VIRACOCHA: CHRIST AMONG THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS

By Scott R. Hoyt

“Towards mid-day, there came a white man of large stature in whose personal aspects showed great authority, and this man had such power as to make plains into mountains and mountains into plains as well as fountains of water out of

rock. With such power, they called him Creator of all things created, first of all things, Father of the sun, because they say he gave life to men and animals . . . In many places he ordered men to live in peace, and he treated them with love

and charity, teaching them to be good to one another and have charity . . . They generally called him Ticiviracocha . . . and wherever he went he healed the sick,

giving sight to the blind with just words.”

Pedro Cieza de Leon, Catholic Historian, 1558

Viracocha was the principal deity of ancient Peru. According to the “Cronistas” (Catholic historians, mostly priests, arriving in Perú shortly after Francisco Pizarro and the Conquistadors in the 1500’s), he was called the “creating God of the Andes.”

The Cronistas learned of and wrote about Viracocha based on oral accounts they received from the Incas and their study of Inca customs and practices still extant at the time of the conquest of Peru. They also saw and described several statuary representations of Viracocha that were worshipped by the Incas and their ancestors.

Significantly, many characteristics and actions of Viracocha documented by the Cronistas in the 1500s’ match those of the version of Jesus Christ known to Mormons through details found in their Book of Mormon and other modern Mormon scriptures. 1

In addition to the Bible and two other books called the Doctrine and Covenants 1

and the Pearl of Great Price, Mormons embrace the Book of Mormon as scripture. The Book of Mormon teaches that a group of Israelites left Jerusalem around 600 B.C. and came to the American continent by boat. These people kept a record of their tribulations, wars, revelations and teachings on plates of gold which were handed down and added to by successive generations until finally being compiled and abridged by a prophet named Mormon, hence the book’s title, the Book of Mormon. The crowning event described in the Book of Mormon is the visit of Jesus Christ to inhabitants of the American continent after His death and resurrection in Jerusalem. As this article will demonstrate, remarkable similarities exist between the version of Christ’s ministry in the Americas as recorded in the Book of Mormon and the Catholic Cronistas’ accounts of the ministry of the Inca deity, Viracocha. Another striking similarity that will not be explored fully in this paper are reports by several Cronistas that Incas claimed their ancestors came from Israel and that they shared many customs with “the Jews and Hebrews.” See Juan de Acosta, Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias (1590), Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico, 1940 (“Historia”), pg. 88.

(The Book of Mormon teaches that Jesus Christ visited the Americas following his resurrection in Jerusalem.) These uniquely Mormon attributes of Christ were either unknown to or disbelieved by the Catholic Cronistas at the time they wrote their accounts.

Comparisons show that the Cronistas’ descriptions of Viracocha differ in key respects from their Catholic conceptions of Christ, which is evidence they were not purposely infusing Viracocha with Christ-like characteristics. Remarkably, however, the Catholic Cronistas’ accounts are in complete harmony with the Mormon understanding of Christ, evidence that Viracocha (and his Aztec counterpart, Quetzalcoatl, as well as the white Mayan prophet, Kukulcan) might well have been the Christ spoken of in the Book of Mormon.

Given the considerable similarities between the Cronistas’ Viracocha and Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Mormon, some might infer that Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, somehow gained access to the Cronistas’ accounts and plagiarized them. This was impossible, however, because the Cronistas’ writings were not published until the late 19th and early 20th Centuries whereas the Book of Mormon 2

was published in 1830. At the time Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon in a small cabin in Pennsylvania, the Cronistas’ writings were securely ensconced in Catholic catacombs in Spain.

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Pedro Cieza de Leon was one of the most authoritative and prolific of the Catholic Cronistas.

One might be tempted to dismiss the Cronistas as writers who “Catholicized” their accounts, ascribing Christ-like attributes to Viracocha because of their personal religious beliefs. Whereas this criticism might apply to some of the more enthusiastic writings of later Cronistas, Peru’s foremost 20th century expert on Inca religious

See e.g. Pease, Cronicas at pg. 324.2

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history, Franklin Pease, concludes that the original four Cronistas, Pedro Cieza de 3

Leon (“Cieza”), Cristóbal de Molina (“Molina”), Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa 4 5

(“Sarmiento”) and Juan Diez de Betanzos (“Betanzos”), accurately documented the 6 7

beliefs, traditions and customs of the Incas as they heard and witnessed them without Catholic embellishment. 8

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Until his death in 1999, Pease was the most recognized expert in the world on the 3

accounts of the Cronistas and ancient Peruvian ethno-history. See Martinez Riaza, Ascencion, Franklin, Pease Garcia – Yrigbyen (1939-1999), In Memorian Revista Complatense de Historia de América 2000, 26:373-376. He lectured and wrote extensively on the accounts of the Cronistas and served as university professor and director of Peru’s National Museum of History. Id.

Cieza arrived in Perú in 1548 as a soldier and became one of the most prominent 4

early historians of ancient Perú as he interviewed many of the wise men and nobles of the Incas. Steele, Paul Richard and Allen, Catherine J., Handbook of Inca Mythology (“Steele Handbook”) ABC-CLIO 2004, pgs. 42-43. See also Pease, Las Cronicas Y Los Andes, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Lima (2010) (“Cronicas”) pgs. 38-40.

Molina was a parish priest in Cuzco who was fluent in Quechua. Steele Handbook, 5

supra at 42-43 and Pease, Cronicas at pgs. 52-53.

Sarmiento was a celebrated navigator and captain who, while stationed in Cuzco, 6

compiled a history of the Incas from interviews with Incan priests and nobles. Id.

Betanzos was among the first conquistadors with Pizarro. He studied Quechua, the 7

language of the Incas, and became Pizarro’s official interpreter. He married an Inca princess and wrote a treatise on the Incan Empire. Id.

