cover image Christianity Comes to the Americas 1492-1776

Christianity Comes to the Americas 1492-1776

Charles H. Lippy. Paragon House Publishers, $24.95 (400pp) ISBN 978-1-55778-234-2

Three Canadian religion professors track the early development of Christianity in the Americas in a clear, succinct format appealing to general readers. Spain, France and Britain, we're shown, combined colonization and evangelization in differing styles, each described in one of three sections. Lippy contributes ``Iberian Catholicism Comes to the Americas''; Choquette, ``French Catholicism Comes to the Americas''; Poole, ``Christianity Comes to British America.'' The authors evenhandedly describe the often dramatic, violent and convoluted Christianization of the New World up to the American Revolution. The magnitude and complexity of missionary activity, the gaps between evangelizers and evangelized and the dark thread of slavery in mission history are featured. In this account, replete with villainy and heroism, the many strands of Christianity prefigure the pluralism of today. (Jan.)