
the Latin-American peoples from jingoism to a real sympathy
and appreciation."108
In the area of commerce, Inman describes Latin America
as f o l l o w s :
During- the War these countries b egan to make a most

determined effort to develop their own resou r c e s , to
di versify their crops, and to manufacture their own
g o o d s ... It is doubtful if anywhere else in the world
the g o o d results of the World War were so preponderant
over the evil as here. These nations, said b y Ugarte a
few years ago to be o n "the margin of international
life, " have gained b y the War a definite place at the
council table of the n a t i o n s . The w o r l d at large has a
new appreciation of them, both for what they are and
for w hat they may b e c o m e . 109
The changing conditions in the economic and commercial
areas create changes in the social conditions of the
countries. Inman describes the changes in the social fabric
of the L a t i n American continent in the following way:
Formerly there were o n l y two classes, the rich and the

poor, the highly educated and the illiterate. While
that condition existed there was little hope for the
solution of South America's many social and political
p r o b l e m s . With the gradual development of the middle
class, w i t h the introduction of a new consciousness of
their rights among the laboring people, and with a new
appreciation of social problems b y the educated
classes, most of which came about during and after the
World War, there is a break up of the old fixed castes,
and today the social system of South America is in
solution.110
108I b i d . , 11.
109Inman, Ventures in Inter-American Friendship (New

York: Missionary Education Movement of the U.S. and Canada,
1925), 68, 69.
110I b i d . , 70.
121
These economic and social changes became the foundation for
promoting friendship among the two c o n t i n e n t s . Latin Ame r i c a
was seen b y the U.S. to be a continent rich with
opportunities and possibilities for significant social and
economic growth.
Evidently, Inman begins his interamerican missiology
with very different arguments than those presented b y Speer.
Rather than focusing o n the problems and deficiencies of the
Latin American people and countries, Inman identifies the
signs of hope in the economic and social development of the
continent. This approach seems to minimize the asymmetry
which characterized missionary work during this period. In
fact, Inman opposes the Protestant literature which
emphasizes the problems of Latin America as the main
justification for missionary activity.111 "Opportunities"
becomes the underpinning term of his missiological
discourse.
This missiological foundation gives new nuances to the
discourse of the CCLA. Instead of using "church" or
"religious" arguments to justify Protestant missionary work,
Inman interprets the social and political changes in the
continent as challenges for both the North American
missionaries and Latin American Protestants. He argues.
11:LInman, Ventures in Inter-American Friendship. 114-

119; Christian Cooperation in Latin A m e r i c a , 12. This is
also illustrated in the outline of Inman's book, Problems in
Panamericanism, 15-96.
122
In Latin America, missionaries and diplomats from the

same countries have seldom had any relations, and too
often mutually regard one another as difficulties in
the way of promoting international f r i e n d s h i p . Wha t is
having a more vital influence in shaping character than
the present economic and commercial movements? Oft e n
the very men who are planting these new commercial
enterprises are the ones from whom we expect the
financial support which will sustain the mission work.
Yet there is too often a feeling that the two
activities are entirely without relationship. We must
recognize that great economic and political movements
often remove difficulties and open doors that the
missionary propaganda had worked in v a i n for man y years
to accomplish.112
Inman indicts the Latin American churches when he says that
"[T]he Evangelical movement in Latin America has so far felt
few of the powerful lessons which the world war [sic] is
t e a c h i n g ."
Inman's missiological foundation is critical for his
interamerican missiology. He wrestles to enter the
missiological conversation on mutual terms, minimizing the
advantages and disadvantages of both c o n t i n e n t s . For h i m the
"common ground" between the Americas is not found in the
traditional missiological discourse described above. The
"common ground" is made up of the multiple "opportunities"
that face the United States and Latin America at this
particular historical juncture.
112Inman, Christian Cooperation in Latin A m e r i c a . 170.

For the Spanish version of these arguments see Inman,
America Revolucionaria (Madrid: Javier Morata, 1932), 190-
206.
123
"Bases for Friendship:"113 Religious Panamericanism or
Interamerican Missiolocry
Inman's "Bases for Inter-American friendship"114
broadens and goes beyond the scope of traditional missionary
work in Latin America. He proposes a socio-political venture
for the elite communities of both continents which
challenges the traditional missionary e ndeavor in Latin
America. However, the ecclesiological component of Inman's
proposal became problematic for the CCLA members, and this
may be the reason why the CCLA dropped Inman's
missiology115 soon after he was replaced b y Ryncroft in
1940.
Inman's first principle for inter-american friendship
is equality,-116 and the weight of the responsibility is on
the shoulders of the North American people, for " [T] here is
nothing that quite aggravates the Latin A m e r i c a n so much as
the patronizing attitude w h i c h is often a ssumed toward him
113Inman, Ventures in Inter-American F r i e n d s h i p . 121.
114Ibid, 121-143.
115In 1940 the CCLA revised its missiology, dropping

Inman's inter-american missiological proposal. Stanley
Ryncroft and John Mackay prioritized the new evangelistic
agenda. The following statement reveals the change: "Perhaps
Protestantism has over-stressed the institutional approach
in its missionary endeavours, though few w o u l d contend that
evangelical schools and hospitals should be closed down. At
the same time people wish to know what evangelical
Christianity [sic] means a n d if it really has the answer to
life's pressing problems a n d baffling situations." Minutes
of the Annual Meeting of the CCLA, October 23, 1941.
11SInman, Ventures in Inter-american F r i e n d s h i p . 121-

124.
124
[sic] .1,117 Attitudes of superiority and arrogance need to
be eliminated as inter-american friendship is only possible
when N orth Americans recognize the uniqueness and equality
of the Latin American culture.
Moreover, this principle applies to the area of U.S.
foreign policy. Inman criticizes the quality of people hired
for diplomatic and consular p o s t s .
We n e e d real representatives of the United States in

our diplomatic and consular posts, those who speak the
language and think the thoughts of the people among
whom t hey live and typify in their own personal lives
all that is best in morality, sympathy, culture a nd
idealism in the life of their own country.118
He indicts the U.S. government, particularly the State
Department, for its choice of personnel.
With certain notable exceptions, the Latin American

Section of the State Department has been officered by
men wh o lack the qualifications, training and prestige
for such an important position, m e n who are inferior in
culture and in knowledge of international affairs to
the diplomats from the various southern countries with
whom they come into c o n t a c t .119
However, for Inman the crucial watchguard for equality
is public opinion. He argues,
The Uni t e d States is probably the only democratic

government in the world where the people have no w a y of
following our dealings with other nations. The
Department of State and the N a v y m a y control the
government of a little Caribbean country for years and
this b e the talk of the rest of America and Europe,
without the people of the United States knowing about
it, unless political rivalries shall force its
117Ibid., 121.
118Inman, Problems in Panam e r i c a n i s m . 378.
119Ibid. , 379.
125
discussion or b r i n g about a congressional
investigation. Th e activities of the Department of
State and of the Navy, as they ref e r to the smaller
neighboring countries, where it is so easy for a great
powerful nation to assume a dictatorial policy, should
be open and subject to public judgement at all times.
The reforming of our Department of Foreign Relations to
insure open diplomacy is one of the greatest needs of
our political organization, if wha t we actually do in
our relations wi t h the small nations under our shadow
is to be representative of the nati o n itself.120
The second principle or "base" for inter-american
friendship is the rig h t o f self-expression. Inman begins his
argument b y affirming a cultural difference,
South Americans will not express themselves in

theological organization, in their political life, in
their social reform, or in their moral emphasis exactly
as North Americans have expressed themselves. This does
not m e a n that they will not make their special
contributions to all these realms of life.121
He develops the argument using the voices of Latin American
politicians, educators and writers,122 ther e b y embodying
the principle itself. Quoting Gabriela Mistral, Inman
writes,
The friendship of the different peoples sought by the

Pan-American U n i o n would be easily attained if we were
all imbued, to the farthest limit of consciousness,
with the concept of dissimilarity without
inferiori t y .123
The third principle is advocacy o f liberty o f thought.
Inman promotes and affirms the recent emergence of liberals
120I b i d ., 379-380.
121Inman, Ventures in Inter-american F riendship. 125.
122He quotes Gabriela Mistral and a Mr. Nebuco, a

Brazilian ambassador to the United States, among others.
123Ibid., 126.
126
in the political life of the Latin A merican continent. This
principle will end with what "has been said about
conservatism, fanaticism, and dictatorships in Latin
A m e r i c a ."124
The fourth principle is the sacrifice o f institutional
life for its own sake. Inman claims that "any ecclesiastical
organization which involves clergy, a professionalism of
life and preaching, arouses suspicion"125 a m o n g the Latin
American people. Therefore,
The sacrifice of the institutional life for the purpose

of serving the people, the placing of the real needs of
a Christian p r o g r a m before denominational pride, is
absolutely necessary if North American Christians are
to win friendship of South American liberals.125
He also identifies the missiological problems inherent
to the Protestant missionary activity of the time. He argues
that " [T] he persistency of denominationalism. . .is one of the
strange anomalies of the missionary situation in South
America today."127 Inman knows that Latin Americans
recognize this [institutional evangelism] and are often

suspicious of it as fish get suspicious of the b a i t .
They [Latin Americans] have had long years of watching
jesuitical methods and have become exceedingly w a r y of
service rendered which means the contracting of certain
obligations .128
124Ibid., 125.
125Ibid., 129.
125Ibid. , 131.
127Ibid. , 13 0-131.
128
Ibid., 130.
127
The f ifth principle is an Improvement: o f the whole
North Am e r i c a n impact on S o u t h American life. Inman
advocates fo r a coordinated effort in the economic,
political a n d missionary activities in the continent. Latin
Americans n e e d to see and experience consistency and
integrity i n the overall p resence of North American
institutions and programs.129
The sixth and final princ i p l e is a larg-er emphasis on
the sviri tual side of Interamerican r e l a t i o n s.130 Inman
describes this principle,
We n e e d a number of spiritual ambassadors going up and

down this America of ours, cultivating understanding
and friendship by interpreting to all the people the
great truth that God has made of one b l o o d all the
nations and has called each and every one to make its
own particular contribution to the w ork of the
world.131
Inman's inter-american missiology is critical of the
traditional assumptions of m i s s i o n a r y work during this
period. As stated above, he begins his work b y identifying
the "opportunities of the continent" in a favorable way. He
tries to construct a missio l o g y which is inter-cultural, a
missiology w h i c h engages b o t h of the protagonists in the
missionary endeavor. Inman knows the history of U.S. and
Latin A m erican relations. H e builds his arguments on this
129 Ibid., 134-135. This topic is developed further in

the section b e l o w on the Christian Congresses, particularly
the Montevideo Congr e s s .
130Ibid., 136. Emphasis is Inman's.
131Ibid. , 140.
128
history.
Still, Inman's missiology is apprehensive about the
institutional character of the church. Furthermore, his
missiology is geared toward the liberals of Latin American,
a socio-political affinity132 with the elite of the time.
The CCLA Concrresses: Panama, Montevideo and Havana
The congresses of the CCLA are the integrating factor
for the missiology of the CCLA. Some of the declarations and
reports of these congresses show the influence of Speer,
Mackay, and Inman. However, these declarations and reports
are the result of an effort to make the CCLA's missiology
uniquely North American and Latin American--a truly inter-
cultural missiology.
One of the interesting outcomes of m y investigation was
to discover that the CCLA took the initiative of publishing
reports in English, Portuguese and Spanish. In most cases,
the CCLA provided the official reports and an interpretation
of the different congresses to its constituency (see Table
132Weber uses the concept of "elective affinity" to

express the relationship between ideas and interests, Max
Weber, From M ax W e b e r , tanslated by H. H. Gerth and C.
Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), 62-
63; 284-286 and M a x Weber, The Sociology of Religion
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1922), 82-94. Jean Pierre Bastian in
his books, Historia del Protestantismo en AmericaLatina
(Mexico: CUPSA, 1990) and Protestantes. liberales. y
francomasones: Sociedades de ideas y modernidad en America
Latina, sicrlo XIX (Mexico: CEHILA y Fondo de Cultura
Economica, 1990) uses Weber's concept to explain the role of
Protestants in the Mexican society. Inman's interamerican
friendship can be interpreted within this concept.
129
3) -
This section compares these reports and
interpretations, trying to find the similarities and
differences between them. Furthermore, the comparative
approach allows me to begin to explore the impact of
pluritopic hermeneutics in the missiological discourse of
the CCLA.
Table 3. Reports o f the CCLA's Congresses

Congress CCLA's U.S. Report Latin American
(Place Official Interpretation Report
and Report for U.S. Interpretation
Year) (Title) Context for L.A.
(Author and Context
Title) (Author and
Title)
Christian Work Harlan P . Erasmo B r a g a ,
Panama, in Beach, Pan-
1916 Latin America Renaissant Americanismo:
Latin America Aspecto
Relicrioso
Portuguese and
Spanish
Christian Work
Montevideo, in no report no report
1925 South America
Gonzalo
Evancrel i cal s Samuel G. Baez-Camargo,
H a vana, at Havana Inman, Hacia la
1929 Evancrelicals Renovacion
at Reliaiosa en
Havana Hisoanoamerica
Panama, 1916
Panama Congress (1916) was a direct result of the
exclusion of Latin America from Edinburgh (1910) and from
13 0
the Conference on Missions in Latin America (1913) . The
three-volume official report of the Panama Congress, held.
from February 10 to 20, 1916,133 reveals that the Committee
(1) sought to reiterate the ecumenical spirit that
characterized Edinburgh (1910) among the different
missionary boards and agencies in Latin America, and (2)
wanted to develop a missiology for the Latin American
continent.134 The report stated,
The Congress was peculiarly fortunate in being guided

throughout the ten days b y men whose large experience,
acquired at many similar gatherings, was given
unstintedly to the Congress, as it faced m a n y most
delicate and difficult problems involved in the un i t i n g
for a common Christian service in Latin America. .
13 S
The organization and p r o g r a m of the Panama Congress
(1916) was similar to that of Edinburgh (1910) . The Congress
appointed eight commissions w h i c h dealt with the following
themes: (1) Exploration and Occupation; (2) Proclamation and
Method; (3) Education; (4) Publications; (5) Women; (6) The
Church in the Missionary Setting; (7) The Sending Churches;
and (8) Cooperation and the Promotion of Unity.
The Congress' representation was mainly North American,
133Committee on Cooperation in Latin America. Report on

the Congress on Christian W o r k in Latin America, Panama.
1916, Volumes 1-3, (New York City: The M issionary Education
M o vement, 1917).
134Ibid. , 1, 3-13.
13SIbid. , 28.
131
with, some representation from England, Spain and Italy.136
There w ere only four Latin Americans at the C ongress. The
official language of the Congress was English137 and the
official reports were written in English. The CCLA, however,
decided to publish a Latin Amer i c a n report138--discussed in
Chapter Six--and a North A merican "interpretation of the
Congress."139 Only four Latin Americans were present at the
Panama Congress (1916) .14°
I identify four basic proposals that shape the
missiological discourse of the CCLA in this C ongress. The
first proposal addressed the challenge of evangelism. The
Congress stated that the missionary and evangelistic
activity needed to be directed to the upper, educated class
of the Latin American society.141 The Congress emphasized a
136Ibid. , 27.
137In his Renaissant Latin A m e r i c a . Beach states that

Spanish and Portuguese were used in the Congress. Braga's
report, Pan-Americanismo: Aspecto R e l i a i o s o , discussed in
Chapter Six, makes no reference to the use of Spanish or
Portuguese at the Congress. Beach, Renaissant Latin A m e r i c a .
14.
138Braga, Erasmo. Pan-Americanismo Aspecto R e l i a i o s o .

