Why Have You Come Here?: The Jesuits and the First Evangelization of Native America
"Without a doubt, this is the best overall study of Jesuit missions in the Americas to date: it is extremely readable, grounded in solid research, and buttressed by balanced and insightful comments."--JeffreyKlaiber,The International History Review"This is a book for which the author must be heartily congratulated. Such a daunting, yet, on the whole, successful examination of Jesuit-Indian interactions --on a continental scale, in five different American locations, and in comparable chronological settings --has rarely, if ever, been seriously attempted or has produced such convincing results. If anything, Cushner's book strengthens the notion that conversion to Christianity, and probably to any new religion (or belief system), is such an intimate, individual event that we will never be able to interrogate a convert's sincerity, let alone to quantify the overall phenomenon." --Journal of American History"Cushner offers a welcome introductory text on Jesuit efforts in the New World, based on an understanding of Jesuit spirituality and missiology, and comparative analysis that brings each aspect of the book into focus." --Michigan Historical Review