See Pease, El Dios Creador Andino, Mosca Azul Editores, Lima (1973) (“Creador”) 8

pgs. 12-13 and Pease, Cronicas at pgs. 155-156. After the Conquest, the Incas and their descendants began to intermingle their beliefs with Catholic beliefs. The Spanish priests did not discourage this as it made it easier for them to “convert” the Incas. As an example, the Cathedral of Cuzco was built on the foundation of the Inca Temple of Coricancha, making it more likely the Incas would attend Mass.

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Franklin Pease, deceased 1999, Senior Professor of Humanities, University of Peru, world-renowned author and expert in Andean ethno-history.

Pease supports that fundamental conclusion by demonstrating that many of the key attributes of Viracocha documented by these four Cronistas were foreign to their own preconceptions of Christ as Catholics. For example, Pease notes that the Cronistas repeatedly documented that Viracocha did not create the world from nothing (“ex nihilo”) as Catholics believe God did. Rather, Viracocha created by organizing already existent matter as Mormons believe God did. 9

Further evidence that all Cronistas did not Catholicize their accounts of the Viracocha legends is found in their frequent statements that any similarities between Viracocha and Jesus Christ must have been the work of the Devil trying to mislead the ancient Peruvians. In fact, the Cronistas supported their Catholic colleagues in 10

proselytizing the “pagan” Peruvians to Christianity, including the destruction of their Viracocha statues and the conversion of a Viracochan temple in central Cuzco into a Catholic chapel and monastery.

Christ’s/Viracocha’s Pre-Earth Life – The Creator

The ancient Peruvians believed Viracocha existed before the earth and that he created it. Sarmiento reports: “[The Incas] say that in the beginning, before the world was created, there was one named Viracocha.” 11

See e.g. Pease Creador at pgs. 13-14 and Pease, Notas Sobre Wiracocha Y Sus 9

Itinerarios, Historica Vol. X No. 2 Dec. 1986 at pg. 227 (“Notas”) (“European authors in that epoch (1500s) only understood a creation ex nihilo.”

Pease, Cronicas, at pgs. 69 and 137 (The goal of the Priests became to remove the 10

“idolatry” and “extinguish the Andean cults and replace them with the infusion of Christianity.” “[F]or the Spanish they [Incas] did not have Gods but rather idols, demonic manifestations.” See also Pease Creador at pgs. 13-14.

Sarmiento, Historia de los Incas (1572) (Segunda Parte de la Historia Indica) 11

Emece` Editores, Buenos Aires, 1943 (“Sarmiento, Historia”), pg. 101.

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A Chilean postage stamp commemorating the renowned Spanish Catholic historian, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa.

Pease adds that, “The Cuzco Chronicles talk of a pre earth creation by 12

Viracocha, who initially created the heavens, the earth and a generation of men.” 13

Pease continues, “He [Viracocha] was the creator that conquered chaos and…ordered the preexistent world: He commanded the heavens, the sun, the moon and stars to divide space and he organized the four regions.”

Pease continues, “The creation was of a character of ordering a stratification of matter that already existed in one manner or other, a construction with matter already there. The creator of the universe is he who puts in order, who dominates chaos. The formation or ordering pre-supposes a creator and fundamental matter.” 14

Citing Betanzos, Pease also notes that Viracocha “and His helpers” created the earth and man. He further states that, “In the Andes, the word is creator. 15

Viracocha creates by means of the word” (italics added). 16

These accounts of Viracocha as pre-earth life creator through his word are remarkably similar to descriptions of Christ found in the Book of Mormon and other modern Mormon scripture. For example:

In Ether 3:14 (a volume within the Book of Mormon) Christ declares: “I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people.” In

See footnote 3, supra.12

Pease, Notas at pg. 227 and Pease Creador, at 84, note 21.13

Id. citing Van Der Leeuw, Gerardas, Fenomenologia de la Religion, FCE Mexico 1964 14

at pgs. 550-551. This accords with the Mayan understanding of the nature of the creation as written in the Popol Vuh, where it calls the three creating Gods the “Dominators,” “Constructors,” and says that a semblance of ocean and space existed in Heaven but nothing had yet been united together. See Popol-Vuh (1550) Traduccion de Asturias y Gonzalez de Mendoza, Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires 1973 (“Popol-Vuh”) pgs.  12-15. The Popul Vuh also has been criticized for being “Catholicized” by the Mayans who wrote their accounts after the Conquest. However, murals of the creation accounts in the Popul Vuh, dating to 200 B.C., have been discovered recently in El Mirador, Guatemala. The accounts in the murals conform to the later manuscripts of the Popul Vuh. See CNN Report Feb. 23, 2012.

Pease Creador at 23 citing Betanzos. See also Urteaga, Horacio H., Historia de Los 15

Incas y Conquista del Peru, Crónicas 1533-1552, Lima 1924, pg. 85. The Popul Vuh refers to three creating Gods and states that they held counsel and decided to create the heavens, earth and Man. Popul Vuh, at 12-15. This accords with modern Mormon revelation. See Moses 1:32 (in the Pearl of Great Price).

Pease, Creador at pg. 23 citing Betanzos, Suma at pg. 85.16

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another volume of the Book of Mormon, Christ proclaims that, “I was with the father from the beginning” (3 Nephi 9:15).

In a Mormon scripture from the Pearl of Great Price, the prophet Abraham has a vision confirming that the creation occurred exactly as the Cronistas documented Viracocha performing it – by organizing already existent matter. Abraham saw “intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these . . . there stood one . . . like unto God and He said unto those who were with him: ‘We will go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell.’” (Abraham 3:22-24)

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The four book canon of Mormonism.

In another Pearl of Great Price scripture, God appears to Moses and tells him that Christ (like Viracocha) created by His word. To wit: “By the word of my power have I created them, which is mine only Begotten son.” 17

In Jacob 4:9 in the Book of Mormon the scripture declares: “For behold by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth which earth was created by the power of his word.”