Translation from Portuguese to Spanish b y Eduardo
Monteverde, (Nueva York: Sociedad para la Educacion
Misionera en Estados Unidos y Canada, 1917).
139Harlan P. Beach, Renaissant Latin America (New York:

Missionary Educational Movement of the United States and
Canada, 1916).
140Committee on Cooperation, Report on the Congress on

Christian Work in Latin America. P a n a m a . 3, 453-462.
141Ibid, 1, 301-315.
132
method that would encourage a strong a n d healthy
relationship between faith and knowledge, particularly
knowledge in science, history and secular literature.142
The second proposal grappled with theological education
and training. The Congress identified the need to prepare
more nationals for the churches and recommended the creation
of extension programs that would facilitate the theological
preparation of the Latin American Protestants.143 It also
encouraged missional cooperation among the different
missionary agencies and boards to achieve this important
task.
The Congress also surveyed the achievements and
challenges of the public educational system in Latin America
and the mission schools.144 Following the missiological
discourse of the Conference on Missions in Latin America
(see Chapter T w o ) , the Congress continued to provide a
critique of the secular system and suggestions for the
implementation of evangelical values in the educational
system of Latin America.
The third proposal sought to integrate social action
with missionary and evangelistic work. The process of
integrating social action with Christian mission work can be
read throughout the three-volume report. Interestingly, it
142Ibid.
143Ibid, 478-480; 48G, 492-500.
144Ibid. , 378-417.
133
is through this process that the CCLA began to identify
social and cultural movements that could serve as aliados
culturales [cultural allies] in the continent.145 The
Congress' missiological discourse develops a strong Latin
American missiological nuance. It becomes contextualized.
One important example of this process of
contextualization in the Congress' missiological discourse
is the section on Women's Work. Influenced b y Edinburgh
(1910), the Congress recognized the critical contribution of
women's movements around the world. In this respect, the
Congress suggested,
Through this organized influence [world feminist

movements] a new point of view is being brought to bear
on age-long evils, like that of the differing moral
standard for me n and women, the atrocities of war from
the viewpoint of the mothers of the whole of the human
race, a demand for the persistent repression and
ultimate abolition of the social evil and its
inevitable social diseases and other things that
closely affect the welfare of society. . . Believing
that these multiplied organizations of w o m e n are the
modern expression of their efforts for the betterment
and uplift of society, the Commission can, in all good
conscience, recommend t h e m to the women of Latin
America as an effective agency for Christian social
s e r vice.145
The fourth proposal addressed the character of
missionary cooperation and the unity of the Protestant
tradition in the Latin American context. This proposal was
twofold. First, the Congress recommended that the Protestant
145Some of those aliados culturales [cultural allies]

were the women movements, the university students'
organizations, and Latin American labor movements.
14SIbid. , 2, 173-174.
134
missionary forces in Latin Am e r i c a cooperate with.
institutions and agencies--outside of the traditional
missionary organizations--which contribute to the
development and "Christianization" of the continent.147
Second, the Congress also insisted on the cooperation
between missionary organizations, particularly in the areas
of education, Christian literature, distribution of
territory and church discipline and membership.148
The North Am e r i c a n report and interpretation was
written by Harlan P . B e a c h . Beach entitled his report
Renaissant Latin A m e r i c a . T h e report is divided in two
s e c tions. The first section provides a brief account of the
Congress, comparing the results of Edinburgh (1910) with the
Panama Congress (1916). The second section is a description
and interpretation of the reports of the eight c o m m i s s i o n s .
Beach compared Edinburgh (1910) to the Panama Congress
(1916). He stated,
In a word, if the two largest missionary conferences in

recent years are compared, Edinburgh was general,
cosmopolitan, unusually varied in viewpoint a nd
extensive in scope, w hile Panama was specialized,
homogeneous, united and uniform in its objectives and
intensive in its investigations and discussions. .
149
Beach's report and interpretation are discomforting. On
the one hand, he praises the Congress, its findings and the
147Ibid. , 3, 55-64.
148Ibid. , 36-39; 30-33; 21-27; 40-41.
149Renaissant Latin A m e r i c a , 14.
135
quality of work. He assures the reader that this Congress
surpassed the Edinburgh (1910) world missionary conference
and that it marks a new day for Latin America. O n the other
hand, the representation of the Latin American churches,
community and situation is deplorable. For Beach, Latin
America has very little to contribute to its own development
and well-being. The continent and the evangelical churches
need the Protestant missionary endeavor of N o r t h America. In
this respect, Beach's report and interpretation is
inconsistent with the official report.
Beach communicated to the North American constituency
the following understanding of missions (for Latin America)
and of the condition of Latin America and its evangelical
churches,
To bring to these republics [Latin American] the

intelligence without w h i c h democratic institutions
cannot reach their ideals, to impart to the nascent
evangelical communities the Christian knowledge and
training indispensable for their development and proper
leadership, to win the intellectuals to allegiance to
Hi m who is not only the Truth but also the Life, is a
task which will prove also to be Kingdom-making and
will exalt its King.1S0
M ontevideo, 1925
The Montevideo Congress (1925) was held from March 29
to April 8, 1925. The Congress represented a significant
change in the inter-cultural dynamics of the CCLA. The two-
volume official report stated,
150Ibid., 108.
13 6
. . . but at Montevideo the leadership was unmistakably
in the hands of South A m e r i c a n s . The representatives of
the home Boards were to serve and help, b u t the
President and Chair of the Congress was Sr. Erasmo
Braga, of Brazil, the official language w as Spanish...
the reports of the Commissions at Panama w ere printed
in English only and were presented in English, while at
Montevideo they were printed also in Spanish and
Portuguese... all the evening speakers and most of
those who discussed the reports were nationals and used
their national languages. It was clear that the
national churches were coming to their true place.151
The Montevideo Congress (1925) appointed twelve
commissions to study the following areas: (1) Unoccupied
fields; (2) The Amerindians,- (3) Education; (4) Evangelism,-
(5) Social Movements; (6) Health Ministry or Medical
Missions; (7) the Church in the community,- (8) Religious
Education; (9) Literature (10) Relations bet w e e n foreign and
national workers,- (11) Special Religious Problems; and (12)
Cooperation and unity.
Although there was an increase in the L a t i n American
participation and the Congress was chaired b y a Brazilian
leader, the strong influence of the missionary agencies was
evident. The chairs of the commissions were N o r t h American
missionaries or missiologists and very few L a t i n Americans
actually participated in the commissions.152
The Montevideo Congress (1925) kept significant
continuity with the Panama Congress (1916) . It continued to
151Committee on Cooperation in Latin A m e r i c a . Report on

the Congress on Christian Work in South America, Montevideo.
1 (New York/Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1925), 20.
152Ibid. , 11-20.
13 7
identify the need for more missionary work in unoccupied
fields, the challenges in Christian formation and education,
the tensions w i t h the Roman Catholic Church a n d the anti-
religious spirit of the Latin American elite, and the
aliados culturales [cultural allies] in the L a t i n American
society, particularly the labor and student's movements.
On the other hand, new themes were also i ncluded which
moved the CCLA's missiology into a deeper contextualization.
For instance, the Montevideo Congress (1925) addressed
extensively the situation of the Amerindian in South
America. The commission on Amerindians p r o v i d e d a survey
w ith detailed information regarding the social and religious
condition of the Amerindian population in different
countries of South America. This report, similar to Speer's
chapter on the Amerindian problem discussed above, portrayed
the Amerindian condition as one that "surely the heart will
be stirred not only by their numbers, but by t h e i r great
n e e d ."153
The commission's report also emphasized t heir religious
condition as one "full of the superstitions of p agan
peoples, fearing the presence of spirits in all the
mysterious operations of nature."154 The report also
recognized that "nothing has b e e n done, at least in an
153Ibid., 149.
154I bid., 150.
13 8
organized, systematic, comprehensive way"iss to alleviate
the living conditions of Amerindians in the continent.
The commission recommended the following missionary
approach to the Amerindian population,
Whatever is needed in Africa, whatever has b e e n needed

in China, whatever has b e e n needed among the peoples of
India, is needed in the heart of South America. Some
stress evangelism. Some stress elementary school
education. Some think the first approach should be
through the teaching of industries. What shall be the
beginning depends in large m easure on the conditions
into w h i c h the missionary e n t e r s . If there has been
some pioneer evangelism, then possibly medical service
or industrial development or elementary education
should next succeed.155
Another n e w theme within the previous evangelism theme
at the Panama Congress (1918) was that of lectureships. The
Montevideo Congress (1925) stated,
Lectureships as one of the indirect methods of

evangelism find a readier acceptance than the forums
and s e t t l e m e n t s ... Such lectures by evangelical Latin
Americans of real ability and reputation would exert
far more influence and w i e l d a greater p o w e r for
forming opinion than would those by Europeans or North
Americans in general.157
Evidently, this evangelistic method was u s e d with the
Latin American elite. The report argued that this m e t h o d - -
and any evangelistic enterprise b y evangelical churches in
Latin America--responded to L atin American hostility towards
religious institutions, particularly the church, and its
anti-religious spirit. Moreover, the evangelistic methods
15SIbid.
lssIbid. , 151.
157Ibid. , 371-372.
139
and message in Latin America ne e d e d to provide a n affinity
between the ethical demands of the gospel and the need for
economic and political development in the continent.158
A third theme which reveals the inter-cultural dynamics
within the missiological discourse of the CCLA in the
Montevideo Congress (1925) was the report on relations
between foreign and national w o r k e r s .159 The report
addressed the national's "desire for a change in
relationships."150 Using different international examples
of cooperation in Japan, India, Persia, in different fields
in Africa, and the particular case of the Brazilian
plan,151 the commission recommended (1) an evaluation on
"existing relationships in financial matters,-152 (2) an
acceptance of the contribution of the nationals in making
adjustments to established missionary work,-153 a n d (3) an
evaluation of the "relation of salaries of nationals and
missionaries.154 In general, the Montevideo Congress (1925)
agreed that the three-self formula--self-propagation, self-
sustaining, and self-governing--should be the guiding
1S8Ibid., 372-376; 353-358. See also volume 2, 308-324.
159Ibid. , 2, 245-285.
150Ibid. , 248.
151Ibid. , 253-264.
152I b i d ., 2 64.
153Ibid., 2 65.
164
Ibid., 267-271.
140
principles in the relationship b e t w e e n foreign and national
workers.
Finally, und e r the leadership of John Mackay, the
report of commission eleven--which I interpret as being
solely written b y Mackay--describes the attitudes, practices
and ethos of the Latin American elite culture. The report
proposes that the Latin American elite religious culture is
skeptic, hostile to religion, and indifferent to Roman
Catholic traditionalism.165 On the other hand, the report
also acknowledges that the Latin American elite religious
culture is spiritual, intellectual, and seeks for the values
of liberty and d e v e l o p m e n t .166 The report points to these
cultural features as critical to the development of
missiological and evangelistic strategies for the Latin
American continent. In m y opinion, the report is an outline
of Mackay's later work discussed above in this chapter.
Although there was no official report and
interpretation of the Montevideo Congress (1925) to the
North American constituency (nor to the Latin American
constituency) , Samuel Guy Inman, in his book Ventures in
Inter-American Frien d s h i p , has a bri e f chapter entitle "The
Venture at M ontevideo , " on the Montevideo Congress
(1925) .167 In this chapter Inman basically emphasized (1)
lssIbid. , 313-321.
166Ibid.
167Ventures in Inter-American F riendship. 5-25.
141
the new missionary methods, such as the lectureships, that
were emerging from the missionary activity in Latin
American; (2) the growth and increasing participation of
Latin Americans in the evangelical missio n a r y movement in
the continent; (3) the exciting challenges that missionaries
were encountering as they faced the nationals' interest in
the decision-making-process of the evangelical churches,- and
(4) the move of the Latin American evangelical churches
towards a more self-determining mode of operation.
Havana, 1929
The Havana Congress (1929) b e g a n on June 20 and ended
in June 30, 1929. There is no official report on the
Congress published b y the CCLA. T here are, however, two
brief reports and interpretations--one in English and the
other in Spanish--published by the CCLA. The Spanish report
and interpretation, written by Gonzalo Baez-Camargo,168 is
discussed in Chapter Six of this dissertation. The English
report and interpretation, written b y Samuel Guy Inman and
entitled Evangelicals at Havana, is a brief account of the
Congress .169
Inman's report and interpretation is divided in two
p a r t s . The first part addresses the h istory of the previous
1S8Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Hacia la Renovacion Relicriosa

en Hispanoamerica (Mejico: Casa U n i d a de Publicaciones,
1930) .
1S9Samuel G. Inman, Evangelicals at Havana (New York:

Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, 1929).
142
congresses and the story b e h i n d the H avana Congress (1 9 2 9 ) .
The second part discusses the following themes: (1) The
Christian Message;170 (2) Nationalism a n d Self-Support,-171
(3) Evangelism,-172 (4) Ministerial Culture,-173 (5) W o r k
A m o n g Indians,-174 (6) Evangelical Schools and University
Students,-175 (7) Religious Education,-176 (8) The Church
and the Community, Medical Work and Industrial Problems;177
(9) Christian Literature,-178 and (10) Women's activity.179
Out of the ten themes, I find "Nationalism and Self-Support"
and "Ministerial Culture" to point towards new developments
in the contextualization of the CCLA's missiological
discourse. The Havana Congress (1929) revealed the
increasing participation and sense of ownership of the Latin
Americans Protestants in these Christian Work Congresses.
The chairpersons of most of the commissions were Latin
Americans. In particular, the two themes mentioned above
170Ibid., 95-98.
171Ibid. , 98-101.
172Ibid. , 101-103.
173Ibid. , 103-106.
174Ibid., 106-108.
175Ibid. , 108-112.
176Ibid. , 112-118.
177Ibid. , 118-124.
178Ibid. , 124-128.
179Ibid. , 128-134.
143
clearly demonstrate a re-configuration of the structure of
the Congress, something which Inman does not develop. The
report and interpretation shows the tenacity and audacity of
the Latin American constituency in claiming control over the
development of the evangelical congregations and the
cultural-religious ethos of Latin American evangelical
m i n i s t e r s . According to Inman, these were statements of
maturity and responsibility. In m y opinion, these are
statements that also reveal a process b y which Latin
Americans begin to take distance from the North American
missionaries and m iss i o l o g i s t s . I also suspect that this re
configuration resulted in two reports rather than one
official report, as in the previous congresses.
Regrettably, Inman's account and interpretation of the
Havana Congress (1929) seem simplistic. Basically, Inman
provides the reader with an interpretation which is in
continuity with the previous congresses, except for the
increasing ownership of Latin American Protestants, w hich he
praises. He also underscores some of the economic, political
and social problems of the continent, but is confident in
the evangelical churches and their contribution to the
society. He also affirms the role of the North American
mission boards as counselors and consultants in the
missionary activity of the continent.
Conclusions
I have identify general themes that characterize the
144
raissiological discourse of the CCLA d u r i n g this period. The
first theme, as presented in the title of this chapter,
shows that Latin American is a continent of missiological
opportunities based on its religious and social n e e d s . This
twofold justification progressively allows the CCLA to
develop a missiology w h i c h struggles to integrate evangelism
with social action. What I did not find, however, is an
economic critique of the growing presence of capitalism in
the c o n t i n e n t .180
Second, the CCLA seeks aliados culturales [cultural
allies] in the Latin A m e r i c a n society and culture as it
develops its missiological discourse. The congresses and the
literature reveal an inter-cultural conversation b e t w e e n
Anglo-Americans and the Latin American culture. The aliados
culturales [cultural allies] are carefully selected b y the
congresses and the literature. The selection demonstrates an
affinity b e t ween the Western values of development,
democracy, freedom of worship and thought with the struggles
of Latin A m erican society.
It is in this process of selecting the aliados
culturales [cultural allies] that I identified the enemigos
culturales [cultural enemies] of the C C L A missiological
discourse. For example, the literature and congresses of the
CCLA continue to struggle with the relationship w i t h the
180There is a critique for the misdoings of corporations

and governments in the continent, but no economic critique.
Roman Catholic Church and. its legacy among the elite of the
continent. There is also a distinction be t w e e n those R o m a n
Catholics who advocate development and political
transformation an d those at the popular level, who continue
to practice superstition.
Third, the CCLA draws from its international experience
and connections to grapple with the problems of Latin
American. It is evident, particularly in the Montevideo
Congress (1925) , how the CCLA finds in the international
missionary experience sources for missiological reflection
in the area of older-newer church r elationships.
Fourth, Latin American Protestants increasingly
participate in the missiological discourse of the CCLA, but
their impact in the formation of the discourse is uncertain.
Although the reports and literature show this process, it is
difficult to d raw undisputable conclusions as to how the
missiological discourse became contextualized b y the Latin
American Protestant v o i c e s . Regrettably, the Anglo-American
voices of leaders such as Mackay and Inman s h a p e d the
missiological subtleties of the CCLA's discourse. The
asymmetry was still strong.
The next chapter examines the relationship between the
missiological discourse of the CCLA, the W o r l d Missionary
Conferences of Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram (193 8) , and
Latin American Protestantism.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCES, THE CCLA AND L A T I N AMERICA
After careful deliberation the L a t i n American delegations

beg to present to the Tambaram Meeting of the Council the
following statement. . .1
The world has a right to expect that there shall issue from
our coming together here a larger plan for helpfulness for
all the nations of this Hemisphere, both Latin a n d Anglo-
Saxon.2
John R. Mott
This chapter examines the relationship b e t w e e n the
missiological discourse of the CCLA, the World Missi o n a r y
Conferences of Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram (1938) , and
Latin American Protestantism. The first part of this chapter
explores Alan P. Neely's assessment of the World Missionary
Conferences and Latin American Theology of Liberation.3 The
second and third parts of this chapter focus on t he
deliberations of some of the members of the CCLA--Inman,
Mackay and Speer--at the Jerusalem and Tambaram meetings. I
^-International Missionary Council, The World Mission of

the Church (New York: International Missionary Council,
1939), 133.
2International Missionary Council, The International

Missionary Council. Addresses and Papers of John R. Mott
(New York: Association Press, 1947), 206-207.
3Alan Preston Neely, Protestant Antecedents of Latin

American Theology of Liberation (Unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation, American University, 1977), 68-75.
146
147
analyze their discourse in relation to ray investigation,
particularly the way in which this discourse shapes the
asymmetry between the C C L A and Latin American P r o t e s t a n t s . I
close this chapter with some remarks regarding the
relationship between these conferences, the CCLA and Latin
American Protestant identity.
Neely's Assessment
Neely is the only missiologist who studies the
relationship between the World Ecumenical Conferences and
the Latin American Theology of Liberation.4 Moreover, he is
the only scholar who analyses the relationship b e t w e e n the
World Missionary Conferences and Latin American liberation
thought. No Latin American scholar or missiologist h a s done
this research. Most Latin American theologians and
missiologists refer to the exclusion of Latin Am e r i c a from
Edinburgh 1910, but assess neither the other World
Missionary Conferences n or the role of Latin America in
those Conferences.
On the other hand, Neely does not make connections
between the World Missionary Conferences and the CCLA
Christian Work Conferences discussed in the previous
chapters. In fact, Neely does not refer to any of the CCLA
conferences in his dissertation.
Jose Miguez Bonino also bypasses the relationship
“Ibid., 65-141.
148
b e t w e e n the CCLA conferences and the World Missionary
C o n f e r e n c e s . In his most recent b o o k Rostros del
Protestantismo Latinoamericano5 Miguez Bonino portrays b o t h
liberal and evangelical Latin A m e r i c a n Protestantism without
reference to the World Missionary Conferences.6 While N e e l y
finds the World Missionary Conferences to be a critical
antecedent to Latin American liberation thought and Miguez
Bonino focuses on the Panama and Montevideo congresses in
his study of Protestantism in Latin America, neither of them
m ake the connection between the W o r l d Missionary Conferences
and the CCLA. Furthermore, though b o t h scholars name and
discuss the contributions of theologians such as M a c k a y and
Inman to the development of L atin A m e r i c a n Protestant
identity, neither Neely nor Miguez Bonino make connections
between those theologians, the W o r l d Missionary Conferences
and CCLA's missiological discourse. For the purpose of this
dissertation, Neely's work will be d iscussed below and
Miguez Bonino's proposal will be analyzed in Chapter Six.
Neely describes the Jerusalem m e e t i n g (1928) as one
that
5Jose Miquez Bonino, Rostros del Protestantismo

Latinoamericano (Grand Rapids and Buenos A i r e s : Nueva
Creacion and Eerdmanns, 1995) .
6Ibid., 11-56. Miguez Bonino considers the Panama

Congress and the Montevideo Congress on his discussion of
liberal and evangelical Latin A m e r i c a n Protestantism.
However, he does not mention the Havana Congress of 1929,
the most Latin American Congress of the CCLA from 1916 to
1929 (see chapters four and s i x ) .
149
moved beyond the limited scope of the Edinburgh p r o g r a m

and included consideration of the reciprocal effects of
missions an d industrialism and the ques t i o n of missions
and rural p r o b l e m s .7
Following his description of the meeting, he identifies
Samuel Guy Inman's address "Missions and Economics in L atin
America"8 as a critical description of "some of the
fundamental causes and conditions which prod u c e d the
Theology of Liberation in Latin America."9 Neely's analysis
of this presentation confirms one of the critical dimensions
of the CCLA's missiological discourse, the n e e d for economic
and political progress in Latin America based o n the concept
of friendship betwee n the Un i t e d States and the Latin
c ontinent.
However, Inman's discussion about these problems
precede this presentation at Jerusalem. In fact, Inman
articulates concerns about land, labor and development in
Latin America his b oo k Problems in Panamericanism which was
published in 1921 and briefly discussed in the previous
chapter.
Neely captures the inherent asymmetry in the
missiological discourse of this time (1910-1940) in his
7Neely, Protestant Antecedents of the Latin American

Theology of L i b e r a t i o n . 68.
8Samuel Gu y Inman, "Missions and Economics in Latin

America" in Jerusalem Meeting: The Christian Life and
Message in Relation to Non-Christian Systems of Thought and
L i f e . Vol 5. International Missionary Council, (New York:
International Missionary Council, 1928), 91-109.
9Neely, Protestant A n t e c e d e n t s , 70.
150
description of the Tambaram m e e t i n g (193 8) and particularly,
the role of the Latin American delegation and its statement
to the Conference. O n the one hand, Neely accurately
describes the "condescending tone of the description of the
Latin American statement" as one that would "make a
liberation theologian cringe."10 He accurately refers to
the Latin American report as one which shows "obsequious
dependence on the more knowledgeable, the more resourceful,
and the more economically able leaders from Europe and North
America."11 The Latin American report requested the
Tambaram Conference support in training national leadership,
research on the social and economic conditions of the
churches in Latin America and "counsel in consolidating the
Protestant forces in Latin A m e r i c a . 12 Moreover, Neely
describes the Latin American statement as
a depressing document to read for it exudes a servile,

self-depreciating attitude of many Latin American
Protestant leaders--encouraged by the constant
paternalism of some missionaries--regarding the
inability of non-Anglo-Saxons to resolve their own
problems.13
On the other, Neely points to Tambaram as a conference
that recognized
that many of the so-called younger churches had reached

maturity and were now sufficiently strong to support
10Ibid., 72.
“ Ibid., 73.
“ Ibid.
“ Ibid., 73-74.
151
themselves economically and to assume the
responsibility for their o w n direction.14
The Latin American delegation a nd statement are
confusing in the context of Tamb a r a m (1938) . B y this time
the C CLA celebrated three Christian W o r k Congresses--Panama
1916, Montevideo 1925 and H avana 1 9 2 9 - -where L a t i n American
Protestants increasingly t ook a protagonistic role in the
configuration and planning of these congr e s s e s . What
happened in Tambaram? The next sections will pr o v i d e some
insights into this discontinuity.
Jerusalem 1928
Inman's presentation at J erusalem focuses on the
economic and political problems of Latin America. But his
concluding remarks reveal the missiological d iscourse of the
CCLA, particularly the emphasis on inter-american
friendship. Inman states:
H ave churches and Christian leaders really stopped to

consider how difficult the message of the A m e r i c a n
missionary has been in Mexico while the A s s o c i a t i o n for
the Protection of American Rights was filling the
Uni t e d States with libels on Mexico; in Santo Domingo
and Haiti, while the U n i t e d States Marines ruthlessly
established martial law in those lands; in Nicaragua,
while American bombing planes are destroying hundreds
of Nicaraguan lives; in Colombia, while its citizens
read and boast's [sic] of how we took Panama?15
Furthermore, Inman points to the Christian
responsibility of missionaries to continue to struggle
14I b i d . , 74.
15Inman, "Missions and Economics in Latin America,"

109.
152
against the forces of injustice on the Latin continent. He
also points to the responsibility of the wider Christian
churches an d missionary boards
not o nly to send messengers of the Gospel to the

people, but to help w o r k out a w a y for the Gospel to be
a p p lied in the solution of the g r e a t economic and
social questions brought about b y the new situation.16
The missiological discourse of the CCLA is revealed in
Inman's presentation. The m e t h o d of communicating the gospel
is intrinsically related to the economic and political
actions of the governments represented in the missionary
population. Therefore, missionaries "find themselves in a
p e c u l i a r l y embarrassing p osition"17 because they are
accused of supporting the economic interest of their
countries. Consequently, the missiological discourse of the
C C L A challenges the United States churches (which carry out
m o s t of the missionary w o r k in Latin America)
to as k themselves how far they m a y expect results from

the w o r k of the missionaries they send to Latin America
so lon g as the conviction among m a n y Latin Americans is
that the United States is imperialistic and
materialistic in its relations w i t h its southern
n e i g h b o r s .18
John Mackay also delivered a brief address to the
Jeru s a l e m Conference. His address is p a r t of a three-fold
16Ibid.
17Ibid., 108.
18Ibid.
153
presentation e n t i t l e d ."The Power of Evangelism.1,19 In this
address Mackay briefly describes the religious situation of
the Latin American people.
I want to present to y o u an idea of the situation a m o n g

these masses. The great majority of men in South
America have repudiated all religion. Sometimes those
who are interested i n Christian service in South
America are apt to b e regarded as religious bucaneers
[sic] devoting their lives to ecclesiastical piracy,
but that is far from being the case. The great majority
of m e n to w h o m we go will have nothing to do with
religion. . . According to one of the outstanding
thinkers in the Argentine, religion had [sic] been
apprehended and expressed as a cultus and never as an
experience.20
Mackay also points to two other important cultural factors
that impact evangelism in the Latin continent, (1) the
idealistic spirit of the y outh in universities a nd (2) the
increasing Western influence among the people.21
Mackay's reflection regarding evangelism in Latin
America reveals the influence of the CCLA's congresses,
especially Montevideo (1925),22 and the early stages of his
19John Mackay, "The Power of Evangelism In South

America" in Jerusalem Meeting-: The Christian Life and
L i f e . V o l .8. International Missionary Council, (New York:
20Ibid., 90.
21Ibid., 90-91.
22Samuel Guy Inman, Ventures in Inter-American

Friendship. (New York: Missionary Education Movement, 1925) ,
23. It is worth quoting the report from Montevideo, "The
Evangelical movement should make the provision f o r the
delivery of a religious message without the ordinary
trappings of a religious service. Committee on Cooperation
in Latin America, " Special Religious Problems," in Report
154
later writings, particularly The Other Spanish Christ and
That Other America (see Chapter F o u r ) . For example, Mackay
argues to " [R]id the delivery of the message of all
traditional ceremonies,1,23 as a way to promote and
encourage the sermon without worship service and to create a
distinction between religion a nd ritual.24 He argues that
this evangelistic approach will bring "the audience into a
right attitude towards the God of truth."25
Furthermore, Mackay's evangelistic theology focuses on a r e
discovery of the person of Christ. He underscores that
Nothing is more needful for fruitful evangelism in

