The Ethnographer as Pontifex

The first verbal exchanges between the Spaniards and the Inka ruler Atahuallpa were mediated by an interpreter named Felipe. The author returns eventually to Garcuaso's remarks about how the doctrines of Christianity may be "adequately" conveyed to Peruvian Indians. Here, however, the author wants to consider one particular doctrine, that of the Trinity. The truths of the Incarnation and Trinity, the "angelic doctor" teaches, are not merely difficult to understand; they are, in a profound sense, impossible to understand, at least in this life. Yet they are fundamental facts of reality and of crucial importance for the possibility of human salvation. In short, one of the greatest theologians in Christendom maintains that his religion turns on certain truths that the faithful must accept but cannot fully fathom. Boyer argues that there are universal features in human cognition. People throughout the world, for instance, tend to distinguish between living things and artifacts.