There various aspects of these indigenous groups religion from which Christianity can relate too, as well as it can have some differences the Christians do not believe in. Although some different beliefs exist; I believe that there are more aspects in their religions that facilitate Christian conversion rather than hinder the conversion. One aspect from the Aztec religion that the Spanish could relate to was the revered female figure in who they believed in. She was known by the name of Tenantzin. They believed her to be a beloved figure much like the Virgin Mary for Christians. Tonantzin was known as “our mother”, because of her central mother figure in both human and natural fertility. Very similar to that of Virgin Mary the holiest women figure in Christian beliefs. Known mostly as the mother of Jesus Christ. Both Virgin Mary and Tonantzin represented grace and spiritual purity. Also, both were known for their gift of giving life. This aspect of the Aztecs highly fascinated their conversion to Christianity. The Incas had these monuments much like the holy shrines of the Christians. These monuments went by the name of huaca or wak’a in the Inca native language quechua. Huacas were natural locations associated with veneration and rituals much like holy shrines, which consisted of holy places where figures of respect were once venerated or worshipped. The Huaca Pucllana was used as an impotant ceremonial center to resurrect the dead much like the Holy Mount Tabor shrine, the place were Jesus was once resurrected. Huacas and shrines represent the holy locations of great significance to each religion. As for the Caribbean natives, their belief of the idea of life after death as a spirit is much like the belief of heaven and hell. The Caribbean natives believed that if they lived a good life and worshipped the zemi that they would live in paradise, similar to belief if one is good and believes in God one will go to heaven. And exactly like Christian they believed that if one lived as a bad person and did not believe in their God, they would go to a miserable realm after death much like hell. This belief of going to this white paradise or an underworld correlates with the idea of heaven and hell but in a different form of religion. Although Christians found similarities with the indigenous groups religions., there was one hinder that one could argue against them being more facilitated would be that these indigenous groups believed in a Polytheistic religion when on contrast the Christians believed in a Monotheistic religion. These native groups all had more than one God and each represented something different. For example, there was Viracocha the God of creation in Incan Empire, than there was Tonatiuh the son of the sun for the Aztec Empire and Yaya the Taino God known as the creator of existence. To argue back to this difference one would propose that although they believed in more than one God, they still believed in that one God known as the creator of everything. The Indigenous gods mentioned earlier all symbolize the Christian God who they believe created life. And although these gods have different names they all stand for the same power that they created the world. Although sometimes seen as different by the Christians, one can see that their religions are more alike than different. This has huge significance because it shows that Christians and these indigenous races are very similar in religious views. Ultimately, creating the questions if there’s a possibility that these although different, very similar religions were once the same.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The Aztec belived in many different gods, some ofthe biggest buildings were temples, and the preistswouldmake human sacrifices in hope of rain; and the Spanish misionaries were Chistian mostly.…
- 361 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The Aztecs had their no-named religion while the Spanish believed in Christianity. The Spanish tried to convert the Aztecs.…
- 326 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Based on the passage from The Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the main word seemed to be “Her.” It was very interesting to go from reading a poem about a woman who was constantly being oppressed and silenced for her gender (“To a Gentleman of Peru”) to go on to read a story about a man being called to worship a woman. Despite the conflict between the Spanish and the Native Americans, both cultures had similarities regarding their physical traits as well as their treatment of women. At the time, women, in both the Spanish and Native American cultures, were not given then same respect as men. Women were called to be completely submissive to both God and their husbands, and they were discouraged to speak out in public much less hold leadership positions. However, by examining how the narrative describes her physical attributes, it shows that she unifies both the indigenous people and the Spaniards.…
- 718 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Juan Diego is important because he is the first Mexican Catholic person to see Our Lady of Guadalupe and have her tell him to build a church in her honor. He is also important because he is the one Mexican to have Our Lady of Guadalupe come to him in a vision and have people actually have people believe him and people not believe. The Aztec Empire flourished between c. 1345 and 1521 CE and dominated ancient Mesoamerica, regular tributes were extracted, and captives were taken back to Tenochitian for ritual sacrifice. This influence spread of Christianity in Mexico by the history of the Roman Catholic Church was founded in Mexico dates back from the period of the Spanish conquest 1519 to 1521 and has continued as an institution in Mexico into…
- 136 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
QUES 1: How did the metaphysical views of the Spanish influence their treatment of the Aztecs? ANS: The metaphysical views of the Spaniards were determined by their Christian beliefs, and hence they were at once amazed and repulsed by what they saw: human sacrifices, rituals involving bloodletting, adoration of pagan gods, cannibalism, sculptures of what they considered monstrous creatures. They came to believe that Aztec culture as a whole was a manifestation of Satan's influence. QUES 2:…
- 397 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