Joseph Smith received a revelation in 1833 set forth in Doctrine and Covenants 93:33 that confirms the correctness of the Peruvian creation accounts — that Viracocha took existent matter and organized it, thus dominating chaos. “The elements are eternal,” the verse concludes. Smith elaborated on this revelation

Moses 1:32. See also 3 Nephi 9:15. [Word is the power of creation]17

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later, stating: “Anything created [ex nihilo or from nothing] cannot be eternal; and earth, water, etc. had their existence in an elementary state, from eternity.” 18

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Joseph Smith, prophet and founder of Mormonism.

Smith continued: “Now, the word create . . . does not mean to create out of nothing, it means to organize . . . hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos – chaotic matter, which is element . . . The pure principle of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end.” 19

Smith extended this concept to man’s spirit: “All spirit is matter but it’s more fine or pure . . . 20

And Parley P. Pratt, an apostle in the Mormon church in the 1800’s, wrote: “Matter and spirit are two great principles of all existence. Everything animate and inanimate is capable of one or the other, or both of these eternal principles . . . matter and spirit are of equal duration, both are self-existent, they never began to exist and they never can be annihilated . . . matter as well as spirit is eternal, uncreated . . . 21

Joseph Smith in History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Deseret 18

News, Salt Lake City, Utah (1904) (“HC”), Vol. 3, pg. 387].

HC 6:308-309. 19

D&C 131:7-8.20

HC 4:55.21

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The Cronistas’ description of how Viracocha “created” taking “fundamental already existent materials” and “organizing” them, thus “dominating chaos,” 22

accords in all aspects with these revelations to Joseph Smith and explained by Parley P. Pratt. They also conform to the description of how the spirit of man carries on past mortality and is not destroyed.

The understanding of the Cronistas at the time they documented the accounts of creation by the Incas, consistent with their Catholic faith, was “ex nihilo” creation – creation from nothing. It was not until the introduction of Einstein’s Theory of 23

Relativity in 1905 that modern science came to a full understanding that, although matter can be completely transformed into energy, it is never destroyed.

It is apparent from their accounts of how Viracocha “created” – by organizing/dominating matter and chaos that already existed – that the ancient Peruvians understood this concept while the Cronistas that documented these accounts did not.

In summary, the Book of Mormon and modern Mormon revelations are consistent in all respects with those documented by the Cronistas concerning Viracocha as pre-existent creator, including:

— He existed before the earth;

— He created the earth, universe and all things in them;

— He had “helpers” in the creation 24

— His word was the creating power and he used it to organize already existent matter, thereby dominating chaos. 25

Viracocha/Christ Sustainer of Life

But the striking similarities between Mormon scripture and Inca legend do not end with the creation. Rather, the Cronistas stated that, after creating the heavens, earth and man, Viracocha continued to sustain life and the universe by his own power and energy.

Pease, Creador at pg. 84, note 21. 22

Id. 23

In Abraham 3:23-24 the Lord says to those with him “we will go down and 24

organize.” The Popol-Vuh describes three God creators. Popol-Vuh at pgs. 12-15.

See discussion supra at pgs. 4-5.25

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Cieza says the Peruvians called him “Creator of the World and Universe and sustainer of life and the Universe” (italics added). A later Cronista, Garcilaso de la 26

Vega (“Garcilaso”) explains that another name for Viracocha was “Pachacamac” 27

which means world (“Pacha”) and animate (“kamac”). Together this name meant “He that gives life to the World and Universe.” 28

After studying the writings of all of the Cronistas, Pease summarizes: “Viracocha transmits the energy from His very person, which lights the sun.” 29

In a modern Mormon revelation found in Doctrine and Covenants 88:13, a nearly identical description of Christ’s role as animator and sustainer of the universe is found. Christ’s light is “[t]he light which is in all things which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God . . .” The scripture goes on to state that the light of Christ powers the sun and the stars. 30

In discussing Viracocha’s power and energy, Pease states: [He is] “God of the light and creator of the sun…. The fire that dances in the sun is the same that moves in the fertilizing power; the energy that is in all elements, fire and water, is one and the same.” As already noted, Cieza said the Peruvians called Viracocha the 31

“sustainer of life and the universe” and Garcilaso related that his name means he who animates the world. 32

In Ether 4:12 of the Book of Mormon, Christ is described as “the light and life and truth of the world” (italics added). Another portion of the Book of Mormon, Moroni 7:16, states that every man is given “the spirit and light of Christ.” And in 3 Nephi 9:18, Christ states: “I am the light and life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”

Cieza, Cronica at pg. 422.26

Garcilaso was the son of a Spanish Conquistador who married an Incan 27

noblewoman. As a result, he fraternized with Incan nobility and priests and wrote what many consider to be a somewhat idealistic history of the Incas. See Steele Handbook at pg. 45.

Garcilaso, Comentarios Reales (1604), Biblioteca Leo, Editorial Mercurio S.A., 28

Lima, 1970 (“Coméntarios”).

Pease, Creador pg. 24.29

D&C 88: 7-9. 30

Pease, Creador, pg. 24. See also, Steele, Handbook at 29 (“In the Andean world, 31

an animating or vital force is assumed to infuse all material things.”)

See discussion supra at pg. 5.32

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Prophecies and Symbolism of Christ/Viracocha Before His Visit

The ancient Peruvians were well aware of and worshipped Viracocha long before he visited them in person. Every ancient Peruvian culture from Chavin [approximately 1200-300 B.C.]; Paracas [approximately 800-100 B.C.], Tiahuanco [approximately 300 B.C. – 300 A.D.], Pachacamac [approximately 200-600 A.D.], Moche [approximately 100-800 A.D.], Nazca [approximately 400-650 A.D.], Chimu [approximately 900-1450 A.D.] and the Incas [approximately 1400-1500 A.D.] worshipped Viracocha and had the same or similar graphic representations of him on their pottery, textiles, stone, carvings and temples. He was depicted as the “staff 33

deity.”

