Belief and Disbelief in South America in the XVII century

Abstract

Considering America and its inhabitants as a territory of action of the Devil was the way found in Modernity to set up the criteria to follow before the idolatries. It was necessary to map out the heresies and the responsible for these in order to fight them. On the other hand, facing the reality of the New World, profuse of religiosity, beliefs and credences, it was inevitable to be presented a series of questions around the nature of the beliefs of the American man. In this sense, are presented here, some classical authors who debate the possibility of a pre-Hispanic preaching of the Gospel in America by the apostle of the doubt – Santo Tomé – as well as the political-ideological interests in which this authors were involved in the propagation/contestation of this possible preaching.