South America than a fresh interpretation of the Cross
and the crucified Christ. South Americans h a v e seen the
Spanish Christ and the Christ o f the Renan. N e i t h e r ,
however, exercised any ethical influence upon life.
They require to see Christ as a creative Personality,
as the great Mas t e r of transforming love.26
Speer's reference to Latin America in one of his
presentations at the Jerusalem meeting27 is limited to a
on the Congress on Christian W o r k in South America,

Montevideo Volume II (New York/Chicago: Fleming H. Revell,
1925), 367.
23Ibid.
24Ibid., 92.
2SIbid.
26Ibid.; 93. Emphasis is mine.
27Robert E. Speer, "The Council's Discussion" in

Jerusalem Meeting: The Christian Life and Message in
Relation to Non-Christian Systems of Thought and L i f e . V o l .
1. International Missionary Council. (New York:
155
long q uotation from Erasmo Braga, t he Brazilian Protestant
leader.28 However, the statement f r o m B raga captures the
CCLA's missiology in relation to R o m a n Catholicism and
secularism, and its contribution to the global missionary
e n d e a v o r s . Braga's quotation claims that old established
religions, such as Roman Catholicism, h ad become antiquated
and stumbling blocks for development a nd p r o g r e s s . He also
identifies secularism as a threat to the Christian churches
and its message. Consequently, the CCLA's missiological
discourse concur with the missiological developments at
Jerusalem (1928).
Finally, the Jerusalem report includes the "Report of
Commission Ten of the Conference on Christian Work in South
America," held in Montevideo, 1926 [sic] .29 This report,
included in the volume which addresses the relationship
between younger and older churches, names the principles
which should guide the relationship b e t w e e n the North
American and Latin American churches .
Tambaram 193 8
A t the Tambaram conference, L a t i n American Protestants
claim their place in the World M i s s i o n a r y Movement and among
28I b i d . , 307.
29"Some Official Statements on Devolution" in Jerusalem

Meeting: The Christian Life and Message in Relation to Non-
Christian Systems of Thought and L i f e . V o l . 3. International
Missionary Council. (New York: International Missionary
Council, 1928), 192-194.
156
the other younger churches of Africa and Asia. The same
report which Neely describes as one that w o u l d "make a
liberation theologian cringe, "3Q argues that with the
presence of Latin America in this meeting
the Council [International Missionary Council] has

thereby broadened its representative character and has
opened to the younger churches of the West a fruitful
door of fellowship w i t h the older churches of the West
and with the younger churches of A f r i c a and the
E a s t .31
Furthermore, the report discusses the relevance of
Latin American countries in the world affairs, particularly
those related to economics, education, and political
development.32 Based on this report, the commission
requests that the International Missionary- Council undertake
research in the areas of (1) the social an d economic
background of the Latin A m e r i c a n churches; (2) the Mexican
experiment of- social and economic reconstruction an d its
impact on Protestant churches; (3) the social and economic
conditions of the Indian population; and (4) the labor
movement on the continent and its influence on the
Protestant churches.33
Finally, the report identifies the challenges of the
30Neely, Protestant A n t e c e d e n t s . 70.
^International Missionary Council, Th e World Mis s i o n

of the Church: Findings a n d Recommendations of the
International Missionary C o u n c i l . (New York: International
Missionary Council, 1939), 134.
32Ibid.
33Ibid., 137.
157
younger Protestant churches in Latin America. For instance,
in addition to training national leaders, working w i t h
immigrant populations, a nd evangelizing university students
and the intellectual class of the continent (all CCLA's
missiological principles) , the report recognizes a n e e d to
evangelize the Indian population. Once more, it is evident
that the CCLA's missiology regarding the Indian p opulation
has shaped the report, especially as it describes the Indian
condition as one that is "degraded, " "hopeless" and
"pagan.1,34
Conclusions
The W o r l d Missionary Conferences of Jerusalem (1928)
and T a mbaram (1938) became the global forums to present the
CCLA's missiological discourse. In Jerus a l e m (1928), Inman,
Mackay, an d Speer used the Latin American situation as a
window to further understand the issues of the conference.
They used the Latin American context to discuss the
challenges to Christianity from non-Christian religions--at
times the C C L A considered Roman Catholicism as a non-
Christian religion--and secularism, the relationship between
younger churches and older churches, the development of a
theology a n d method of evangelism, the development a n d
transfer of power to the younger churches, and the economic
and political obstacles to missionary work created b y
34I b i d . , 135.
158
governments and corporations. The CCLA delegates introduced
Latin America as a mission field with a similar missional
rationale used to introduce Africa and Asia.
In Tambaram (1938) the Latin American commission,
composed of both nationals and missionaries, followed the
same strategy, to identify common themes in the World
Missionary Movement with those in Latin America. However,
the report reveals a different attitude and approach from
those presented in the Congresses on Christian Work in L atin
America, particularly the Havana Congress of 1929. It seems
as if the initiative and vitality of the L atin American
Protestants have b een domesticated (see Chapter Six) .
On the other hand, at Tambaram the Latin American
commission broadens the representation of the younger
churches and claims a place and a relationship with the
African and Asian churches. In a subtle way, the commission
helps Tambaram to become truly global in its Protestant
missionary endeavors by challenging the undisputed West-East
direction of missions and adding a West-West/East
configuration.
In the next chapter I will explore the voice of the
Latin American Protestants, focusing on the continental
reports of the Congresses sponsored b y the CCLA and other
material written b y Latin American P r o t e s t a n t s .
CHAPTER SIX
"AS LATIN AMERICANS SEE IT:" THE CCLA AND T HE VOICE OF LATIN
AMERICAN PROTESTANTS
The question of nationalizing the evangelical church is

rapidly coming to the front in such countries as Argentina
and Uruguay. Without self-government, self-support and self-
diffusion or propagation, however, a national indigenous
church would be me r e l y a n o m a l o u s .1
A la falta de otra significacion, el Congreso [Havana]

significa que las iglesias latinoamericanas se h a n puesto en
marcha, saben a donde se dirigen, reconocen lo que necesitan
para acelerar la marcha y se esfuerzan p or conseguirlo .2
In this chapter I explore the Latin A m e r i c a n voice and
response to the CCLA official reports and literature. I rely
on the Latin American reports of the congresses, other
literature written by Latin Americans and o t h e r Latin
American voices not related to the CCLA or the evangelical
churches of the continent. This chapter also explores an
alternative interpretation or pluritopic hermeneutics to the
North American/CCLA missiological discourse.
^ a b i n o Rodriguez, "The Evangelical Churches," in As

Protestant Latin America See I t . Milton Stauffer, ed. (New
York: Missionary Education Movement of U n i t e d States and
Canada), 113.
2If there is any lack of significance, the Congress

[Havana] proves that the Latin American churches have begun
to walk, they know where they are headed, r ecognize what
they need in order to speed their walk and t h e y struggle to
achieve it. (Translation is m i n e ) . Gonzalo Baez-Camargo,
Hacia la Renovacion Religiosa en Hispanoamerica (Mejico:
Casa Unida de Publicaciones, 1930), 150.
159
The first part of the chapter revisits the three common
interpretations regarding the development of Protestantism
in the continent. In this part I propose a new
interpretation to understand the missiological character of
Protestantism in Latin America. T h e second part analyses the
Latin American r e p o r t s . I highlight those responses that
reveal a different interpretation and missiological proposal
from those in the official r e p o r t s . Finally, I include the
voice of other Latin Americans of this period in order to
broaden the Latin A merican perspective and c o n c e r n s .
Latin American Protestantism: A Thesis Reconsidered
The first thesis proposed to explain the insertion and
identity of Protestantism in Latin America is the
"conspiracy" thesis.3 This thesis argues that Protestantism
in Latin America came as a legitimizing force of
neocolonialism. It serves as an ideological partner for the
political and economic intervention of the United States in
the continent.
This thesis, as Jose Miguez Bonino explains, lacks
evidence. Protestantism in Latin America arrived two decades
before the beginning of the United States' imperialistic
project.4 Furthermore, the first missionary activity of
3Jose Miguez Bonino, Rostros del Protestantismo

Latinoamericano (Grand Rapids and Buenos A i r e s : Eerdmanns
and Nueva Creacion, 1995), 12.
4Ibid.
160
161
Protestants in the continent came from Britain and the
Southern Caribbean, not from the United S t a t e s .
The second thesis is the "affinity or associative"
t h e s i s . Proposed b y Jean Pierre Bastian,5 this thesis
argues that Protestantism in Latin America covenants with
the liberal and modernizing forces of the continent from the
mid-19th to the early 20th century. Miguez Bonino recognizes
that this thesis explains the insertion and identity of
Protestantism on the basis of a contextual situation in
Latin America. He also acknowledges that Bastian does not
deny the complex political affinities that Protestantism had
with the ideological interest of the United States during
this period. Nevertheless, Miguez Bonino argues,
Cabe suponer que la "asociacion" se produce sobre la

base de una coincidencia en la afirmacion de una
sociedad democratica--para la cual a todos atraia el
modelo norteamericano--y, probablemente mas aun, de la
necesidad misionera de lograr una apertura a la
libertad de conciencia y de c u l t o . Los dirigentes
latinoamericanos, a su vez, encontraban en esta alianza
un apoyo para su lucha contra la oposicion clerical a
las reformas que pretendlan introducir. No me parece
exagerado sospechar que tenemos aqux una convergencia
de intereses mas que una similitud de i d e a s ... En todo
caso, se trata de las elites de u n a y otra parte, en
tanto que, en lo que hace a los nuevos conversos que
ingresaban al protestantismo desde sectores marginados
de la sociedad (aparte de las repercusiones en el
ambito de la libertad religiosa) la "asociacion" tuvo
sJean Pierre Bastian, Historia del Protestantismo en

America Latina (Mejico: CUPSA, 1990) and Protestantes,
liberales. y francomasones: Sociedades de ideas y modernidad
en America Latina, sialo XIX (Mejico: CEHILA y Fondo de
Cultura Economica, 1990).
162
m u y poca importancia.6
The third thesis, proposed b y Miguez Bonino, is
missiological. He says that "mission" is the "material
principle" to understand the insertion and identity of
Protestantism in Latin America. Moving from the "conspiracy"
and "associative" thesis, Miguez Bonino proposes,
Por eso, si se trata de descubrir un "principio

material", es decir, aquella orientacion teologica que,
po r expresar mej or la vivencia y la dinamica de la
comunidad religiosa, de consistencia y coherencia a la
comprension del evangelio y se constituya en punto de
r e f e r e n d a para la construccion teologica de esa
comunidad, tenemos que hablar de la «mision como
"principio material" de u n a teologia protestante
latinoamericana.»7
Miguez Bonino develops his missiology or Latin American
sIt is possible that the "association" was produced on

the basis of a coincidence in the affirmation of a democratic
society--to which the North Amer i c a n model appealed to all-
and, probably more so, of the missionary need to achieve the
openness to the freedom of consciousness a nd worship. The
Latin American leaders found in this alliance a support for
their struggle against the clerical opposition to the reforms
which they pretended to introduce. It does not seem
exaggerated to suspect that what we have is a convergence of
interests rather than an affinity of id e a s . . . In all cases, it
has to do with the elites in one way or another, in that, in
what refers to the n e w converts who became Protestants from
the marginal sectors of society (besides the implications in
the realm of freedom of worship) the "association" had very
little importance. (Translation is m i n e ) . Rostros del
Protestantismo. 14.
7For this, if this is about discovering a "material

principle", in other words, that theological orientation
which, by better expressing the life and dynamic of the
religious community, gives consistency and coherence to the
understanding of the gospel and it constitutes a point of
reference for the theological construction of that
community, we have to talk about «mission as the "material
principle" of a Latin American Protestant theology.»
(Translation is mine) Ibid., 127.
163
theology base on the trinitarian model, pa r t i c u l a r l y the
interdependence of the three persons of the T r i n i t y or the
p e r i j o r e s i s . Furthermore, he builds upon Hoekendijk's
missiological model of Christ-world to call a t t e n t i o n to the
church-centered m ission that has characterized L a t i n
American Protestantism.8 He then proposes two theological
criteria that should guide the missionary act i v i t y of the
continent. One, Latin American Protestantism needs to r e
think the understanding of "prophets and evangelists, " and
discover how the terms point to becoming witnesses of God's
mission in the world, and two, any reflection on mission
"methods and means" needs to consider the intra-trinitarian
and extra-trinitarian forms of communication.9
I agree with Miguez Bonino's understanding of mission
as the "material principle" for the identity of L a t i n
American Protestantism. In fact, his thesis is coherent with
the history of Protestantism in the continent. W h e t h e r the
tradition came to serve as an ideological par t n e r in
imperialistic endeavors, or if it came as a p a r t n e r in the
struggles for a liberal and democratic order, L a t i n American
Protestantism maintains a missiological character. Moreover,
in Miguez Bonino's analysis of liberal, evangelical,
Pentecostal and "ethnic" Protestantisms in Latin America,
mission surfaces as the common denominator.
8I b i d ., 132.
9Ibid., 141, 143.
164
In my judgement, Miguez Bonino moves too fast towards
his trinitarian theological and missiological model. My
contention with Miguez Bonino's thesis is that Christian
mission in Latin America, including Roman Catholic
missionary activity, is eminently an inter-cultural
activity. The encounter with the cultural and religious
other should be the "material principle" that guides the
missiological reflection and action.
Although Miguez Bonino's trinitarian model ca n be used
as a theological framework to reflect on the inter-cultural
encounters in the continent, I believe that the model, as
articulated in his book Rostros del Protestantismo
Latinoamericano. lacks the specificity and the nuances
required to re-interpret the hist o r y of missionary
Protestantism in Latin America. His trinitarian m o d e l --
deeply committed to the marginal people of the cont i n e n t --
does not uncover the "hidden histories" of inter-cultural
encounters which have caused so mu c h pain and suffering to
the margins, the "hidden prejudices" that have informed the
Roman Catholic and Protestant missionary activity among the
cultural and religious other an d the ignorance and
indifference to recognized and integrate the histories of
the cultural and religious others in our Christian
missiological reflection.
Consequently, m y own missiological position compels me
to read and interpret the inter-cultural dynamics of the
165
missiological discourse of the CCLA. T h e voice of Protestant
Latin Americans in the reports and documents of the CCLA
emerge as the cultural other in the m i s s i o l o g y of the CCLA.
The Latin American Reports
Braga, and Pan-Americanism
The Panama Congress of 1916 p r o d u c e d three reports. The
official report and the North A merican report have been
discussed in Chapter Four. The Latin A m e r i c a n report,
written by Erasmo Braga, a distinguished Protestant
Brazilian, captured the particular interpretation of the
small number of Latin Americans p r e s e n t at Panama (1916) .
The report is divided in the following way. The first
section includes a history of Protestantism in Latin
America, a critical reflection on the h i s t o r y of Anglo-
American and Latin America relationships, and the
antecedents to the Congress. The second part is a narrative
of the Congress wit h references and descriptions of the
t hemes. The third part is a critical appraisal of the
Congress which affirms in a significant way Braga's
narrative in the first part of the report.
One of the most striking characteristics of this report
is the material which deals with the his t o r y of Anglo-
Saxon/Latin American cultural relations .10 In his report
“ Erasmo Braga, Pan-Americanismo Aspecto Relicrioso.

