I grew up in Latin America, in a country where hardly 4 or 5 percent of the population was Protestant. It was also a time and a place where Protestantism was understood almost exclusively in terms of opposition to everything Catholic, and where most Catholics knew very little about Protestants, beyond the fact [they] were heretics. Most of my classmates in high school were Catholic in a very superficial manner. But some others were very devout, and one of the manifestations of their devotion was that they crossed themselves when they learned that I was a Protestant.
In the first chapter of his book Mañana, Hispanic theologian Justo Gonzalez tells his readers about the experiences he had as a member of a religious minority. His story, far from being a unique case, was the common religious experience of people in Latin America. It is not a surprise Hispanic theologians compared the growth of Protestantism in Latin America during the first half of the 20th century with the German society in the times of Martin Luther, the Reformer.
Unlike Germany, Protestantism in Latin America came not from within, but mainly through a process of adjustments promoted by external causes. Some of those causes were the efforts of visiting missionaries from England and North America at the end of the 19th century and the influence of the Pentecostal movement with its revival meetings.
It is not my purpose to discuss Luther and his role during the Reformation. What I would like to highlight is that the Reformation promoted changes in the church and society that emphasized the importance of inculturation of the gospel –the process in which the gospel takes root in a particular culture. The translation of the Bible from Latin into German and the vernacularization of the mass liturgy are two particular examples of this process.
Five hundred years after Luther’s 95 theses, the Latin American society recognizes Protestantism as an important socio-cultural and religious movement that has significantly benefited the Hispanic culture.
Let me highlight two key points. First, religion has played a central role in the secular society in Latin America, reflected in the fact that for several decades, most countries had a state religion: Roman Catholicism. Currently, only Costa Rica currently has it. Second, the European colonizers violently imposed their religion on the native peoples. In this respect, fostering religious diversity and speech freedom was one of the major contributions that Protestantism brought to Latin America.
The Birth of a Countercultural Movement
Because Roman Catholicism was too ingrained in Latin American society, it is difficult to study Protestantism alone. The latter was a countermovement of the former. While the Catholic Church in Latin America had its roots in Spain, the Protestant movement came from England and the United States.
To strengthen the work done by the visiting missionaries, many Protestant denominations from England and North America established their councils in Latin America. The new faith found its niche in certain groups of the society. Many of the people who initially embraced the Protestant faith were people which the main society rejected due to their social strata: low income, homeless, former drug abusers, or from broken families, for instance. Protestant pastors were not afraid to help people in need and work with them in the church. They frequently fought against the established church that usually supported communism. They also denounced corruption among political leaders when the people were severely affected.
After a process of struggle in the 1970s, Pentecostalism and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement found more acceptance in the Spanish-speaking churches in the region. Despite this significant renovation of Catholicism, the Protestant churches continued growing in Latin America with a gospel that tried to adapt itself to the needs of the new world.
The Protestant faith challenged mainstream society with the promotion of women’s emancipation, an emphasis on the individual, and the creation of a means where the poor and marginalized groups could be heard.
An Ordinary Church for Ordinary People
As a response to the socio-cultural changes and political destabilization in Latin America during the 1950s and the 1970s, Protestantism promoted an ordinary church for ordinary people. This situation was reflected in the core of Protestant churches, their liturgy, and building construction. Based on the idea that the church should welcome people as they are regarding their social status, Protestantism introduced important changes in Latin America. For example, it questioned the classism promoted by the Catholic church, granted more freedom regarding the religious obligations of the people within the church, and encouraged a more personal gospel.
Latin American Protestantism adopted the belief that the church was for the people and not the people for the church. This new perspective made the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement and Pentecostalism spread, starting a ferocious race against the established church and the status quo. Protestantism became an agent of change as a promoter of socio-cultural renewal. It was in this environment the evangelical faith started opening the doors to a setting where people of color and from different social classes gathered together to worship.
The Inculturated Gospel
Latin American Protestantism promoted the process of inculturation, a process which Hispanic societies quickly embraced. Despite the fragmentation of the Protestant groups and their lack of a systematic institutional development, Protestant congregations grew fast and attracted many people. They did so by rescuing key values in Latin American society and bringing them into the church life. Values like solidarity, emphasis on family, and a more integrated lifestyle were common among the new Protestant faith.
Protestantism’s emphasis on the inculturated gospel allowed local pastors to develop a more evangelistic focus, taking advantage of the radio/tv impact. They attracted younger generations and new churchgoers by creating audio and television programs that dealt with problems lay people had.
Its impact was expansive. Although Protestantism with difficulty reached around 5-10% in most of the Latin American countries in the 1950s, today there are places like Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, where Protestants represent more than 40% of their total population. In these places, one can easily find evangelical ministries that have been working continuously for over fifty years.
The Legacy of Reformation Still Lives
Since Protestantism arrived in Latin America, the movement has continued with an ongoing process of growth and consolidation, although society has changed and is not like the past. Countries in Latin America are not homogeneous anymore, as each one has developed their faith independently of one another. The socio-political and religious unity that once existed in Latin America is just part of history.
However, the legacy of the Reformation cannot be overlooked. Protestantism offered pastors the opportunity to be formed and trained by experienced missionaries and teachers. It highlighted the significant place the Scriptures must have in the church’s life. It also promoted an inculturation process that allowed congregations to reach common people. Such a process would have developed more slowly in Latin America without the hard work of Protestant missionaries who came from abroad.
Overall, the legacy of Martin Luther and the Reformation is significant in Latin America, and the community of believers there continues to fight “the good fight of faith” today.
*Originally published in Kerux, Calvin Theological Seminary. 10/04/2025. https://kerux.calvinseminary.edu/the-reformations-legacy-continues-shaping-latin-america/. All rights reserved by the publisher. Used by permission.