Cross of Christ or Cross of Conquest? The California Missions, American History, and the Future of Christian Faith

Two thousand years ago, an obscure teacher from an oppressed colony changed the world. The Roman empire tried to kill his message by using their preferred instrument of torture: a cross. By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus turned that symbol of brutality into the ultimate expression of divine love and empowered his followers to become peacemakers. But when the Spanish empire landed in the Americas almost 1500 years later, they used that same cross to justify their aggression. How could the cross of Christ have been turned into a cross of conquest? 

Dr. Jeff Hittenberger tells the story of the California missions to illuminate the history of California, the United States, and the Christian faith. He takes the reader on a pilgrimage from San Diego to Haiti, from Morocco and Spain to Jerusalem and Rome, from Tenochtitlan to Santa Fe, and then back to California. If you take this journey, you'll be better equipped to live with love and wisdom in our turbulent times and to choose the cross of Christ instead of the cross of conquest.