Learning Christ - Juana Inés De La Cruz

1651–95

She might be the greatest Mexican writer ever. She was certainly the first internationally acclaimed Mexican poet writing in Spanish. Juana Inés de la Cruz was a child prodigy, a musician, an advocate for women’s rights . . . and a nun.

The illegitimate daughter of a Spanish captain and a Creole mother, Juana grew up in her grandfather’s hacienda in Amecameca, near what is now Mexico City. She was reading at age three, doing math at five, composing poems at eight, and teaching Latin at thirteen. Described as a very religious child, she would spend a lot of time in the hacienda’s private chapel—but she would also sneak from there to read the books in her grandfather’s library. This became a pattern for her life. Scholarship was not deemed proper for girls and women, but religious devotion was. Juana practiced both, using each to advance the other.

Soon others took note of her brilliance. The viceroy set up a demonstration, inviting local academics to test the intelligence of this seventeen-year-old whiz kid. She passed with flying colors. Her poetry was published in Mexico and Spain. She received several proposals of marriage, but she wanted freedom to study, so she entered a convent. For two decades, Sister Juana Inés devoted herself to research and writing on all sorts of subjects, not just religious—plays and reviews and many poems. She also gathered an impressive collection of books, musical instruments, and scientific equipment.

Then in 1690 a bishop published an attack on her, saying how scandalous it was for a woman to pursue secular knowledge. Juana responded with a brilliant defense of a woman’s right to study. It seems that this provoked her superiors to press for a recantation. The last writing we have from her is a dully worded confession for not being religious enough. Her library was dismantled. The rest is silent.

Today we often draw sharp dividing lines between sacred and secular. While we should avoid the idols and lies of much secular culture, we can still celebrate the truth of our Creator and Redeemer wherever we find it. The example of Juana Inés can lead us into a joyous pursuit of all types of knowledge, as we trust the Spirit to transform and renew us.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Romans 12:2