…A figure facing forward with outstretched arms holding staffs – is one of the best known Andean iconographic images. This figure was depicted on all sorts of media – stone, textile and ceramic as well as colonial paintings. The tradition can be traced back to Chavin culture with figures holding serpent staffs . . . It was characteristic of Wari and Tiahuanaco cultures . . . [It] is also found in Nazca culture . . . The best known version of the Staff Deity is depicted on the gateway of the sun at Tiahuanaco . . . . 34

See Berger, Richard, The Life and Writings of Julio C. Tello: America’s First 33

Indigenous Archaeologist, University of Iowa Press, June 1, 2009, pgs. 204-311, and Silverman, Helasie and Isbell, William H., Handbook of South American Archaeology, From Art to Material Culture, 2008, pgs. 6-7.

Steele, Handbook, supra at 243-244.34

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A tapestry depicting Viracocha. Note the halo, beard, and two-headed serpent staff.

In the creation, “the deity Viracocha used his staff . . . .” The images 35

generally show sun rays emanating from his head and many depict a bearded face. All have a scepter/staff in each hand, said to be emblems of his power and authority as creator of all things. Julio Tello, the father of Peruvian archaeology, identified this 36 37

staff deity as Viracocha and called Him the central mythological figure in the art of Chavin, Moche, Nazca, Recuay, Tiahuanaco, Wari and Inca cultures. 38

A ceramic representation of Viracocha. Note the narrow nose, halo, tears, and beard.

Thus, it is clear from the various images of Viracocha on the pottery, textiles, metal works and temples of the ancient Peruvians dating back well before Christ’s earthly mission, that these Peruvians were well aware of Him long before his coming. This is consistent with the various prophecies of Christ’s coming in the Book of Mormon, including those in Isaiah repeated in the first few books of the Book of Mormon. These prophecies go into detail about His mission to save mankind by atoning for their sins and initiating the universal resurrection of all mankind.

According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi and his group brought brass plates with them that contained the earlier parts of the Old Testament, up through the Book of Isaiah. In addition to having all of Isaiah’s detailed prophecies about Christ and

Id. at 245.35

See iconographic figure from the Huari civilization circa 500 A.D.36

See Life and Writings of Julio Tello, supra. 37

Tello, Julio, Wirakocha, 1923, pgs. 203-204.38

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related symbolism in the five Books of Moses, Lehi and successive prophets after him received detailed revelations about Christ and His role as Savior. These included prophecies that Christ would take upon himself the sins of the world, and that because of his resurrection all would be resurrected. 39

The symbolism of Christ described in the Book of Mormon includes:

1) Lehi’s dream of the plan of salvation including a beautiful tree (“the tree of life”) with brilliant white fruit symbolizing the love of Christ and salvation; 40

2) The brass serpent that Moses raised up for those bitten by fiery serpents; an analogy for all mankind to look to like Christ for salvation/healing from their sins; 41

3) The Passover practiced by the Israelites in sacrificing yearling white lambs without blemish and spreading the blood of these lambs on their doorways in remembrance of Israel’s eldest sons being “passed over” by the angel of death that plagued Egypt, symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice and salvation by His blood atonement. 42

Remarkably, archaeological and ethno-historic evidence shows that these same biblical and Book of Mormon symbols were widely utilized by the ancient Peruvians.

See e.g. Mosiah 13:28, 33-35, and Nephi 10:4-11.39

Nephi 8:2-12. It appears Lord Pacal of the Mayas also believed in the “Tree of 40

Life” and its symbols of the atonement and resurrection. He had a “Tree of Life” stylized in a “foliated” living vine/cross painted red (the color of resurrection to the Maya) carved onto his stone sarcophagus. See Florescano, Entrigue, The Myth of Quetzalcoatl, John Hopkins University Press (1999) at pgs. 103-107 [“We can interpret this image (Lord Pacal’s sarcophagus) . . . as one commemorating Pacal’s resurrection.”) Florescano says the “Mayan funerary evidence is equivalent to the famous Egyptian Book of the Dead, a kind of registry of myths, gods, inhabitants, places, and routes within the netherworld [and] . . . the theme of death and resurrection.” Id. at pg. 95. The Mayans’ knowledge of the “tree of life” is confirmed in their oral traditions/accounts: “These people [Mayas] have always believed in the immortality of the soul . . . those who live an excellent life . . . [go] to a good delightful place where nothing does them harm and where there is a tree called Yaxche that is very refreshing and gives great shade under whose branches and shade they rest together forever.” Landa, Fray Diego de, Relación de Las Cosas de Yucatán (1565), Mexico, 1938, Ediciones publicados en Madrid, 1900, y Baltimore, 1937, Chapter 33. See also Hechos Mundiales 56, Culturas Precolombinas, Editorial Zig Zag S.A., Santiago de Chile, 5 de Julio de 1972, pg. 19.

2 Nephi 25:20. 41

1 Nephi 5:10-16 (brass plates contained first five books of Moses in the Old 42

Testament, which included discussion of the Passover in Exodus 12.)

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For example, they had a knowledge of the “Tree of Life” in Lehi’s dream. In Nazca, a desert region about 250 miles south of Lima, there are a number of massive drawings of animals and other figures etched into the sand and soil. Among them is a depiction of a very large tree which, according to the oral history of the area, is called the “Tree of Life” and was “where high priests worshipped the setting sun” anciently. The “tree of life” iconography also figures prominently in Mayan culture 43

and, according to Julio Tello, was part of the pre-Inca Chavin culture in Perú. 44

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The Nazca “Tree of Life” off the coast of Perú and a replica of the Mayan “Tree of Life.”

The serpent was used extensively by the ancient Peruvians as a symbol of Viracocha. Sarmiento noted that Inca Pachacuti (9th Royal Inca), made an image of Viracocha in gold that had a “serpent with two heads” to protect him. According to 45

The Handbook of Inca Mythology, the “two headed serpent was used to symbolize the Andean creator” long before the Incas. 46

See Uhle, Max and Kroeber, A.L., Exploration of Chincha, Berkley University of 43

California Press 1924. Max Uhle was, with Julio Tello, one of the “fathers” of Peruvian archaeology. Id.

