Forging Christian Spirituality

The Evangelizing Discourse in Lima in the 17th Century

Abstract

The current paper seeks to describe the characteristics of the Evangelistic discourse regarding the explanation of the Faith and the nature of God in the Sermonary of the idolatry excerptor Fernando de Avendaño. The sermons, published in 1649, are oriented from our perspective to consolidate the Christian spiritual conscience among the original population of the viceregal Lima that still held tradicional beliefs. We seek to show how a preaching that invokes to reason from the observation of reality leads listeners to reflect and eventually internalize fundamental concepts of Christianity.