22 - The Bible in Latin America

Summary

In Latin American history, the Bible is recognised as a message, in opposition to the notion of the Bible as a religious artefact and symbol of the authority of its presumed authorised interpreters including colonial and ecclesiastical authorities. At the end of the colonial period, in particular with the advent of the Bourbonsin Spain, things began to change. The image of the Bible was linked to situations of conquest and theological justifications of unjust appropriation. This undoubtedly had an enormous effect on the work of spreading the Word of God in vast regions of Latin America for many years. Social Romanticism maintained its influence until the 1870s when it began to retreat due to pressure from scientific positivism. Catholic fundamentalism from the beginning of the twentieth century traces its ideological foundations. The Bible par excellence that had the greatest impact on the continent is The Bible for Latin America.