On the occasion of our ten-year wedding anniversary, my wife Cindy and I booked a family trip to Tulum in the Yucatán region of México. It had been ten years since we last walked through the Mayan ruins at Tulum, and while this second trip did not present itself with the opportunity to visit them again, we were re-acquainted with its remnants thanks to the artisanal crafts made by the local Maya.[1] Being only a few minutes from the ruins was enough for me to reminisce our last tour of the area, and to imagine what life must have been like back then, prior to the arrival of the Spanish – and then how the land began to change after the Spanish arrived. Fénix Press’ republishing of The Conquest of New Spain proved to be a helpful guide to frame the imagined historical setting. For those not acquainted with the work, The Conquest of New Spain is a highly respected historical chronicle written by a Spanish conquistador, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who had served under Hernán Cortés.[2] Díaz served altogether in three Mesoamerican expeditions: that of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517); that of Juan de Grijalva (1518), and finally the expedition of Hernán Cortés (1519) in the Valley of México. The classic is worth reading, if for nothing else, for a basic understanding of what happened when Mesoamerican culture collided with the European’s. I would go as far as to argue that this cultural moment is just as monumental, if not as significant, as Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Well, by now you might already be able to discern my delight in having just been near the ruins of Tulum.
Tulum and the Maya
For those not familiar with the ruins of Tulum, it is believed to have been built sometime between AD 800 to 900 (sometime between the time when Charlemagne was coronated as emperor of Rome and when the Norse settled Iceland) but reached its peak as a city center under the dominion of the Itzaes.[3] The Itzaes were a Mayan ethnic group which historically inhabited parts of México, Guatemala, and Belize. Given its strategic position by the sea, Tulum became a rich center of commerce, from which the lords of Cobá and Chichén Itzá exchanged goods with the people groups of Guatemala and Honduras.[4] It was given the name “Tulum”, which means “wall”, “fence”, or “hedge”, likely because of the walls that surrounded the city – much of which can we can see today. Tulum is said to have been so impressive, in its architecture, culture, and economy, that when the Spanish came upon it, they considered it as great a city as Seville of Spain. That was really saying something. Of course, for those acquainted with ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, you would know that anything Mayan (as was the case with neighbouring civilizations) was explicitly religious, and Tulum was no exception. Many of the notable buildings that remain today, for example, served some religious function, whether it was the Castle, the Temple of the Frescoes, the Temple of the Descending God, the Temple of the Wind, etc.[5] What exactly the Mayans believed have filled many books and produced many documentaries, but there is a word that can summarize their worldview at its surface level: “Polytheism.” The reason that is can be attributed to the list of gods they worshipped and acknowledged, some of which were in opposition to each other according to Mayan mythology. But a convincing argument can be made for the Maya being “pantheists”, given that they believed that their foremost god, Itzam Na, formed a part of everything.[6] A subject of study worth further exploration.
The Question of Salvation
As one learns about ancient civilizations, particularly those that have not had any exposure to God’s people of Israel (Old Testament) and the church (New Testament), one might wonder whether such civilizations were somehow excused and spared from God’s judgment. One might argue that they should have been excused based on their ignorance, since they had not received, nor were exposed to the law handed down to the Israelites in Mesopotamia. Nor were they granted the privilege to hear the “gospel” until the Spanish arrived, though the gospel that was preached to them turned out to be a distorted gospel.[7] Could their sins, their violations of God’s law, based on these aforementioned considerations, not be held against them? Could they have been mercifully excused and pardoned by God? Could they have acquired salvation by some other means? While these questions have stirred theological and apologetic debate, the apostle Paul, writing to the church in Rome, leaves no room for such debate in providing a definitive answer to these questions. In Romans 1:18-23 he writes:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Theologians have called this portion of the Pauline text the “universal case for man’s sinfulness”. To put what Paul writes in the vernacular: All have been created in the image of God, all have been created by God and have been brought into God’s world, and all presuppose God in their living and thinking. By virtue of these facts, everything around us bears witness of the Creator, even ourselves. And in our heart of hearts we know this to be true. Therefore, to deny Him the worship He deserves, and to give that worship to created things, is to commit, in essence, cosmic treason. Of course, the question might well be asked, why does man openly deny that which he knows to be true? The answer to that is found in Romans 1:18b, man “suppresses” the truth by his own unrighteousness, or put differently, by his own sinful nature. It is akin to hiding something beneath the surface of the water. It is still there, but it has been pushed under, out of sight. And it is continually held there, because otherwise truth’s buoyancy would have it spring out of the water for all to see. The point that Paul makes is that, whether or not man knows that there is a way to salvation has no bearing on his juridical condition, he is still guilty before Creator God for his sin. And while some might claim this to be unfair, given that the Mesoamericans (or any other ancient people group) knew not the codified law of Moses, the Holy Scriptures make clear that the law of God was written upon our hearts (Rom. 2:14-15). How? By virtue of being created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27). Man knows that to murder is wrong, he knows that to lie, steal, and covet are wrong, not because of what society happens to believe, but because he knows that there is a Creator God who will hold them accountable for their sin (Rom. 14:10; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:5). Why does man fear death? Aside from the fact that we were created for eternity and not mortality, it is because man fears the divine reckoning to come.