This benefits the Spanish, as they would gain land, wealth, and arms if the natives would not convert. This strengthened the Spanish Empire, so if the natives did or did not convert, the Spanish still benefited. Additionally, the explorers who set out to convert the indigenous peoples were highly praised when they returned, and felt that they were closer to God. The conversion to Christianity harmed the natives, however, as they lost a focal point of their culture and lives, and most of their pottery, buildings, and overall creations were centered around their various religions. An additional document that would be needed to support the argument that the Spanish benefitted from the conversion of the New World natives to Christianity would be a document showing how high the explorers were hailed when they returned back to Spain, as it would reveal a secondary or tertiary motivation to leave Spain and convert however many people they could. The conversion of the New World civilizations to Christianity benefited the Spanish by allowing them to gain followers for God and Spain, but harmed the natives because they lost the main aspect of their…
- 2349 Words
- 10 Pages
Powerful Essays -
There religion was mainly focused on keeping nature in balance. The Aztecs religion believed it took 5 tries to create the world. The first creator turned into a jaguar and destroyed his world. They believe in sacrifice others. The Aztecs achieved many achievements.…
- 426 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Imagine you were a young Aztec person trying to decide whether to stick with your religion or convert to christianity. The Aztec and spanish had many differences and similarities in the way that they practiced religion. Both religions had different ways that they celebrated gods sacrifice and religious leaders.…
- 510 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The Aztecs became so successful because of their gods. They have created their own belief that got them through their hardships.…
- 238 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
They had three dominate gods: Huitzilopochtli, (“Hummingbird wizard” the native and) the (chief god of the tenochca, Huitzilopochtli was the war and sun god), Tezcatlipoca (“smoking mirror” chief god of the Aztecs in general) and Quetzalcoatl (“sovereign plumed serpent” widely worshipped throughout Mesoamerica and the god of civilization, priesthood and learning). Below these three gods were four creating gods who kept themselves from the human world. Under these were a large number of other gods, the most important) was (tlaloc, the rain god); chalihuitlicue, (the god of growth and Xipe, the “flayed one” a god connected with spring. The Aztecs worshipped about) one thousand (gods, but the sun god was the most important. Religious ceremonies were held in a temple called a teocalli. The temples had pools for ceremonial cleansing, gardens, living quarters for a priest, and racks to hold the skulls of victims. The most prominent part of Aztec religious life was the role of human sacrifice. It was practiced in all of Mesoamerica but the) tenochca (used sacrifice on a grand scale. We don’t know a great deal about the details, but we can successfully reconstruct its character and justification with a high level of…
- 647 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Virgin of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas, is the symbolic mother of Mexicans everywhere, the symbol of Mexican identity, history, and culture. The image of the Virgin, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, is more than an image. The portrait is a history lesson since the design on the Virgin's dress point to the geography of Mexico and to Nahuatl (Aztec/Mexica) deities. The symbols also reveal part of the message of the Virgin to Juan Diego, the Nahuatl artisan who saw the Virgin. The symbols held a special meaning for the indigenous people of Mexico due to their tradition of this type of writing:…
- 840 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In the Aztec empire, religion was really important. They honored a lot of goddesses and gods, and each of these gods had ruled different people, so each god had different jobs. The Mesoamerican religion is the way of saying “the Aztecs”. In the Mesoamerican religions, they had elements of human sacrifice in most of the festivals, and they were held in the Aztec calendar.…
- 822 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Mostly referred as the Virgin of Guadalupe, Guadalupe is one of the most celebrated Christian representations across the world. However, some evangelicals’ especially in North America often misunderstands her as a union of different beliefs and idolatrous image. In Latin America especially Mexico, people frequently elevate her to the status of deity. Besides, they recognize her as the Patron Saint of America. Guadalupe just like Jeanne of Arc, Cleopatra, and Betsy Ross has become mythologized and useful as a cultural and religious symbol. Although her historical role remains shrouded in principles, Guadalupe has a strong historical and religious significance in some parts of the world especially to people of Latin America (Poole 12). Evangelicals from North America and Protestants claim that her visions are heresy without considering the imperative intuitions they might gain from her religious history. In essence, the evaluation of Guadalupe provides a significant connectivity to Christian belief, cultural direction and pagan religion of native people.…
- 2149 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The Spanish colonization of the Caribbean and Yucatan was the campaign of the Spanish conquistadores against Postclassical Maya stares and polities specifically on the central Yucatan Peninsula. The Spanish conquest of Caribbean and Yucatan which began in the early 16th century is similar in the sense that it serves as an extension of their quest for Gold and God (Carmack, R. 2003). They conquered both the empires in Caribbean and Yucatan by simply supplanting the Indian nobles with Spanish settlers. The colonization imposed the religion of Catholicism which is a male dominates and typical military affair. The colony gradually became a commercial enterprise however the European Spaniards remains to be a part of the colonial elite. The indigenous people of Taino attained their needs by farming or hunting, their political systems have been governed by societies. The Mayans own primitive societies for hundreds of years before the Tainos molded their cultural representation in the Mesoamerican region. Their similarities are on functional basis to search for their necessities that their societies needed during their time.…
- 1021 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
so because they were poor and couldn't afford to be sent or it was that…
- 550 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays