Darkness, Cortes, and the Supreme Court

Book Review: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Conquest of Darkness by Warren H. Carroll, 1980.

In 1487, the Aztec empire under the dominance of Tlacaellel, dedicated the new pyramid-temple of Huitzilopochtli with human sacrifices of 80,000 men in four days, far surpassing the typical annual total of Aztec sacrifices of approximately 50,000. At the same time, in Europe, Spain was in the final stages of its war with the Muslim invaders, to repel their armies, which was completed in 1492. The completion of this freed the Spanish government to commission and provision Christopher Columbus to sail west to Asia, only to discover the Americas instead. The Spanish unknowingly set out in a conquest similar to that of the Israelites when the iniquity of the Amorites was fully accomplished (Genesis 15:16).

The Bible records multiple judgments of nations and cultures totally given over to evil, besides the Canaanites. The antediluvian world and Sodom and Gomorrah are two examples in which God eschewed human agency. But that is not what Warren Carroll writes about. In 1517, 25 years after Columbus’ arrival in the Caribbean, Mexico was discovered, and first contact occurred between the Spanish and the Aztec Empire, a.k.a. Mexica. Within four years, Cortes and a handful of Spanish soldiers dethroned the Hummingbird Wizard and ruled Mexica. 

What follows this is the equally miraculous transformation of a culture. How can 15 million people who have lived (and been terrorized) by pagan idol worship of evil spirits claiming to be gods and demanding human sacrifice be freed? In a few decades, over half the population of Mexica became Christians. This was due to the efforts of the Spanish Catholic Church in sending and supporting those called to this missionary endeavor. Rather than destroying the nation as the Israelites did Canaan, the Spanish brought life and deliverance to the Aztecs. [The vision of Guadalupe is almost a footnote to this.]

What is the difference between evangelization and cultural imperialism? If there were (hypothetically) no objective standard for good and evil, this would be a difficult question. But since God demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to rescue us from our sin and its consequences, we have an ultimate standard. The good news of the Gospel is a spiritual truth of a fundamentally different kind than pagan idol worship that demands human sacrifice. When the spiritual war in heavenly places becomes visible on earth, we must choose sides.

What is the lesson for us? The Aztec Empire did an annual human sacrifice of approximately one person for every 300 population. They were judged and saved from evil after military defeat. In our nation there occurs an abortion for approximately one in 40 population. While the stench of this unchecked evil is not the sole evidence, it may serve as a bellwether for the core values of a culture. The Supreme Court opened the door to changing our cultural direction, but … they do not decide the ultimate outcome. [Selah] A rebellious and evil society cannot escape judgment if it rejects all warnings. Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:14) reaped in full measure, the Aztecs were conquered, and six justices pointed it out, but ultimately our society will decide its own fate.

Discerning what God is calling us to

As we grow up, typically in adolescence, we have to decide for ourselves (ultimately) what path we will take. There are several dimensions of life.

• Values
• Friends 
• Family choices
• Social behavior norms
• Spiritual beliefs and practices 
• Career
• Financial behaviors

And although we start life without questioning our parents’ choices for themselves and for us, as we develop we begin to discover other sources of authority, values, norms, etc. This may include teachers, church leaders, television role models (both characters and actors), peers, influencers on social media, historical writings (philosophers, historians, etc.). Sadly, most make their decisions about the source of values, and the resulting means to achieve them, without considering the fundamental question of why. Why should we leave our parents’ value system? Why should we choose to adopt values and behaviors from some specific source? 

Without a philosophical digression about the summum bonum of life, I propose to take as a given that we should seek to value the things God values and do the things He tells us to do. What do Scriptures say about this?

Firstly, both the written and spoken words of God are our primary sources of God’s message to  us. We can find almost innumerable verses advising us to seek God by study of the Scripture.  What about God speaking to us directly? How do we recognize His voice? One sure sign is referred to in Luke 24:32. When His written word becomes alive to us, or what He says to us in our heart directly causes our heart to burn within us, we must learn to recognize and respond.

The study of Scripture systematically becomes theology. What we believe about God should be the logical result of the propositional statements of Scripture. Countless theologians through the ages have written about the doctrines they have thus derived. We can learn from them, but they conflict. In any event, no writings of any theologian should be elevated to the same level as Scripture itself. (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7) But propositional statements about God are not the essence of life choices, they are guideposts along the road.

The foremost calling is simply a statement of God’s universal expectation. What does God require?

He has told you, mortal one, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

And Peter instructs his readers to make sure that their response to Jesus’ calling and choice is firm, that the practice of virtues will supply entrance into Jesus’ eternal kingdom. He calls us but we must choose to respond to His call. (2 Peter 1:5-11)

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On a practical level, discerning whether God has called us to full time ministry, or what form of service to His body, or to others outside the church, or to humankind as a whole, is a challenge. Evidence of God’s call can take various forms, such as an inner confirmation, the working of the spiritual gifts (e.g., words of knowledge, wisdom, etc.), ease of understanding difficult subject matter, coincidences or confirming signs, etc. The linkage between God’s calling and gifts is referenced a few places: Romans 11:29; Ephesians 4:1-8.

It is important that we understand that these giftings are not for our personal benefit, but the means by which God is ministering to His people and to the world at large, through us. This is manifest evidence of His love for humankind, that He gives people gifts to be pastors and teachers, but equally to be doctors and scientists and farmers and truck drivers and entrepreneurs. We go astray when we hijack His gifts for our own purposes. 

We must also keep in mind that we are not saved by our callings, but by faith in Christ. But He does not stop with salvation - that is His starting point. There is a progression. There is perhaps no greater joy than being a tool in the hand of the Maker, except, maybe, the joy we will one day experience in His presence in heaven. Out of His love, He knows what will fulfill us. That is why He calls us to join Him, both in fellowship and in His work, until the two are indistinguishably merged in us.