translation from Portuguese to Spanish b y Eduardo Monteverde
(Nueva York: Sociedad para la Educacion Misionera en Estados
166
Braga speaks about the cultural influence of the Anglo-Saxon
cultures in the formation of L atin American cultural traits,
particularly in education.11 He also identifies a favorable
circumstance w h i c h will increase the possibilities of
developing stronger ties between Anglo-America and Latin
A m e r i c a . He e x p l a i n s ,
otra circumstancia favorable a una aproxim a c i o n de los

elementos diferentes de la poblacion de A m e r i c a [North
America a n d Latin America] , es el prog r e s o rapido de
muchas naciones latino-americanas, particularmente las
que colocadas en condiciones climatericas mas propicias
y de composicion mas homogenea, con la contribucion de
fuertes contingentes de inmigracion europea, van
tomando posicio n analoga a los pueblos anglo-
americanos .12
Braga also alludes to the Anglo-Latin A m e r i c a n
relations during this period. He particularly discusses the
threat of "yankee imperialism, " and argues that such a
threat is based on Latin America's terrible experience with
the effects of the Monroe Doctrine. Nevertheless, he
suggests that through the unselfish, non-violent and high
moral standards of the Anglo-American schools and missions,
"a solid historical base is created in favor of the 'bona
Unidos y Canada, 1917), 3-64; 121-128; 160-165.
11Ibid., 10.
12Another favorable circumstance to an approximation of

the different elements of the population of A m e r i c a [North
America and L atin America] , is the rapid progress of many
Latin American nations, particularly the ones located in
favorable climatic conditions and with a homogeneous
composition, w i t h the contribution of the s t r o n g groups of
European immigration, taking an analogous p o s i t i o n with the
Anglo-American people. (Translation is m i n e ) . Ibid.
167
fide' acceptance of the spiritually fraternal declarations
of the Anglo-Saxon to the Latin Americans."13
Braga writes a brief missionary history of
Protestantism in Lat i n America.14 In this h i s t o r y Braga
emphasizes the contribution Anglo-Saxon Protestantism
brought in the areas of education, politics a n d economics to
the Latin c o n t i n e n t . But his concluding remarks regarding
his missionary h i sto r y reveal another understanding of the
relationship between Protestantism and Latin America.
Y por todas partes de la America latina, especialmente

en Mexico, Peru, Chile, el Plata, y el Brasil, el ideal
de la nacionalizacion del evangelismo, de la creacion
de un ministerio y de u n a iglesia identificados con la
vida nacional, anima a los evangelicos p a r a u n esfuerzo
mas decidido en su propaganda.15
Is Braga confused? How can Braga claim a process of
Latin American nationalization of evangelism, m i n i s t r y and
church after arguing for the n e e d of the A n g l o - S a x o n
cultures in the life of the continent?
Miguez Bonino recognizes Braga's confusion and the
incoherence of the CCLA congresses regarding this ambiguity.
He argues that this incoherence is based on (1) the
“ Ibid., 20.
14Ibid., 25-39.
“ And in all parts of Latin America, espec i a l l y Mexico,

Pern, Chile, the Plata and Brazil, the ideal of the
nationalization of evangelism, of the creation of a ministry
and a church identified with the national life, animates the
evangelicals [Protestants in Latin America] towards a
decided effort in its propagation. (Translation is mine) .
Ibid., 39.
168
influence of the social gospel, and. (2) the legacy of an
individualistic and subjective soteriology in the Protestant
missionary movement.15
Perhaps Braga may help us understand his own confusion.
He states,
La historia politica de la A merica sajona y su

desenvolvimiento social son inseparables de los
principios religiosos que presidieron el origen de la
gran democracia y, mucho mas que la raza y el ambiente,
la diferencia de religion e x p l i c a ... como ciertos
pueblos han llevado ventajas a otros en su vida
na c i o n a l ...17
While Miguez Bonino points to internal theological
factors in the Protestant missionary tradition, I want to
suggest that there are historical and religious factors,
both in the Protestant missionary movement and in the
context of Latin America, that m a y explain the ambiguity of
Latin American Protestants and the missiology of the CCLA.
First, Braga correlates Protestantism with development. This
was a missiological premise that shaped the missiological
consciousness of the CCLA. Second, Braga inconspicuously
blames the Latin American condition on the religious history
of the continent, on the character of Roman Catholic
Christianity. He explains,
16Bonino, Rostros del Protestantismo. 22-23.
17The political history of Saxon America and its social

developments are inseparable from the religious principles
that preceded the origin of the great democracy and, more
than race and the environment, the difference of religion
explains... how certain countries have advantages over
others in their national life. (Translation and emphasis are
m i n e ) . Ibid., 40.
169
Uno de los estimulantes que necesita el espxritu latino
en America, es, a nuestro modo de ver, el gran elemento
de que carece la Ame r i c a latina p a r a su exaltacion
social y espir i t u a l : es precisamente el cristianismo,
que las naciones latinas repudiaron con la Contra-
Reforma, en cambio de una jerarquxa nominalmente
cristiana.18
Braga's fascination w i t h Anglo-Saxon Protestantism as a
source for authentic democracy a nd development makes him
speculate about the conditions of Latin Am e r i c a if
Protestant evangelization would have coincided with the wars
of independence. He argues that the history of the continent
would have been one of democracy and development.
However, Braga is not naive about the inter-cultural
dynamics between Anglo-Americans and Latin Americans. He
also notes that the "patriotism [of Anglo-Americans] ... is
not Christian, but pagan, 1,19 and that Latin Americans have
suffered from their ineptitude.20 He gives a list of Anglo-
Americans that embody these attitudes, and he does include
in the list "complacent missionaries."21
Regrettably, most of Braga's report is a narrative of
180ne of the stimulants which is n eeded b y the Latin

spirit in America, is, in our way of seeing, the great
element which lacks in Latin America for its social and
spiritual exaltation: it is precisely Christianity, which
the Latin nations repudiated with the Counter-Reformation,
in exchange for a nominally Christian hierarchy.
(Translation is m i n e ) . Braga, Pan-Am e r i c a n i s m o : Asnecto
Relicrioso. 42.
19Ibid. , 41.
20Ibid.
21Ibid.
170
the events and themes of the Panama C o n g r e s s . His arguments
are also repetitive. I argue that my analysis of the first
part of the report captures his main thesis and argument.
Braga saw in the Panama Congress of 1916 the possibility of
appropriating and inserting in the Latin American continent,
through Pan-American themes and friendship, the Anglo-Saxon
Protestant history which inspired democracy and development.
Sadly, in his effort to retrieve this h i s t o r y and suggest to
make it part of the Latin A merican h istory through inter-
cultural mission, he miscalculated the asymmetry which he
himself described in the report and interpreted the Euro-
American political history as one absent of cultural
conflict.
Ba.ez-Cama.rg-o and. the Havana Report
There is no Latin American report of the Montevideo
Congress (1925). Therefore, I am unable to provide a
particular Latin American interpretation of the congress.
The general interpretation of the Montevideo Congress
(1925), despite the official report w h i c h claims that this
was a "truly South American congress,"22 is that it was
predominantly a Protestant North American c o n g r e s s .
This is not the case for the Havana Congress (1929). In
fact, Latin American missiologists argue that this was the
22Wilton Nelson, "En busca de un protestantismo

latinoamericano," Pastoralia 1.2, Edicion Especial
(noviembre 1978): 23.
171
most Latin American congress of this period.23 The report,
written b y Gonzalo Baez Camargo in Spanish, provides an
alternate interpretation to the English report, written b y
Samuel G. Inman. Interestingly, there was no official report
for this congress,- there were two reports, one in Spanish
and the other in English.24
The Havana report is significantly different from
Braga's report in that Baez-Camargo discusses the religious
and social context of Latin America and identified the Cuban
context as critical for the developments that the Congress
achieved. Evidently, the spirit of the Caribbean nation,
particularly its history of Protestantism and United States
intervention, played a crucial role in the precision with
which the Latin Americans presented and argued their
position. The report has an introduction, antecedents to the
congress, a discussion of Cuba and the Congress, a narrative
of the congress and an interpretation.
In what ways was the Havana Congress more Latin
American than the other congresses sponsored b y the CCLA?
First and foremost, Latin American Protestants claimed the
responsibility for the organization of the Congress.
Interestingly, as Baez-Camargo described, the C C L A also
noted that the North American participants would not have
any direct responsibility nor direction in the w o r k and
23Ibid.
24See chapter four, 129 .
172
documents of the assembly.25 The Havana r e p o r t clearly
revealed the inter-cultural negotiations t h a t the leadership
of the CCLA and the Latin American Protestants had achieved
regarding the organization of the Congress. In fact, Baez-
Camargo described the Latin Americanization of the Congress
in the following,
que esta latinidad del Congreso no fue [sic] el

resultado de una conspiracion secreta n i de una
rebelion violenta. Fue mas bien el resul t a d o de una
profunda conciencia y un profundo convencimiento, tanto
en misioneros como e n latinoamericanos, de que el reino
de Dios progresara mas rapidamente si los segundos
vienen al frente como directores y responsables de la
obra, en tanto los primeros ocupan el p u e s t o de
consejeros y auxiliares; fue el resultado de un
convenio llevado a cabo sobre lineamientos enteramente
amistosos.26
The emphasis of the author on the non-controversial and
non-conspiratory character of the Congress27 mak e s me raise
an issues based on the report itself. For example, the
report includes a definition and interpretation of the term
25Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Hacia la R enovacion Relicriosa

en Hispanoamerica (Mejico: Casa Unida de P u b l i c a c i o n e s ,
1930), 137.
2Sthat this "Latiness" of the Congress w a s not the

result of a secret conspiracy or of a v i o l e n t revolution. It
was more the result of a profound awareness a n d profound
conviction, so m u c h in missionaries as in L a t i n Americans,
that the Kingdom [sic] of Go d will progress m o r e rapidly if
the latter come to the front as directors a n d be responsible
for the work [task, mission, ministry] , and the prior occupy
the positions of counselors and helpers; this was the result
of a covenant developed on friendship l i n e s . (Translation is
m i n e ) . Ibid.
27The author continues to refer in the r e p o r t to the

non-controversial and respectful environment of the
Congress. Ibid., 13 8; 146; 149; 152; 161-167.
173
"nacionalismo" [nationalism] . In the report the term is
continuously clarified so that it does not c a r r y a negative
connotation towards the N o r t h American missionaries, their
boards and c h u r c h e s . O n the other hand, the report
recommends that relationships between nationals and
missionaries should require "a greater identification of the
foreign element with the national element just as a p r o g r a m
of constant justice and equity."28 Evidently, the term
nationalism, identified as a threat in the W o r l d Missionary
Conferences and the Ecumenical Movement du r i n g this time,
needed clarification.
The Latin American Protestants kept it, referring to
nationalism in terms as the three-self-principles in
mission, self-sustaining, self-governing, and self
propagating. The term also evoked the commitment and
strategies that Protestants needed to develop as they faced
the social, political and economic challenges in this
period.
Another important way in which the Havana Congress
(1929) emphasized its Latin American identity was the
location of responsibility regarding the e conomic and social
problems of the continent. Without dismissing the
imperialistic and interventionist policies of the United
States government which affected the development of Latin
America, the recommendations of the Congress p u s h e d the
28Ibid., 167.
174
churches to an active participation in the social issues of
each country. As I ment i o n e d in the p revious chapter, the
section on "Industrial and Rural Problems" of the report
focuses on what the Latin Americans n e e d to do, and not on
what the United States or its corporations n eed to do.
Finally, the report moved in a d ifferent direction than
the Montevideo Congress (1925) regarding evangelism. While
Montevideo and Mackay promoted the "conference without
worship service," the Havana Congress cautioned its use.
Por lo que toca a las llamadas conferencias sin culto,

metodo usado por el evangelismo laico, se recomiendan
p a r a casos especiales, pero de n i n g u n a manera como
metodo ordinario y exclusivo de evangelizacion.29
It is difficult to interpret this statement. I,
however, can eliminate some possible explanations. For
example, an argument can be made that this statement
exemplifies clergy control. This is u n l i k e l y because by this
time Protestantism in Latin America suffered of a lack of
leadership, particularly clergy. A n o t h e r explanation could
be the clergy suspicion of laity doing evangelistic
ministry. Again, most of the Protestants in the continent
were laity; and most of this laity d i d not have the
educational preparation nor the "sophisticated cultural
connections" to present a "conference" as a means of
evangelism.
29As to the conferences without worship, a method used

by lay evangelism, it is recommended f o r special cases, but
under no circumstances as an ordinary a nd exclusive method
of evangelization. (Translation is mine) . Ibid., 142.
175
I believe that this statement is a recognition of the
aesthetical religious dimension of the Latin American
person. It is also a movement that minimizes the extreme
m o d e m and rational interpretation of missionary
Protestantism as articulated b y the CCLA and acknowledges
the exoteric dimension of the Christian faith.
Other Latin American Voices
The Latin American missiological discourse within the
CCLA struggled to retrieve a history that would guide its
missiological reflection. The most prominent example of this
search during this period is Erasmo Braga's interpretation
and correlation of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant history and
Latin American Protestantism. Sadly, the most Latin American
of the congresses of the CCLA did not address this
underlining concern.
Were Latin American Protestants and the CCLA so
ignorant of any other interpretations of Latin American
history and reality that they were held captives to an
increasingly Western interpretation of the role of the faith
in the continent? The answer to this important question is,
no.
During this period Jose Carlos Mariategui proposed a
radically different interpretation of the history and
spiritual condition of the Latin American continent.
Mariategui searched for meaning in art, metaphysics and
politics. He did not separate historical change from myth.
176
He critiqued, bourgeois civilization be c a u s e it suffered from
the absence of myth, faith, hope.30 Maria t e g u i espoused a
new consciousness whi c h required p olitical and ethnic
openness. He u n d e r s t o o d and argued that
[T] he nation is something to be forged through the new

consciousness and through the m y t h of the social
revolution. Failure to incorporate the Indians into the
social revolution would merely duplicate conditions
prior to the social transformation in terms of the
"national" (white, colonialist) ideology to which the
working class is exposed under capitalism.31
Ofelia Schutte describes his thought in the following way,
Mariategui therefore thinks of socialism as a system

that takes up the more valuable aspects of capitalism
while at the same time going b e y o n d them... [a] s
Maraiategui would like to do, o t h e r factors besides the
industrial advances of capitalism and the level of
class-consciousness of the workers need to be taken
into consideration. In this context, the expansion of
Mariategui's socialist anthropology to include the
concerns for the spiritual as well as the material
well-being of Peru's indigenous population becomes
highly significant.32
The CCLA reports and official documents do not refer to
Mariategui's work. Some Latin A merican Protestants suggest
that John Mackay and Jose Mariategui exchanged
correspondence, but researches will have to wait for access
to the private correspondence of J o h n Mackay to know if such
letters e x i s t s .
nevertheless, Mariategui's thought was available to the
30Ofelia S c h utte rCultural Identity and Social