See Berger, Richard, The Sacred Center of Chavin de Huantar, in The Ancient 44

Americas Art From Sacred Landscapes (1992), Edited by Richard F. Townsend, The Art Institute of Chicago. Prestel Verlag, Munich; and Lathrop, Donald W., Complex Iconographic Features by Olmec and Chavin and Some Speculations on Their Possible Significance, in Primer Simposio de Correlaciones Antropologicos Andino – Mesoamericano, edited by Jorge Marcos and Presley Norton, pgs. 301-327.

Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 88.45

See Steele, Handbook at pg. 26. The Aztecs and Mayas symbolized their great 46

white bearded Gods, Quetzalcoatl and Kulkulkan, with a feathered serpent.

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Moses points to the brass serpent with one hand while holding his staff in the other.

The ancient Peruvians also practiced a form of the “Passover” they called Inti Raymi. Describing rituals of this festival, Betanzos reported that the Incas took the blood of llamas and spread it over the doorways of their houses. Garcilaso said the 47

Incas would make bread with blood in it, take it to the house of the oldest brother the night before the festival and “wash” themselves with this bloody bread then put it on the doorway of the house as a sign the house and all within were “clean.” Cieza 48

affirms that the Incas “rubbed these places [their doorways] with the blood of young llamas.” “The llama was up to one year old without blemish”. 49

It is apparent the ancient Peruvians associated these symbols and rituals with “atonement,” or being forgiven by Viracocha. “Confessing, the Inca washed away his sins in a running river saying ‘I have told my sins to the sun you river now receive them. Take them to the sea.’” Acosta quoted Molina as stating the “confessors 50

bathed in order to clean themselves of their sins while confessing them.” 51

The Incas practiced a sacrament reminiscent of the sacrament instituted by Christ to symbolize his atoning sacrifice to his followers. Acosta states that the

Betanzos, Suma y Narración de Los Incas (“Suma”) (1551) San Marti y Ca. Lima, 47

1924, pg. 247.

Garcilaso, Comentarios at Book 7, pg. 98.48

Cieza, Cronica pg. 164.49

Acosta, Historia at pg. 418.50

Id. at 411.51

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Virgins of the Sun prepared many balls with blood in them from white yearling llamas that had been sacrificed. They gave these many balls to the congregation. 52

Seeking forgiveness through blood sacrifice also was a prevalent practice among the ancient Peruvians. Cieza related that they “offered sacrifices of the blood of young llamas.” 53

Resurrection

The Cronistas were intrigued to find that, in addition to sharing a seemingly Christian view of repentance and forgiveness, the ancient Peruvians believed in a resurrection and afterlife.

“They had knowledge of the immortality of the soul,” Cieza reported, “that after death it resurrects . . . and always lives together in the next life with others eating and drinking.” “All believed in the immortality of the soul created by the 54

creator . . . . and they say that those that were valiant and had many children and had reverence for their parents would go to a delightful place while those who had been bad and disobeyed their parents, enemies of the religion, would go to a dark and fearful place.” 55

So literal was the Incas’ belief in resurrection that they would save their hair and fingernails to be buried with them so they would resurrect with them. They practiced an even more advanced form of mummification than the Egyptians of their time.

Id. at 411-415. The Aztecs held a similar ceremony/sacrament and claimed they 52

were eating the body of their God. Id. at pg. 415.

Cieza, Cronica at pg. 188.53

Cieza, Cronica at pg. 162. 54

Cieza, El Señorio de Los Incas (1550), Colección Autores Peruanos, Editorial 55

Universo S.A., Lima, 1973 (“Señorio”) at pg. 14.

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An extremely well-preserved mummy of a Peruvian girl recently discovered high in the Andes.

After observing that vestiges of the sacrament, blood sacrifice, resurrection and atonement above, were so prevalent among the ancient Peruvians, many Cronistas and commentators concluded that the gospel of Christ had been preached among them, perhaps by an Apostle traveling from Jerusalem. Pease quotes Antonio 56

de la Calancha, a later Cronista, as stating that, “In light of the analogies of these primitive peoples’ practices [to Christian rituals] perhaps an apostle had visited their regions and given them the seeds of true religion.” 57

One recent author, after studying the sarcophagus and tomb of chief leaders of the Moche civilization on the north coast of Peru, concluded that they had obtained knowledge of a higher order of spirituality given to them by Viracocha. This 58

conforms with the Book of Mormon account of Christ bringing His higher law of the gospel to fulfill and supersede the law of Moses. 59

The Visit of Christ/Viracocha

It is remarkable to perceive echoes of Christ’s appearance as related in the Book of Mormon in accounts of Viracocha’s visit that were handed down through

See e.g.: Pease, Cronicas at pgs. 1002 and 158; Calancha, Antonio de la, Cronica 56

Moralizada del Orden de San Augustín en el Peru, Con Sucesos Ejemplares en Esta Monarquia (1639), Pedro LaCavalleria, Calle de la Libreria, Barcelona, 1639 (“Cronica”) at pg. 518; and Prescott, William, Historia de La Conquista Del Perú (1847) Coleccíon de Autores Peruanos, Editorial Universo S.A., Lima, 1972 (“Historia”), Book One at pg. 84.

Calancha, Cronica at pg. 518.57

See Coterrell, Maurice, The Lost Tomb of Viracocha, Bear & Company, Vermont 58

(2001) at pg. 15.

See 3 Nephi 15:4 .59

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generations of ancient Peruvians before finally being recorded by the Catholic Cronistas in the 1500’s. For example, according to the Book of Mormon, the visit of Christ to this continent was preceded by great destructions by earthquake, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tempests, falling mountains and rising plains, and cities swallowed by earth and water, all followed by three days of thick darkness. 60

Cieza said the Incas recounted how their ancestors “went a time without seeing the sun” before a “large white man [appeared] who had such great power that he made mountains into plains and plains into mountains and fountains of water from rock; and with such power they recognized him, calling Him creator of all things created, first of all things, Father of the Sun.” 61

In the Book of Mormon’s 3 Nephi 9, before Christ actually appears, he announces from the heavens that certain cities were destroyed: “Waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, [others] have I caused to be sunk and made hills and valleys in places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth to hide their wickedness.” 62

That cataclysms preceded Christ’s/Viracocha’s appearance in Perú is supported by the discovery in 1966 of a submerged city off the Lima port city of Callao, with columns “with a type of writing inside, signs of a civilization a couple thousand years before the Incas.” Given the tumultuous destruction of falling mountains and 63

sunken cities accompanying Viracocha’s visit, it is not surprising that the ancient Peruvians’ “chief god Viracocha was closely associated with both mountains and water.” 64

In fact, the full name of Viracocha is often said to be “Kon Tiki Viracocha,” which Pease said can be understood as follows: “Kon is the bad god of the ancient Peruvians; he is the personification of earthquake that manifests in the tremors with the eruption of volcanoes.” 65

3 Nephi 8:19-23.60

Cieza, Señorio, supra at pg. 18. 61

3 Nephi 9:15, 18. 62

Sacramento Union, “Sunken City Found in Peru,” Sacramento, March 27, 1966.63

Reinhard, Johan, The Nazca Lines, Fifth Edition, Lima, 1993 at pg. 12.64

Pease, Creador at pg. 18, fn. 14, citing Valcarcel, Luis E., Kon, Pachacamac, 65

Wiracocha, Contribucion al studio de las religions del antiquo Peru, Revista Universitaria del Cuzco, I: 1, 2 and 3 Cuzco (1912).

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A Mormon illustration of the appearance of Christ in the Americas. Note how closely this image compares with the Cronistas’ descriptions of Viracocha and his visit to Perú.

In the Book of Mormon account of Christ’s appearance in 3 Nephi 10:9, we learn that it was morning when the three days of darkness ended presaging the appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas. Cieza reports that “towards mid-day a large white man came and appeared to them, in whose aspect and person was demonstrated great authority and veneration.” 66

In the Book of Mormon’s 3 Nephi 11:8-11 we read that “They cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold they saw a man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; . . . and . . . he stretched forth his hands and spoke . . . saying I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. . . Come feel the prints of the nails in my hands.”

The Cronistas uniformly reported accounts of the visit of this bearded white man wearing a white, body length tunic. This description was in stark contrast to usual appearance of the Incas who wore short skirts, had dark skin, and little if any facial hair.

Following is a series of quotes extracted from the Cronistas’ accounts of the appearance of Viracocha in Peru:

“[Viracocha] was a large man with a beard.” 67

“A handsome white man of not much age preached that God had come.” 68

Cieza, Señorio, supra at pgs. 18-23.66

Garcilaso, Comentarios, supra, Book 5, pg. 9467

Calancha, Cronica at pg. 322. 68

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“He arrived at a place where many men had gathered.” 69

“Viracocha, a man with long robe and marks in his hands, preached to them.” 70

“He was a tall man with white robe to his feet, cinched at the waist who they called Con Tici Viracocha Pachayacachiq which means in their language ‘God Creator of the World.’” 71

“All agree that Viracocha was the creator of these people. They have the tradition that he was of medium height, white and dressed with a white robe .  .  . secured round the waist….” 72

The most detailed account of Viracocha’s appearance which seems to almost be taken verbatim from the Book of Mormon, was provided by Cieza:

Towards mid-day, there came a white man of large stature in whose personal aspects showed great authority, and this man had such power as to make plains into mountains and mountains into plains as well as fountains of water out of rock. With such power, they called him Creator of all things created, first of all things, Father of the sun, because they say he gave life to men and animals . . . In many places he ordered men to live in peace, and he treated them with love and charity, teaching them to be good to one another and have charity . . . They generally called him Ticiviracocha . . . and wherever he went he healed the sick, giving sight to the blind with just words. 73

The Book of Mormon relates that Christ, like Viracocha, appeared to a large group of people with marks in his hands. “All the multitude with one accord did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind and with their dumb and he did heal them every one . . . And he took their little children one by one and blessed them . . . the multitude did kiss his feet…and when he had said these words he wept and the multitude bare record of it.”

That Christ wept in front of the multitude is depicted in various statues and drawings of Viracocha showing tears coming down his cheeks. In fact, one of 74

Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 108.69

Calancha, Cronica at pg. 333.70

Betanzos, Suma at pg. 208.71

Sarmiento, Historia at pgs. 31-32.72

Cieza, Señorio at pgs. 18-19. 73

See image of Huari culture depiction of Viracocha showing tears on his cheeks. It 74

also shows the two-headed serpent staff in his left hand.

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Viracocha’s names was “the Weeping God” with the earliest known depiction of him crying placed prominently on the Sun Gate in the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, the place from which Viracocha embarked upon his Inca ministry.

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The Sun Gate at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, with a weeping Viracocha at the center.

A closer view of Viracocha on the Sun Gate. Note his tears and halo and Moses-like staffs.

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Detail of Viracocha as he appears on the Sun Gate. Note the two-headed serpent in his left hand.

Kathy Doore in her article, “Toro Muerto Rock Carvings: Crying Viracochas,” indicates that “Tici Viracocha was worshipped as god of the sun, wearing rays for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes; he is remembered for his teachings and wept for his people.” 75

Gene Savoy, another noted archaeologist studying ancient Peruvian culture, described a statue of the Moche culture of the northern coast of Perú as having “crying eyes that reflect strong characteristics of Quetzalcoatl [the great white God of the Aztecs].” 76

Statuary Representations of Viracocha

Although textile, pottery, and trinket representations of Viracocha survived the ravages of the Spanish conquest, most statuary representations of him did not. Older, primitive rock statues of Viracocha on the outskirts of the Inca Empire remained

Doore, Kathy, “Toro Muerto Rock Carvings” “Crying Viracochas: Ancient Engravings 75

From A Lost Culture” 1998, describing the stone carvings.

