Pentecost at Tepeyac: Pneumatologies from the People

A study of the cult of Guadalupe, which the author argues is not an expression of Marian devotion so much as a popular form of pneumatology, a devotion to the Holy Spirit by way of Mary.

This book develops a Latinx pneumatology, or theology of the Holy Spirit, exploring the image of Guadalupe as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. All symbols are cultural creations. Furthermore, the Spirit (being divine) is beyond all cultures and, therefore, no one symbol (e.g., dove, flame, breath, etc.) can be the only symbol possible. To make such claims is tantamount to idolatry. Other cultures can and must culturally symbolize the divine, in their respective ways, in order to experience and express their faith in God. The feminine too can culturally symbolize the divine. This monograph focuses on the empowering action of the Spirit among the indigent and marginalized majority of humankind and their cultures, and thus on the Holy Spirit's subversive, empowering role in human history, societies and cultures.