Since the aim here is not to bestow upon Dr. Zavala the praise due him for his customary stimulating analyses and insights, these remarks will be confined to listing succintly and without elaboration certain respects in which, in the writer’s opinion, the chapter on religion might be enriched or strengthened.

First, by way of general considerations, might be noted the extreme unbalance given the chapter by the loosely organized and often repetitious introductory section, with its 23 out of 52 pages for the chapter as a/whole. This is followed by a mere five pages on the Spanish church as against eight for the Portuguese and some ten for the British colonial churches. Perhaps more space for the Spanish section might be secured by omission of the several attempts to portray what happened to religious America after Independence; as belonging to the post-colonial period, this material seems irrelevant to the purpose in hand.

The general framework of the provisional chapter appears to rest upon discussion of the expansion of European Christianity in the New World, of factors which influenced the course of this religious expansion, and of the influence which, in its turn, the Christian religion exercised on the new society. The emphasis of the entire discussion falls, therefore, upon Christianity, and the religious heritages of the Indians and Negroes are noticed only as providing elements absorbed by a syncretism with Christianity.

Three main questions arise in studying the history of missions in Hispanic America.

1. To what extent did the Christian religion transform the structure of life among the American Indians? (Their religious, political, social, and cultural life?)

2. To what extent did the Christian religion influence the treatment of Negroes and the acculturation of the African element to the European and American-Indian environment?

3. To what extent did the Christian religion determine the attitude of the Spanish conquistadors and settlers, and condition the life of the new colonial society that arose on the basis of the conquest and Spanish expansion in America?

Dr. Malagon and I have put our heads together and have tried to bring some system out of the discussions of this Conference. Our summary is based not only upon the papers that were presented here but also upon the critiques and comments that were sent in by mail. It is also based upon conversations and informal suggestions made outside of the room or away from the table; so if you find something here that you had not heard about, you must just attribute it to one of these extraneous sources.