Liberation in Latin American Thought (New York: State
University of New York Press, 1993), 41.
31Ibid., 45.
32Ibid., 52.
177
Latin American Protestants and CCLA's m e m b e r s . They b o t h
addressed similar issues and had common concerns. Despite
the possibility that the political a nd religious language
that Mariategui offered m a y have been too radical for the
CCLA's missiological reflection, the fact remains that Latin
Americans had other voices which were offering an
alternative that would struggle to integrate the h istory of
the continent on its own t e r m s .
Conclusions
The Latin American reports of the CCLA reveal the
struggle of Latin Americans to discover an authentic process
b y which missionary Protestantism could be transformed into
a Latin American Protestantism. Latin American missiologists
dismiss too hastily Erasmo Braga's report. In my opinion,
Braga's report demonstrates the hunger to retrieve a history
that would provide direction and identity to the future of
Protestantism in Latin America. Although his reflection
exhibits some confusion, it also reveals an awareness that
without a historical referent, a Latin A merican Protestant
identity w ould remain an elusive goal, but never a reality.
B a e z-Camargo's report on the Havana Congress (1929)
shows what most missiologists identify as a process of
contextualization. It is evident that his interpretation of
the Havana Congress (1929) recognizes the inter-cultural
reality of the CCLA's missiological discourse. From the
report the reader is convinced that the asymmetry at Havana
178
between nationals and missionaries was minimized, granting
the nationals responsibility in the affairs of the
evangelical churches of the continent.
I consider the Havana Congress to provide an example of
the pluritopic hermeneutics discussed in the introduction of
this dissertation. As discussed above, the term
"nacionalismo" [nationalism] incited controversy. Evidently,
the North American missiologists and missionaries felt
threatened by the term. Inman also addressed this issue in
the North American report of the Congress. The Latin
American report provided one interpretation, and although it
includes clarifications for the North American constituency,
it maintained the critical issues of "nacionalismo" in
place.
Finally, the Latin American constituency of the CCLA
continued to contribute to the missiological discourse of
the CCLA in continuity with the North A merican constituency.
The general discourse developed around the Roman Catholic
legacy and the present conditions of exploitation and
imperialism in the continent. Although the discourse
challenged the asymmetry of the older and younger churches,
of inter-american relationships as well as the relationships
between the nationals and missionaries, it lacked a
historical, cultural and political connection with other
similar discourses in the continent.
What could have caused the Latin A merican Protestant
179
discourse to be restricted to the above themes? This is a
difficult question. I suggest that the locus of enunciation,
the inter-cultural and asymmetrical dynamics in which Latin
Americans found themselves in the CCLA l i m i t e d the national
missiological conversation to the North A m e r i c a n themes and
proposals preventing a move in a different direction in the
missiological discourse.
PART THREE
LATIN AMERICA: A MISSION FIELD?
CONCLUSION
Groups which have been marginal to society often e n t e r into

history especially explosively, whatever the ages of the
individuals involved, although y o u t h m a y be the m o s t
explosive. These groups and individuals, long invisible to
history, have a special problem. They n eed an useable past--
a sense of continuity--if they are to "enter into history"
and have and effective psychological base for cultural and
political action.1
Charles A. Ryerson III
In a recent Global Mission Conference sponsored b y the
Outreach Foundation, a validated m ission support group of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States, h eld at
Peachtree Presbyterian Church,2 the following statements
were read in a small group meeting regarding Mexico,
Mexico is a country where the conception of revolution

has been idealized, where, until recently, the highest
that could be said about anybody was that he was a
"true revolutionary." The rediscovery and idealization
of the national heritage produced a rich aesthetic
development. . . The Mexican Revolution produced great
art and engendered in all ranks of society a pervasive
pride of race. It failed because it lacked a doctrine
of m a n . .. He was told what his privileges were as a
Mexican, but he was not told what his responsibilities
were as a man. Today, according to all evidence... the
country is passing through a deep moral crisis. Never
in the history of this great people was there less
downright integrity in the classes and the masses.
xCharles Anthony Ryerson III, Meaning- and Modernization

in Tamil India: Primordial Sentiments and Sanskritization
(Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1979),
21.
2Global Mission Conference (Peachtree Presbyterian

Church, Atlanta, Georgia, September 10-12, 1998).
181
182
Mexico's cult of aesthetic nationalism is one m o r e
witness to the fact that man without God ceases to be
man. The Mexican pro b l e m needs an evangelical
solution.3
The second statement read,
The other alternative to evangelical religion is the

cult o f a childless madonna. The V irgin of Guadalupe,
an Indian madonna without a child, is the national
divinity of M e x i c o ...Our lady of Guadalupe is to the
I n d i a n s ...like the Aztec goddess of the .spot in which
her spirit first a p p e a r e d . .. She appears in the shrine
of the basilica [sic] of Guadalupe alone and in her own
r i g h t ... Jesus Christ plays a v e r y secondary role in
Mexican Catholicism, as He does in all Latin American
Catholicism...He is communicated to the faithful in
statuesque or eucharistic form, or as the Christ of the
Sacred Heart whose cult Unamuno has called "the grave
of the Christian religion..." Bottom Line: There is no
alternative to evangelical Christianity.4
I was amazed b y the similarities of these statements
with the missiological discourse of the CCLA. Evidently, the
missiological justifications of the CCLA continue to be
supported b y a significant number of missionaries and
organizations in the United States and in Latin America.
This chapter brings closure to the investigation hereby
presented." The main question to be address is, Are the
problems and challenges of missions in non-Christian lands
different than those in Christian lands?5 The answer to
this question becomes the development of the CCLA's
T o n Wehmeyer, "Why Do Evangelical Missions in

Mexico?," quoting John A. Mackay, Christianity on the
Frontier, (nd), Global Missions Conference (Peachtree
Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia, September 10-12,
1998) .
4Ibid.
5See Introduction, page 9.
183
missiology with, all its contextual and p a r t i c u l a r dynamics
and inter-cultural activities. Moreover, it becomes the
theological rationale for the development of a Latin
American Protestant identity. Consequently, the
missiological discourse of the CCLA becomes intrinsic to the
development of the Latin A m e r i c a n Protestant identity.
The process of developing a missiological justification
for Latin America involves the encounter b e t w e e n two
cultures, the North Ame r i c a n missionaries a n d theologians
and the Latin American P r o t e s t a n t s . I assessed, this
encounter through written documentation. Therefore, I rely
on (1) a pluritopic interpretation of the reports, documents
and materials of the CCLA, the voice of L a t i n American
Protestants and the reports of the World M i s s i o n a r y
Conferences of Jerusalem (1928) and T a m b a r a m (1938) , and
(2) the assumption that all cultural encounters have a
context of asymmetry.
Is Latin America a m ission field? (1910-1913)
The above question was answered b y N o r t h American
boards an d missionaries. M y research demonstrates that Latin
American Protestants did not participate in the dilemma
produced b y the decision of the Edinburgh Conference of
1910. As I stated in Chapter Two, the i nitiative and
reflection of the North A m e r i c a n mission b o a r d s to this
dilemma set the asymmetry in the missiological discourse to
be developed b y the CCLA.
184
Second, the early stage of the missiological
justifications for the missionary activity in Latin A m e r i c a
carried str o n g affinities and similarities w i t h the
missiological justifications of a non-Christian land. In
order to "degrade" Latin America from a Christian continent
to a mission field, the religious character, history,
political a n d cultural life, and economic development of the
continent was questioned. The concluding statement after
such an analysis was expressed in the words of Robert E.
Speer: "Latin America needs evangelical Christianity because
only evangelical Christianity can meet the needs of the
Latin l a n d s ."s
But, W h a t are the needs of the Latin lands? First and
foremost, the early missiological justifications of the
boards interpreted the religious context of Latin America
ambiguously. Roman Catholicism was identified as a corrupted
and corrupting force in the religious and social life of the
countries a n d people of Latin America. The early assessment
of Roman Cat h o l i c i s m in the continent was driven not only by
similar statutes for mission to people in non-Christian
lands, but also b y a condemnation of Roman Catholicism's
inability to communicate the integrity of the gospel of
Jesus Christ.7 If the religious situation of non-Christian
6The C ase for Missions in Latin A m e r i c a , (New York:

Board of F o r e i g n Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., 1912), 7.
7See Chap t e r Two, 40, quote 11.
185
lands merit missionary activity, h o w m u c h more is missionary
activity needed w h e n Christianity has failed to communicate
its own message?
On the other hand, Protestant missionary w ork was not
to bring a new Christianity to the continent, but rather be
responsible for telling the truth about the gospel.
Protestant missionary efforts were expected to help
revitalize the R oman Catholic Church and bring to completion
the evangelization of the continent.
This early and ambiguous missiological justification
set the identity of Latin American Protestant Christianity
in controversy w i t h Roman Catholicism. Although the
Protestant-Roman Catholic controversy in Latin America dates
before this period, the rationale develops a historical and
contextual distinction between missionary Protestantism and
Roman Catholicism. Despite Speer's warnings at the
Conference on Missions in Latin A merica regarding the Roman
Catholic Church8, the arguments and rationale during this
period clearly frame an adversarial identity for Latin
American Protestantism.
One of the missiological arguments informing this
adversarial identity between missionary Protestantism and
Roman Catholicism was the notion that Protestantism
contributed a moral vision for progress and development in
Latin America. Missionary Protestantism was called to
8See Chapter Two, 38-39.
186
uncover the ethical imperatives of the Christian faith. It
represented the historical discontinuity with a
superstitious and sacramental Christianity and the heyday of
a faith in partnership w i t h modernity, democracy and the
development of the continent.
This argument was consistent w ith Gustav Warneck's
missiology which influenced and permeated the Edinburgh
Conference of 1910. Protestant Christianity carried the
responsibility of evangelization and civilization to the
ends of the world.
Gradually, the acculturation of this missiological
argument in the life and thought of the elite Latin American
Protestants develops an affinity w ith the culture of
modernity. Jean Pierre Bastian's work on Protestants,
Masons, and Liberals in Mexico9 uses the Weberian
sociological premise to propose this affinity as the
"useable past" that Latin American Protestantism uncovered
to gain legitimacy in the continent.
Finally, during this period I did not find a different
voice among Latin American Protestants that would challenge
this early missiological discourse. In the newspaper El Faro
and in other Latin American resources the Latin American
9Jean Pierre Bastian, Protestantes. liberales. v

francomasones: Sociedades de ideas v modernidad en America
Latina, sicrlo XIX (Mexico: CEHILA y Fondo de Cultura
Economica, 1990) .
187
voices, as demonstrated in Chapter One,10 h a d a similar
argument. Also, the Roman Catholic church was antagonistic
toward the presence of m i s s i o n a r y Protestantism and the
slowly g rowing evangelical c h u r c h e s . W h i l e there is no
evidence of a n y subtle dissidence, there is evidence to
suggest that Latin American Protestantism was caught between
the missionary discourse of Nor t h A merican boards, the
conflicts w i t h Roman Catholicism, and the political and
economic turmoil of the continent. Its e m e r g i n g identity is
in asymmetry and negotiation wit h all of these powerful
dyn a m i c s .
Is Latin America a m i s s i o n field? (1915-1938)
During this period the Committee on Cooperation in
Latin America (CCLA) is born. Although m o s t scholars
identify the Panama Congress of 1916 as the CCLA's place and
time of birth, m y investigation shows that at the Conference
on Missions in Latin Amer i c a in 1913 the ideal of the CCLA
was actually born.
The CCLA became the "think tank" for Christian Work in
Latin America among mainline/historic p rotestant
churches.11 It provided resources, reports, documentation
and events for the encounter between N or t h American and
10I also researched the early numbers of El Puerto Rico

Evangelico and found no dissident voice regarding this early
missiological stage.
xlSee Introduction, 8-9.
188
Latin. American Protestants. It bec a m e a significant
"clearing house" for the reflection on missionary theology
and methods f o r Latin America. Moreover, the CCLA provided
the historical location for the crucial task of developing a
contextual m i s s i o l o g y which w o u l d simultaneously provide
resources for construing a Latin American Protestant
identity.
This stage of missiological discourse slowly included
the voices of L a t i n American P r o t e s t a n t s . The CC L A sponsored
congresses progressively showed the participation of
distinguished leaders. By the H a v a n a Congress (1929), Latin
Americans chaired the commissions and took an active role in
the preparation of the reports a n d the final documentation.
The Spanish report written by Baez-Camargo on the Havana
Congress suggested tensions b e t w e e n North Americans and
Latin Americans, particularly in relation to the
deliberations a n d decisions of the future of Latin American
Protestant Christianity.12 On the other hand, the report
also recognized a spirit of "gratitude for the missionaries"
by Latin A m e r i c a n Protestants.13
Regrettably, the representation of the CCLA in
Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram (1938) did not show the
progress and initiative of the L a t i n American Protestants at
12Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Hacia la Renovacion Relicriosa

en Hispanoamerica (Mejico: Casa Unida de Publicaciones,
1930), 114-130; particularly 126.
13Ibid. , 12 6.
189
the Christian W o r k Congresses, particularly some of the
developments in Montevideo (1925) and in Havana (1929) . For
instance, Inman's presentation in Jerusalem (1928),
"Missions and Economics in Latin A m e r i c a , 1,14 is informed by
the Montevideo report on "Social Movements."15 Inman,
however, made no reference to the report.
On the other hand, Havana (1929) had a report on
"Industrialism an d Rural Problems." This report suggested
that the World Missionary Conference impacted the themes of
the congress. But the Havana report--just one y e a r after
Jerusalem (1928)--is much more explicit regarding the
responsibility of the evangelical churches of L atin America
and does not emphasize the themes of inter-american
relations that Inman proposed.15
This ambiguity is obvious when a reader compares the
CCLA's reports a n d presentations at the World Missionary
Conferences with the CCLA c o n g r e s s e s . The delegations and
presentations at the World Missionary Conferences provided a
particular interpretation of the Latin American situation
14Samuel Guy Inman, "Missions and Economics in Latin

