CONTINUING WITH PROFESSOR EAKIN'S LECTURE:
THE OBJECTIVE IS TO CHANGE THEM, TO ERADICATE THEIR PREVIOUS CULTURE, AND CERTAINLY TO ERADICATE THEIR PREVIOUS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
LANDA, MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF HISTORIANS, ONCE HE HAS COMPLETED HIS GREAT WORK OF COLLECTING ALL THE WRITTEN BOOKS THAT SURVIVE THE CONQUEST, BURNS ALL THE SOURCES.
COMPLETE SUCCESS THEN FOR THESE MISSIONARIES WAS THE TOTAL AND COMPLETE ANNIHILATION OF ALL PRE-COLUMBUS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES.
THIS IS A WORLD OF ABSOLUTES, OF HERESY, OF THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WRONG PATH.
THE MISSIONARIES ARE ENGAGED IN THE STRUGGLE OF THE HEART AND SOULS OF THESE INDIANS, AND THEY SHOW NO QUARTER AND EXPECT NO QUARTER IN RETURN.
THE JESUITS, THE FRANCISCANS, AND THE DOMINICANS, ARE BUT THREE OF THE THESE RELIGIOUS ORDERS.
THEY ALL SET OUT AS THE VANGUARD OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES.
THE FRANCISCANS ESPECIALLY PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MEXICO.
THE JESUITS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BRAZIL.
THE RULE GENERALLY IS "THOSE WHO GET OFF THE BOAT FIRST, HAVE THE UPPER HAND."
THE FRANCISCANS ARRIVE 1524 AND HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN MEXICO.
SIX JESUITS GET OF THE BOAT IN 1549 IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SALVADOR AND BYEA, AND THEY HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN BRAZIL.
I'VE ALREADY SAID A BIT ABOUT THE FRANCISCANS, SO NOW I'D LIKE TO SPEND A FEW MINUTES IN THIS LECTURE TALKING ABOUT THE JESUITS.
THE JESUITS ARE FROM MY PERSPECTIVE THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
BUT I HAVE TO MAKE A DISCLAIMER HERE. I WAS RAISED IN EAST TEXAS, HELL-FIRE AND BRIMSTONE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CULTURE. AND DESPITE OVERCOMING THIS EARLY HANDICAP, I STILL HAVE A STRONG CALVINIST STREAK IN EVERYTHING I DO AND LOOK AT IN LIFE.
BUT I CAME TO UNDERSTAND CATHOLICISM FIRST BY STUDYING LATIN AMERICA AND I'VE COME TO ADMIRE AND APPRECIATE THE WORK OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ESPECIALLY THE JESUITS, IN THIS PERIOD OF THE AMERICAS.
ALSO TEACHING AT A JESUIT UNIVERSITY FOR TWO YEARS, IN LOS ANGELES, ALSO HAD SHAPED THE WAY I LOOK AT THESE THINGS.
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TO BE CONTINUED
WE SHALL INDEED SEE THAT THE JESUITS WERE VERY WELL EDUCATED, BELIEVED IN EDUCATION, WERE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR WORK, EVEN AS LIKE FIRE-BRANDS, TO EDUCATE AND BRING CONVERTS INTO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. THE DEDICATION AND ENERGY SOME OF THEM PUT FORTH IS QUITE REMARKABLE, AS WE SHALL SEE, FROM THE NEXT SECTION OF PROFESSOR EAKIN'S LECTURE.
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