The Aztecs and Judgment
The end of the reign of Moctezuma II (died AD 1520), the second last emperor of the Aztec Empire, attests to this fact. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, the Aztec (or Mexica) ruler had several unsettling dreams and visions.[8] To provide some historical and cultural context: the Aztecs (or Mexica), based in Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City), had subjugated the Maya and other Mesoamerican civilizations. The Aztecs (Mexica) were more violent in their demeanor than those they subjugated, and they performed significantly more human sacrifices than what others had done before them. It said that they sacrificed as many as 20,000 people per year. And for special occasions, such as the dedication of the temple to Huitzilopochtli in AD 1487, as much as 80,400 were sacrificed.[9] Sin was always the norm in Mesoamerica, as with the rest of the world, but sin abounded all the more with the Aztecs (Mexica). How could it not have caught God’s attention, He who rules the earth and judges nations for their iniquities (Ps. 110:6; Isa. 10:5-34; Jer. 51:34-64; Jonah 1:1; 3:1-5)? It is said that the dreams Moctezuma had were marked by omens and supernatural events, which he interpreted as coming, and inescapable, judgment. These dreams included the sighting of a comet, the crumbling of the great temple of Huitzilopochtli, encountering strange creatures that warned of foreign invaders, losing hard-fought battles, witnessing his own death, and watching the collapse and destruction of the Aztec Empire. This would help to explain the docile way in which he received Cortés and the Spanish, he feared divine reckoning, he feared judgment, and indeed, with the arrival of the Spanish, judgment had come.
Someone once asked me why I am so fascinated with Mesoamerican culture, the answer I gave was the same reason that I am fascinated by any other ancient civilization: I am intrigued by how they built and developed their civilizations, the way in which their religious worldviews are expressed through their cultural developments (architecture, art, law, government, etc.), but also how, in light of Scriptural revelation, they are nonetheless subject to the God of heaven and earth. Surveying ancient history, I see the potential of human ingenuity,[10] the cultivation and development of creation into civilizations,[11] the grace of God in providing sustenance for both the righteous and the wicked (Matt. 5:45), and His sovereignty in exalting the humble, humbling the proud (James 4:6), and judging the wicked (Eccl. 3:17; Ps. 96:13; Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6). On its own, human history makes no sense, but interpreted from the lens of Scripture, everything becomes clearer within the grand narrative of creation-fall-redemption. Why? Because history, like the rest of creation, finds its meaning in the One who created it all, and who reigns over all.
[1] See “Modern Day Maya”, National Geographic. Accessed October 19, 2023, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/modern-day-maya/.
[2] Bernal Díaz del Castillo, The Conquest of New Spain: A First-Person Narrative of the Fall of the Aztec Empire (Jordan Station, ON.: Fénix Press, 2023).
[3] Javier Covo Torres, Pasaporte Caribe Mexicano, 1st ed. (Quintana Roo, MX.: Xcaret, 2012), 62.
[4] Ibid., 63.
[5] Ibid., 64-67.
[6] B. Keen and K. Haynes, A History of Latin America, 7Th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), 18.
[7] The protestant reformers had plenty to say about the “gospel” of Catholic Rome, there is no need to touch on the matter here.
[8] Stanley Moenroe, “What images disturbed Moctezuma’s dreams?”, Brainy. Accessed October 20, 2023, https://brainly.com/question/34037021/.
[9] BBC History, “How many people did the Aztecs sacrifice?”, History Extra. Accessed October 20, 2023, https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/how-many-people-did-the-aztecs-sacrifice/.
[10] The expected result of having been created in the image of God, see Genesis 11:6.
[11] What man was originally created to do (see Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15), but because of sin, the religious direction of these civilizations has always been apostatic.