America" in Jerusalem Meeting: The Christian Life and
L i f e . Vol 5. International Missionary Council, (New York:
“ Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, "Social

M o v e m e n t s " in Report on the Congress on Christian Work in
South A m e r i c a . M o n t e v i d e o . Volume 1 (New Y o r k / C h i c a g o :
Fleming H. Revell, 1925), 391-400; 402-403.
“ Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Hacia la Renovacion R e l i g i o s a ,

182-184.
190
and p roposed a particular missiology, one that would b e
consistent with the interest and goals of the conferences.
On the other hand, the C C L A congresses proposed a n u a n c e d
missiology, shaped and focused by elite Protestant Latin
Americans, based on their interpretation of the Latin
American conditions, and w i t h a conviction of participation
and involvement in their c o n t i n e n t .
Despite the ambiguity and asymmetry described above,
the CCLA departed from the early stage of the missiological
discourse (1910-1913). In Chapter Three I raised questions
regarding whether the CCLA would face and address some of
the cultural, economic and political changes occurring
between 1915 and 1938 in the continent. The fact is that the
CCLA congresses did address some of the critical questions
regarding the present and future of the Latin American
situation. In its reports, documents and literature the CCLA
intentionally disclosed a desire to engage with the L atin
American reality inter-culturally, on the missionary level
and the churches' level. Evidently, the missiology of the
CCLA became contextualized and bi-cultural.
Besides the reports of the congresses, it was J ohn
Mackay and Samuel G. Inman who clearly revealed this process
of bi-cultural contextualization. In the inter-cultural
dynamic of the CCLA, these two leaders struggled to
illustrate the critical responsibility and contribution that
missionary Protestantism h a d in Latin America. They also
191
acknowledged a n d celebrated the progressive ownership that
Latin American Protestants evidenced in the development of
the missiological discourse.
Mackay's contribution was missiological in nature and
christological in form. His b o o k The Other Spanish Christ is
regarded as a critical contribution to the theological and
religious analysis of the continent.17 The book, discussed
in Chapter Four of this dissertation, juxtaposed a Roman
Catholic/Iberian christology w ith a Protestant/Anglo-
Germanic christology. He then synthesized the Roman
Catholic/Iberian christology with the p o p u l a r religiosity of
the Latin masses and p roposed that such a cultural synthesis
created a distortion of the person of Jesus Christ. This
distortion resulted a suffering and impotent Christ, unable
to elicit in the Latin Ame r i c a n people the ethical
imperatives required for development.
Nevertheless, Mackay did not disregard all of the
religious production of the c o n t i n e n t . He integrated into
his missiological and christological proposal the
contributions of Roman Catholic liberals a n d writers that
would recognize in the p e r s o n o f Christ (not in the church,
or in the gospel, p e r se) the proper attributes for an
individual and communal ethic of d e v e l o p m e n t .
In Mackay's inter-cultural construct, the reader finds
17Samuel Escobar, De la Mision a la T e o l o g i a (Buenos

A i r e s : Ediciones Kairos y F r a t e m i d a d Teologica
Latinoamericana, 1998).
192
a process of an alianza-cultural-s elect iva (selective-
cultural-alliance) which identifies those Latin American
cultural productions, exclusively among the elite, which
have affinity w i t h the Protestant heritage (Euro-American)
and its missiological project. The development of the CCLA's
missiological discourse can be characterized in the
following way: While the early missiological discourse
degraded the Latin American r eality at the expense of the
missiological justification, Mackay's w o r k recognizes
certain Latin American cultural productions which have
affinity with the CCLA's early missiolgical discourse.
Therefore, the CCLA's missiological discourse selectively
appropriated the sophisticated a n d mo d e r n Latin American
religious and cultural production.
Inman represented another m o v e m e n t in the CCLA's
missiological discourse. Inman's w o r k challenged the
philosophy, history, and policy of the U.S.-Latin American
relations. His w o r k was missiological in nature and socio
political in form. He was the C C L A member who explicitly
responded to the questions I p o s e d at the end of Chapter
Three.
Inman addressed the complex his t o r y of the early
imperialistic policies of the U n i t e d States towards Latin
America and the abuses of foreign intervention in the
continent. Building upon the hi s t o r y of the Pan-American
Movement, Inman proposed a missi o l o g y of friendship where he
193
identified N o r t h American missionaries as interpreters and
mediators of tlie North American culture. He focused on
developing strategies and proposing policies that would
improve the relationships between U n i t e d States and Latin
America. Inman believed and espoused the Christianization of
the relationship between the United States and Latin
America.
Inman also worked at a grass-root level. He developed
strategies that helped to clarify the intercultural dynamics
between nationals and missionaries. He also encouraged Latin
Americans to take the initiative in the process of
contextualizing the Christian message for Latin A m e r i c a n s .
Baez-Camargo, the author of the Havana report (1929),
constantly refers to his work in the r e p o r t . In most of his
references, Inman is presented as an advocate and supporter
of the progressive participation of Latin American
Protestants in the missiological discourse and activity of
the CCLA.
In a particular way, the CCLA's missiological
discourse, particularly the side of the North American
boards, proposed a new type of evangelism. This inter
cultural evangelism is described in the following way by
Inman,
A part of this passion for friendship has shown itself

in a new type of evangelism which various secretaries
of this cooperative movement have developed leaping
over the barriers of ecclesiastical, national and
social divisions and with the dynamic of Christian
194
love, compelling men to attend to Christ.10
D i d the Latin American Protestant voice and
participation propose a different interpretation of the
Latin A m e rican conditions? In what w a y did the Latin
American Protestants shape the missiological discourse of
the CCLA? Di d the research demonstrate the pluritopic
hermeneutics in the missiological discourse of the CCLA?
These questions are difficult to answer. I cannot
identify a radical dissonance bet w e e n the North Amer i c a n and
the Latin American missiological discourse. I do suggest
that the absence of such a radical dissonance may point to
the asymmetry of the inter-cultural relationship w i t h i n the
CCLA.
However, there are some subtle issues that m a y signal a
nuanced Latin American interpretation of the missiological
discourse. First, the Montevideo (1925) and the Havana
(1929) congresses revealed an increasing participation of
certain elite Latin American Protestants. Consequently, the
central issue was not the Latin A m e r i c a n particularity in
the missiological discourse as it was the process b y which
Latin A m e rican Protestants inserted themselves in the
co n g r e s s e s .
Second, this participation d r e w the attention to the
relationship between nationals and m i s s i o n a r i e s . Evidently,
10Samuel Gu y Inman, "The 20th A n n i v e r s a r y of the Panama

Congress," (unpublished manuscript, Princeton Theological
Seminary, Special Collection, n . d . ) .
195
the CCLA was aware that in the field nationals and
missionaries were facing conflicts b e t w e e n each other which
affected the missionary activity in the continent.
Regrettably, the official reports and L a t i n American reports
did not describe the p r o b l e m s . They only provided the
recommendations for improving the r e l a t i o n s h i p .
Third, the Latin American Protestants emphasized the
responsibility of the evangelical churches of Latin America
to participate in the solutions of the Latin American
c o ntinent. Evangelism was broaden in the Latin American
reports.
Fourth, Latin American Protestants were aware of their
minority status in the Latin American c o n t i n e n t . This
awareness, revealed particularly in Baez-Camargo's report of
the Havana Congress (1929), was a distinction from the
official and North American reports.
Fifth, Latin American Protestants called for the
development of a Latin American Protestant identity. They
were aware that the Protestant faith communicated by the
missionaries needed to become Latin American.
Evidently, the missiological discourse of the CCLA was
marked b y the presence and participation of the Latin
American Pr o t e s t a n t s . Their contribution was more in their
emphasis on certain issues, rather than a radical dissonance
w i t h the discourse. Nevertheless, their participation would
progressively develop a Latin American missio l o g y and
19 6
identity.
Finally, Latin American Protestants n e v e r sought to
identify "an useable Latin American past" that w ould create
"an effective psychological base for cultural and political
action."19 They depended on North American missiologists
and the European trends of their time to retrieve and
interpret their history.20 Regrettably, as p r e s e n t e d in
Chapter Six, they decided not to listen to other Latin
American voices who did identify Latin A m e r i c a n resources,
particularly the Amerindian "economic and cultural need," as
part of their proposal for political challenge.21
Consequently, the Latin A merican Protestant identity closed
itself to the sources of its own culture. Today, it faces
the challenge of de-Westernizing its identity and recovering
an useable history--the history of the margin s - - i n order to
become a critical contributor in the life of the continent.
19Ryerson, Meaning and Modernization in Tamil India.

21.
20It has been only in the last twenty years that the
Latin American Council of Churches and in the last five
years that the Third Latin American Congress of
Evangelization took the voice of Amerindians and Afro-Latin
Americans seriously in their missiological reflection.
-210felia Schutte, Cultural identity and Social

Liberation in Latin American Thought (New York: State
University of New York Press, 1993), 59; 35-71.
A P P E N D IX ONE
TABLE 2
Statistical Statement Regarding Mission Work in South.

America (1911)
N o . of No. of Ordained & Total

Societies Foreign Unordained N o . of
Mission Native Commu
aries Workers nicants
Argentine 19 199 189 4800
Republic
Chile 6 97 134 5616
Uruguay 6 27 27 925
Paraguay 3 22 18 147
Brazil 19 244 3 64 28903
Bolivia 6 16 3 54
Peru 5 45 82 572
Ecuador 4 19 5 61
Venezuela 6 19 10 114
Colombia 2 10 6 125
Source: Table is found in Robert E. Speer, South American

Problems, (New York: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign
Mission, 1912) , 223 . Information comes from The World Atlas of
Christian Missions (1911) pp. 96-98.
197
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
I. C o n f e r e n c e s , Papers and R e p o r t s :
1. Published b y the Committee on Cooperation in Latin

America (CCLA) in English:
Conference on Missions in Latin A m e r i c a . Foreign Mission

Conference of North America. Pennsylvania: Sowers
P rinting Co., 1913.
Committee o n Cooperation in L a t i n America. Report on the

Congress on Christian Work in L a t i n America.
Panama. 1916. Volumes 1 - 3 . N e w Y o r k City: The
Missionary Education Movement, 1917.
Committee o n Cooperation in L atin America. Report on the

Congress on Christian Work in S outh America.
Montevideo. Volumes 1 - 2 . New York/Chicago: Fleming
H. Revel1, 1925.
Inman, Samuel. Evangelicals at H a v a n a . N e w York: Committee

o n Cooperation in L a t i n America, 1929.
2. Published b y the CCLA in Spanish:
Baez-Camargo, Gonzalo. Hacia la Renovacion Religiosa en

Hispanoamer i c a . Mejico: Casa U n i d a de
Publicaciones, 193 0.
Braga, Erasmo. Pan-Americanismo Aspecto R e l i g i o s o .

Translation from Portuguese to Spanish by Eduardo
198
199
Monteverde. N u e v a York: Sociedad para la Educacidn

Misionera en Estados Unidos y Canada, 1917.
3. Published b y the International Missionary Council:
International Missionary Council. International Missionary

Council: Addresses and Papers of John R. M o t t . Ne w
York: Associ a t i o n Press, 1947.
________ _. D irectory of Foreign M i s s i o n s . N e w York:

International Missionary Council, 1933-1938.
_________ . Evangelism for the World T o d a y : As Interpreted

by Christian Leaders Throughout the W o r l d . New
York: International Missionary Council, 1938.
________ How the Church Grows in B r a z i l . a Story of the

Economic and Social Basis of the Evangelical
Church in B r a z i l . New York: Department of Social
and Economic Research Counsel, International
Missionary Council, 1943.
________ . Interpretative Statistical Survey of the World

Mission of the Christian C h u r c h . Ne w York:
International Missionary Council, 193 8.
________ . Jerusalem Meeting: The Christian Life and

Message in Relation to Non-Christian Systems of
Thought and Lif e . Vols. 1-8. N e w York:
International Missionary Council, 1928.
_______ _. The Church in a Sugar Economy: A Study of the

Economic and Social Basis of the Evangelical
Church in C u b a . Ne w York: Department of Social and
Economic Research Counsel, International
. The Church in Puerto Rico's D i l e m m a . N e w York:

Department of Social and Economic Research
Counsel, International Missionary Council, 1942.
. The Economic Basis of the Evangelical Church in

M e x i c o . London; Ne w York: International Missionary
Council, 1940.
. The Evangelical Church in the R i v e r Plate

R e p u b l i c s . New York: Department of Social and
Economic Research Counsel, International
. "The Madras Series:" Presenting Papers based
200
upon the Meeting of the International Missionary
Council at Tambaram, Madras. India. December 1912
to Decembe r 193 8 . N e w York: International
M issionar y Council, 1939.
_________ . The W o r l d Mission of the Church: Findings and

Recommendations of the International Missionary
C o u n c i l . New York: International Missionary
C o u n c i l , 1939.
World Missionary Conference, 1910. Carrying the Gospel to

All the Non-Christian W o r l d . Vol. 1.-9. New York:
Fleming H. Revell, 1910.
_________ . World Missionary Conference Edinburgh, Scotland,

1910. Report of the Commission. Volumes 1 - 9 . N e w
York: Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, and Revell,
1910 .
I I . Published Primary R e s o u r c e s :
1. Works b y N o r t h American and Latin A me r i c a n missionaries

related to the CCLA, in Spanish and English:
Beach, Harlan P. Renaissant Latin A m e r i c a . New York:

Missionary Education Movement of the United States
and Canada, 1916.
Browning, Webster E. Roman Christianity in Latin A m e r i c a .

New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1924.
Inman, Samuel. America Revolucionaria: Conferencias y

e n s a y o s . Madrid: J. Morata, 193 3.
_________. Christian Cooperation in Latin A m e r i c a . New

York City: Committee on Cooperation in Latin
America, 1917.
_________. Democracy versus the totalitarian state in Latin

A m e r i c a . Philadelphia: American Academy of
Political and Social Science, 1938.
________ . Evangelicals at H a v a n a . New York: Cooperation

Committee in Latin America, 1929.
________ . Hacia la Solidaridad A m e r i c a n a . Madrid: Daniel

Jorro, 1924.
_______ . Intervention in M e x i c o . New York: Association
Press, 1919.
_________ . La Nueva D e m o c r a c i a . New York: Cooperation

Committee in Latin American, 1920-1938.
_________ . Problems in Pan Americ a n i s m . New York: George H.