Savoy, Gene, El Misterioso Dios de la Barba Florida, Caretas, Lima, 20-30 de Enero 76

de 1966, pgs. 26-29. The author is not aware of any depictions of Viracocha with tears dating before his visit to the ancient Americas (around AD 33) when it is recorded in the Book of Mormon that he wept in front of the multitudes. There are numerous depictions of Viracocha without tears that predate this.

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untouched, but Cronistas made reference to a number of other dramatic Viracocha statues in and around Cuzco that, one by one, disappeared or were destroyed.

Stone statue of Viracocha at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia. Note the figure’s prominent mustache and beard, features rare among indigenous peoples of the region.

The destruction and/or disappearance of these remarkable statues can be attributed to three primary causes:

• Some of the statues were made of solid gold and were either melted down into ingots or otherwise transported to Spain as part of the usurpation of Inca wealth by Spain and its conquistadors.

• Other statues were destroyed by Spanish soldiers on the orders of Catholic priests frustrated by their idolatrous worship by the Incas.

• Other statues were secreted away by Incas intent on protecting them from the Spaniards.

It is ironic that Catholic conquistadors initially documented the existence of these statues and described their strikingly Christian attributes only to later participate in their destruction. This can be understood as part of their evolving schemes to Christianize the Inca masses. At first the priests seemed willing, even anxious to build bridges of understanding between their theology and that of the Incas. Then it seems they decided it would be easier to start from scratch.

So it is that the self-same Cronistas can be found musing that a certain statue of Viracocha has the attributes of an Apostle of Christ, perhaps even Christ himself, only to later excoriate the Incas for worshipping that same “demonically-inspired” image.

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The end result is that, although there is ample evidence the statues existed and that they depicted a compellingly Christ-like figure, none is currently available to be examined. But that does not change the enthusiasm with which the Cronistas reported the existence of many Christ-like monuments throughout the Inca Empire. For example:

“There was in this place [near Cuzco] a stone statue of the white God which was of a tall man with long robe and marks in the hands.” 77

“His robe reached his feet . . . His statue looked like the images of one of our [Catholic] apostles.” 78

“He had a beard and face different than the Indians . . . [and] because of this they called the first Spaniards Viracocha because of their beards and manner of dress.” 79

“They [Ancient Peruvians] built an enormous statue of the Supreme Creator nine meters tall that was seen by Garcilaso. It was a representation of a tall man with a tunic to his feet with white face and a beard. This is a strange description for sure when we consider that the ancient Peruvians were dark skinned, grew no beards and wore short skirts. The statue was so like Christ in appearance that the conquistadors were confused in seeing it and destroyed it. . . .” 80

Describing the statue he saw, Garcilaso said, “It could have been the apostle Saint Bartholomew who arrived in Perú to preach to the ancients.” 81

Cieza, Cronica at pg. 222.77

Garcilaso, Comentarios, Book Five pg. 94. Although the oral tradition and legends 78

of the visit of a great white bearded God are similar among the ancient civilizations of North, Central and South America, to the author’s knowledge, statues conforming to the descriptions of him in these traditions/legends, were found only in Perú. The Spaniards destroyed most or all of those described by the Cronistas. There is evidence that others were hidden by the Incas to prevent their destruction.

Id.79

Alatrista, Germán, “Estuvo Cristo en El Perú?,” Siete Diás del Perú y del Mundo, La 80

Prensa, Lima, January 20, 1963.

Garcilaso, Comentarios, Book Five at pg. 94.81

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This statue of Christ now overlooks the city of Cuzco. Note how closely it resembles the Cronistas’ descriptions of the ancient statues of Viracocha.

No statue of Viracocha was more prominently displayed or thoroughly described than that which was found in the central temple of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire. The solid gold statue was of a bearded, white man in flowing tunic and sandals with marks in the palms of his outstretched hands. To wit:

“In the city of Cuzco there was a temple called Quishuarcancha, dedicated to the God, Viracocha. The temple was built for him by Pachacutic, and on his orders a statue of Viracocha was put in this temple. The statue was in human form, about the size of a ten year-old boy, and it was made entirely of solid gold of very high quality.” 82

The natives came to the temple night and day and made offerings on an altar before it. The temple and golden statue survived for several years before Catholic priests converted the building into a Catholic church and monastery that stand to this day.

Cobo, Bernabe, History of the Inca Empire, (1653), at pg. 156.82

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This Catholic chapel in central Cuzco (lighter, upper portion) was constructed over a temple to Viracocha (darker, lower portion) in the 1500’s. The original temple housed a life-sized, solid gold statue of Viracocha that was replaced by a golden crucifix.

The fate of this oft-described, solid gold statue is a mystery, although legends abound that this golden relic, as well as many others, may have been spirited away by Inca warriors and hidden in the mountains, inside caverns, or at the bottom of lakes.

As a recent article in “National Geographic” highlighted, at least two 19th Century explorers were led by indigenous guides to huge troves of Inca treasures presumably hidden from the Spaniards in the 1500’s. One of them was an American named Barth Blake who wrote of beholding “thousands of gold and silver pieces of Inca and pre-Inca handicraft” including life-size human figures. Blake continued, "I could not remove [all the treasure] alone, nor could thousands of men."

“Taking only what he could carry, Blake left and never returned,” the article continues. “Sources suggest that, en route to New York, where he planned to raise funds for an expedition

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to recover his prize, he disappeared overboard. Some say he was pushed deliberately.” 83

Another prominent monument to Viracocha survived the Spanish Conquest and is still prominently displayed on a hillside of the Sacred Valley in Ollantytambo, Peru. The Tunupa/Viracocha monument is a Mount Rushmore-like effigy of the profile of a man staring across the valley toward Macchu Picchu. Although the rock carving has fallen into disrepair, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still visit the site every year.

