Abstract
Among the extant texts from colonial Mexico are rare, Maya-authored manuscripts containing Christian texts adapted to the Maya worldview and used by the local population. Because such unofficial manuscripts were technically forbidden, they provide an important glimpse into those aspects of Christianity the Maya chose to record of their own accord. One such manuscript composed in the Yucatecan town of Teabo contains an apocalyptic text that recounts the biblical end of the world. Here, Christ’s destruction of the world becomes his “great sin.” This paper examines the Maya and European context through which the perfect Christ came to commit a great sin. In the end, this paper sheds light onto the negotiations between Maya and European worldviews that formed the colonial religion of Teabo and throughout Yucatan.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus—Modeling Traditions from the Margins: Non-Canonical Writings in Religious Systems
KEYWORDS
Maya; Mexico; Christianity; Apocalypse; Manuscript texts
