Description: The Americas' First Theologies provides the first English translation of some of the earliest post-contact religious texts, including selections from the Theologia Indorum and early indigenous texts written for the Maya that were influenced by this theological treatise.
Review Quotes: "For scholars of Mesoamerican religious history, religion, and literature, and transatlantic Catholicism, this study offers an important and understudied topic. Scholars of religion and rhetoric in the Americas will delight at the careful analysis of rhetorical and literary intercourse." -- Daniel Jones, Religious Studies Review
"This fascinating book is a time machine of sorts The Americas' First Theologies is a landmark sourcebook in documenting the earliest period of interreligious encounter in the Americas. Although not an interfaith dialogue, the fact that two religious traditions are in conversation is a social phenomenon worth reflecting upon. Sparks and his colleagues have produced a text that not only is of historical and cultural interest, but a work that may have significant implications today as well. Use of The Americas' First Theologies in classroom settings may trigger some thought-provoking discussions. Recommended for university libraries, and commended as a prospective textbook for indigenous studies, religious studies, anthropology, comparative literature, and/or linguistics courses."--Christopher Buck, Reading Religion