D o r a n Co., 1921.
_________ . South America Today: Social and Relicrious

Movements as Observed on a Trip to the Southern
Continent in 1 9 2 1 . N e w York: C ooperation Committee
for Latin America, 1921.
_________ . Through Santo Domingo and Haiti, a Cruise with

the M a r i n e s . N e w York City: C ooperation Committee
for Latin America, 1919.
_________ . Ventures in Inter-American F r i e n d s h i p . New

York: Missionary Education Movement of the United
States and Canada, 1925.
Mackay, John. Christianity in the F rontier. New York:

Macmillan, 1958.
_________ . That Other A m e r i c a . New York: Friendship Press,

1935.
______ . The Other Spanish C h r i s t . New York: Macmillan,

1932 .
Speer, R o b e r t . Reports. Articles, etc.: W o r l d Missionary

C o n f e r e n c e . E d i n b u r g h . 1910.
_________ . Reports. Articles, etc.: Panama C o n g r e s s . 1917.
_________ . Reports, Articles, etc.: Montevideo C o n g r e s s .

1925.
________ _. South American P r o b l e m s . New York: Student

Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1915.
________. The Case for Missions in Latin A m e r i c a . New

York: Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1912.
Stauffer, Milton, ed. As Protestant Latin A m e r i c a Sees I t .

New York: Missionary Education M o v e m e n t of the
United States and Canada, 1927.
2. Works by N o r t h American missionaries re l a t e d to Latin

A m e rica:
202
Brown, Hubert W. Latin A m e r i c a . New York: Young People's

Missionary Movement of the U n i t e d States and
Canada, 1909.
McLean, J. H. The Living Christ for L a t i n A m e r i c a .

Philadelphia: Presbyterian B o a r d of Publication,
1916.
Sinclair, J o h n H. Juan A. Mackay: Un Escoces con Alma

L a t i n a . Mejico: CUPSA, 1990.
3. Journals:
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America. La Nueva

D e m o c r a c i a . N e w York: Committee on Cooperation in
Latin America, 1920-1938.
SECONDARY SOURCES
1. Background in History of Mission:
Barclay, Wad e Crawford. G reater Good N e i g h b o r P o l i c y .

Chicago: Willett, Clark and Co., 1945.
Bonk, Jonathan J. Missions and M o n e y . M a r y k n o l l : Orbis

Books, 1991.
Burgess, Paul. The New W o r l d . New York: D omestic and Foreign

M issionary Society, 1920.
Cavert, Samuel McCrea. T h e Church Faces the W o r l d . New

York: Round Table Press, 1939.
Christlied, Theodor. Protestant Foreign M i s s i o n s : Their

Present Sh a p e . Boston: Congregational Publishers
Society, 1880.
D e n n i s , S . James and o t h e r s , e d s . World Atlas of Christian

M i s s i o n s . New York: Student Volu n t e e r Movement,
1911.
Goodall, Norman. El Movimiento E c u m e n i c o . Buenos Aires:

Editorial La Aurora, 1970.
Hogg, William Richey. Ecumenical F o u n d a t i o n s . N ew York:

H a r p e r and Brothers, 1952.
203
Keller, Wilhelm. The Young Churches in Their Struggle to
Become Indigenous: A Report on the Answers of the
G e r m a n Missionaries to the Question of the Ger m a n
Evangelical Missionary C o u n c i l . L o n d o n .-
International Missionary Council, 1938.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of the Expansion of

C h r i s t i a n i t y . Vol. 4, The Great Century: Europe
and the United S t a t e s . Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1970.
_________. A H i s t o r y of the Expansion of Christianity.

Vol. 7, Advance Through the S t o r m . Michigan:
Zondervan, 1970.
_________. "Ecumenical Bearings of the Missionary Movement

and the International Missionary Council." Edited
b y R u t h Rouse and Stephen C. Neill. Vol. l, A
H i s t o r y of the Ecumenical M o v e m e n t . Geneva: Wor l d
Council of Churches, 1986.
Malden, Richard Henry. The Roman Catholic Church and the

Church of England. London: Oxford University
Press, 1933.
Neely, Al a n Preston. Protestant Antecedents of the Latin

A m e r i c a n Theology of L i b e r a t i o n . Unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation, American University, 1977.
2. Background in History of Protestantism and Mission in

Latin America:
Bastian, Jean Pierre. Historia del Protestantismo en America

L a t i n a . Mejico: CUPSA, 1990.
_________. Prot e s t a n t e s , liberales, v francomasones:

Sociedades de ideas y m o d e m i d a d en America
Latina, siglo X I X . Mejico: CEHILA y Fondo de
Cultura Economica, 1990.
Deiros, Pablo Alberto. Historia del Cristianismo en America

Latina. Buenos Aires: Fraternidad Teologica
Latinoamericana, 1992.
Dussel, Enrique. A History of the Church in Latin A m e r i c a .

Translated by Alan Neely. G r a n d Rapids: Eerdmanns,
1981.
_________. Desintegracion de la Cristiandad Colonial y

L i b e r a c i o n . Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1978.
204
Escobar, Samuel. De la Mision a la T e o l o g i a . Buenos Aires:

Ediciones Kairos y F r a t e m i d a d Teologica
Latinoamericana, 1998.
Escobar, Samuel, McIntosh, E., Inocencio, J. Historia y

M i s i o n . Peru: Ediciones Presencia, 1994.
Gonzalez, Justo. The Development of Christianity in the

Latin Caribbean. G rand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1969.
Gutierrez, Tomas J. "De Panama a Quito: Los Congresos

Evangelicos en America L a t i n a ." Boletxn Teoloaico
59-60 (Julio-Diciembre, 1995): 34-64.
Priem, Hans Jurgen. La Historia del Cristianismo en America

Latina. Salamanca: Ediciones Sigueme, 1985.
Rembao, Alberto. "La Melodia Basica de Nuestra Existencia

Espiritual," La Niieva Democracia (Junio 1935): 8-
10 .
Richard, Pablo, ed. Historia de la Teologia en America

L a t i n a . San Jose: DEI, 1980.
3. Background in Latin A merican Studies:
Abel, Christopher and Lewis, Colin M., e d s - Latin America,

Economic Imperialism and the S t a t e . Lo n d o n : The
Athlone Press, 1985.
Bates, M. Searle. Religious Liberty: An I n q u i r y . New York:

Harper, 1945.
Bingle, Ernest John. Cuba to Surinam: Report of a Journey in

the Caribbean. London: J. Roberts, 1954-55.
Blakeshee, George Hubhard. Latin A m e r i c a . N e w Y o r k : G.E.

Stechert, 1914.
Bulner-T h o m a s , Victor, ed. Britain and Latin America: A

Changing Relationship. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Crawford, William Rex. A Century of Latin America T h o u g h t .

Cambridge, MA. : Harvard University Press, 1944.
Davis, Harold E. Latin American T hought. N e w York: The Free

Press, 1974.
Deive, Carlos Esteban. La Esclavitud del Negro en Santo
205
Domingo. Santo Domingo: Museo del Hombre
Dominicano, 1980.
Enock, Charles Reginald. The Republics of Central and South

America: Their Resources. Industries. Sociology
and Future . New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1922.
Garcia Calderon, Francisco. Latin A m e r i c a I t s Rise and

Progress.. London: Fisher Unwim, 1916.
Keen, Benjamin. A History of Latin America. Volume 2.

Princeton, N.J.: Houghton Mif f l i n Company, 1992.
_________ . Latin American Civilization: His t o r y and Society.

1492 to the P r e s e n t . San Francisco: Westview
Press, 1991.
Mecham, J. Lloyd. Church and State in L a t i n A m e r i c a . Chapel

Hill: North Carolina Press, 1934.
Pico, Fernando. Historia general de Puerto R i c o . Rio

P i e d r a s : Ediciones Huracan, 1988.
Rippy, James Furl. Latin America in World P o l i t i c s . New

York: F.S. Crofts, 1938.
Rodriguez, A n a Maria. America Latina entre los dos I m p e r i o s :

L a Prensa britanica de Montevideo frente a la
penetracion n orteamericana. 1889-18 9 9 . M o n t e v i d e o :
Universidad de la Republica, 1988.
Schutte, Ofelia. Cultural Identity and Social Liberation in

Latin American T h o u g h t . New York: State University
of New York Press, 1993.
Skidmore, Thomas E. and Smith, Peter H. Modern Latin

A m e r i c a . New York: Oxford U nive r s i t y Press, 1989.
Stavrianos, L.S. The Global Rift: The T h i r d World Comes of

Acre. New York: W i l l i a m Morrow and Company, 1981.
Thorp, Rosemary. Latin America in the 1 9 3 0 s : The Role of the

Periphery in World C r i s i s . N e w York: St. Martin's
Press, 1984.
Zea, Leopoldo. El Positivismo en Ibe r o a m e r i c a . Mexico:

Filosofia y Letras, 1957.
_________. El Positivismo en M e x i c o . Mexico: Fondo de

Cultura Economica, 1975.
. Filosofia de la Historia Americana. Mexico:
206
Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1987.
. The Role of the Americas in H i s t o r y . Translated

b y Sonja Karsen. Maryland: Ro w m a n & Littlefield,
1992.
3. Background in Religious and Inter-cultural St u d i e s :
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of C ultures. New York:

Basic Books, 1973.
_________ . Islam O b s e r v e d . Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1971.
Gruzinski, Serge. The Conquest of Mexico: The Incorporation

of Indian Societies into the Western World. 16th-
18th C e n t u r i e s . Translated b y Eileen Corrigan.
Cambridge, MA: Polity Press, 1993.
Mignolo, Walter. The Darker Side of the Renaissance:

Literacy.Territoriality and C olonization. A n n
Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1995.
Pike, Fredrick B. The United States and Latin America: Myths

and Stereotypes of Civilization and N a t u r e .
Austin: Univer s i t y of Texas Press, 1992.
Ryerson, Charles A. III. Encounter in South India.

Bangalore: Christian Institute for the Study of
Religion a n d Society, Overseas Mission Society,
n. d.
_________ . "Meaning a nd Modernization11 in Tamil India:

Primordial Sentiments and Sanskritization. Ph.D.
Thesis, Columbia University, 1979.
Said, Edward. O r i e n t a l i s m . New York: Vintage Books--Division

of Random House, 1978. .
Taussig, Michael. Shamanism, Colonialism and the Wild Man.- A

Study in T error and H e a l i n g . Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1987.
Weber, Max. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press,

1991.
4. Background in U.S.- Latin America Relations:
207
Barclay, Wade Crawford. Greater Good Neighbor P o l i c y .
Chicago: Willett, Clark and Co., 1945.
Duggan, Stephen Pierce Haydotn. The Two A m e r i c a s : A n

Interpretation. N e w York: C. Scribner, 1934.
Glauert, Earl T. and Langley, Lester D. The United States

and Latin A m e r i c a . MA.: Addison-Wesley, 1971.
Gonzalez, Manuel Pedro. Intellectual Relations Be t w e e n the

United States and Spanish A m e r i c a . Washington
D.C. : Division of Intellectual Cooperation, Pan
American Union, 1938-.
Lockey, Joseph Byrne. Essays in Panamericanism. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1939.
Matthews, Herbert L. The United States and Latin A m e r i c a .

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1959.
Roosevelt, Nicolas. W a n t e d : Good N e i g h b o r s : The N eed for

Closer Ties with Latin A m e r i c a . New York: The
National Foreign Trade Council, 1939.
Scherill, Charles Hitchcock. Modernizing- the Monroe

Doctrine. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916.
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OF P RINCETON T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y IN P ARTIAL FULFIL L M E NT OF

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A Carlos Andres, por su apoyo y sus abrazos cuando

menos se esperan y mas necesario son . . .

A Juan Carlos, po r su mirada tierna y su mente

inquisitiva, siempre aprendiendo . . .

A Carlos Esteban, el bebe, q u i e n con sus sonrisas hizo

los ultimos dias de esta tesis llevaderos . . .

A Lizzie, m i amada esposa, companera y amante, cuya fe

A mi familia, mi verdadero examen en la vida, mi

I am grateful for the support and advice of m y mentors,

Dr. A l a n Neely and Dr. Charles Ryerson. They opened m y eyes

to new insights and perspectives in missiology and the

history of religions. I am also grateful for Dr. James

Moorhead, who served on my dissertation committee.

I a m grateful to the community of Columbia Theological

Seminary who supported me during the writing of this

dissertation. There are too many colleagues to thank, for

their support and en c o u r agement.

I a m indebted to a cloud of witnesses that accompanied

me during this task. To all who, in one way or another,

helped me to persevere, THANK YOU.

LIST OF TABLES vii

Some Theoretical Considerations

PART ONE. THE DILEMMA A N D THE PRELIMINARY

I. Is Latin America a M i s s i o n Field? 13

II. The Missiological Justification 34

PART TWO. FROM NEGLECTED CONTINENT TO CONTINENT

III. Political, Economic a n d Cultural Changes in

IV. The Committee on Cooperation in Latin America,

VI. "As Latin Americans See It:" CCLA a nd the

PART THREE. LATIN AMERICA: A MISSION FIELD? 180

VII. Conclusion 181

1. U.S. Trade with Latin America

3. Reports o f the CCLA's Congresses 129

BY CARLOS F. CARDOZA ORLANDI

Latin America was excluded, as a missionary field on the

basis that it was a Christian continent in the W o r l d

Missionary Conference of 1910 in Edinburgh. As a result,

North American mission boards, with an established

missionary endeavor in the continent, articulated a response

to legitimize the missionary activity in the neighbor

continent. Out of this missional response, the Committee on

Cooperation in Latin America (CCLA) was created in 1916.

This Committee became the m ost critical voice in the

continuing effort to claim Latin America as a m i s s i o n field.

The CCLA included North American missionary leaders and

Latin American Protestants. This particular configuration

allowed an inter-cultural dynamic unique to missi o n a r y

organizations during this t i m e . The available documents of

the Committee embody the interplay between religious

cultures, an encounter between North American Protestantism

(its missionary face) and the emerging Latin A m e r i c a n

religious cultures is also shaped b y the ethos of the World

Missionary Movement and its conference and the R o m a n

a study of the interpenetrations, crossings, cross