Issue 35

Little-known facts about Christopher Columbus and Christianity in the Americas

What your history textbooks may not have told you

The historic moment from Columbus’s journal

What does it mean?

What should Christians think about the hotly debated anniversary?

A collection of eyewitness accounts

How Christian missionaries sometimes thwarted their own evangelism

How should the church evangelize the Americas? Two strong leaders faced off over the question

Early Spanish Expansion and Missions

Spanish Developments, 1492–1810

As sincere believers marched to subjugate a continent, other Christians had to oppose them

Courageous Christians who worked on behalf of “the least of these” in the Americas

Junipero Serra launched a remarkable enterprise on Spain’s final frontier

Junípero Serra and his successors established 21 missions in California between 1769 and 1823. Each mission was a combination military outpost and religious commune; together, they were a colorful experiment in missions.

Why is a traditionally Catholic region turning Protestant?

Of the many books about Columbus and his religious legacy, which are most helpful? Christian History asked Dr. William D. Taylor, co-author, with Emilio A. Núñez C., of Crisis in Latin America: An Evangelical Perspective (Moody, 1989).