The effigy of Viracocha on the hill overlooking Ollantytambo. Note the many buildings surrounding Viracocha’s face and adorning the top of his head. Some are temples, some are granaries, and others are agricultural terraces. Also note the effigy’s apparent beard.

The rock effigy is best viewed from the heights of the fortress of Ollantytambo, which was the site of a heroic rebellion against the Spanish by the Inca Emperor in exile, Manco Inca, in the late 1500’s. One can almost imagine Manco sitting atop his mountain fortress, staring across the valley at the effigy of Viracocha for inspiration and, if at all possible, a blessing. 84

Owens, James, “Lost Inca Gold: Ransom, Riches and Riddles,” National 83

Geographic, http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/lost-inca-gold/?source=A-to-Z

Macquarrie, Kim, Last Days of the Incas, Simon & Shuster, New York, 2007, at pgs. 84

230-250.

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Another view of Viracocha and surrounding buildings at Ollantytambo.

Book of Mormon Echoes in Viracocha Legends

According to the Book of Mormon, one of the first things Christ did after arriving in the Americas was call twelve disciples to help him minister to the needs of the people. Thus it is haunting to find in the accounts of various Cronistas the following references to Viracocha calling and sending forth disciples:

“The people worshipped him . . . and took their children and the sick to him to heal and bless and he left all to do his will to be saved and 10 or 12 men accompanied Him.” 85

“His servants, obeying the counsel of Viracocha, set out on their journey and work.” 86

“Viracocha went on his way doing his works and instructing those he had created on things that would come to pass.” 87

Acosta, Historia at pg. 377. 85

Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 31.86

Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 102.87

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Also according to the Book of Mormon, Christ performed many miracles, set forth his commandments, and taught the people to live peaceably, one with another. In the Viracocha legends we read:

“He continued his journey working his miracles and instructing his created beings.” 88

“He told them greater things how because he gave life to men and animals and in the end by his hand came great blessings . . . he gave orders on how men should live he talked lovingly to them with much compassion, admonishing them to be good and to not harm each other but to love all and with all to have charity. Generally they called him Ticiviracocha.” 89

“Viracocha ordered these people that they should live without quarreling and that they should know and serve Him. He gave them a certain precept which they were to observe on pain of being confounded if they should break it.” 90

“Wherever he went where there were sick he healed them and gave sight to the blind with only his words and because of these good works he was loved by all . . . .” 91

A Mormon depiction of Jesus Christ visiting the Americas.

Sarmiento, Historia, supra at pg. 102.88

Cieza, Señorio at pgs. 18-23.89

Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 27. 90

Cieza, Señorio at pg. 19.91

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Other accounts from the Cronistas go so far as to intimate that the Incas had an almost Trinitarian understanding of Christ’s relationship with God the Father. For example:

“The Creator sent his oldest son named Yunsi Mama Viracocha . . . to go through the Andes visiting the people . . . and he descended below the earth and then ascended into heaven.” 92

“They kissed his feet . . . calling him Tunum . . . Lord, the son of the Creator.” 93

In 3 Nephi 18:1-6 of the Book of Mormon we read that Christ instituted his sacrament among those he visited. As noted above, the ancient Peruvians did practice a form of this sacrament. 94

As he ended his visit, Christ told the people as recorded in 3 Nephi 18:27 “I must go unto my Father” and “he departed from them, and ascended into heaven” but he promised to return. 95

Viracocha made the same promise to the Peruvians, a fact which is much evidenced by the willingness of Atahualpa, the Inca emperor at the time of Spain’s conquest of Peru, to meet with Pizarro and his intrepid band of 167 soldiers, rather than erasing them from the earth with his powerful army of hundreds of thousands.

In the end Atahualpa’s curiosity would prove fatal and Pizarros’s band of less than 200 “white, bearded men” would subjugate a nation of 10 million fierce Incas. 96

Identical fates befell the Aztecs and the Mayans for identical reasons: They anxiously awaited the return of “the great, white, bearded God” and mistook the Spanish conquistadors for the very same.

Molina, Ritos y Fábulas de Los Incas (1572), Editorial Futuro SRL, Buenos Aires 1959 92

(“Ritos”) at pg. 17. This aspect of His visit – that he descended to visit then ascended, also was known to the Mayas and depicted above the temple doorway in Tulum, Mexico, which shows what is called “the ascending and descending God.”

Calancha, Cronica, supra at pg. 334. 93

See discussion supra at pg. 11.94

3 Nephi 25.95

See Sarmiento, Historia at pg. 160 and Pease, Cronicas at pgs. 156-159.96

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Sir John Everett Millais’ painting of the Inca Emperor, Atahualpa, and his thousands of warriors being lured into an ambush by Francisco Pizarro and his small band of soldiers. As depicted here, Atahualpa was captured by Pizarro and, shortly thereafter, executed.

Non-Mormon Scholars: Christ in Perú

The similarities between Jesus Christ and Viracocha as described by the Cronistas are so compelling that many non-Mormon scholars of the history of Peru, although not believers in the Book of Mormon, have concluded it is likely Christ came to Perú and that He and Viracocha were the same person.

LA PRENSA Siete Días del Perú y del Mundo January 20, 1963 _____________________________________________________________________________

¿Estuvo Cristo en El Perú? In a remarkable article entitled “Estuvo Cristo en El Perú?” (“Did Christ Come

to Peru?”) the non-Mormon writer, Germán Alatrista, cites venerable, non-Mormon Peruvian scholars who believed Viracocha was Jesus Christ. Appearing in Peru’s largest newspaper at the time, “La Prensa,” the article states:

The aborigines received the Spaniards with reverence. They called them “Viracochas” and believed that they were God or his Sons . . . . Even today in the Mountains of the South the people greet white people with the title “Huiracochas” which is interpreted as Lord or Gentleman. All

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these coincidences and the irrefutable testimonies of descriptions of the ancient ceramics and offerings under the legends of the Empire, makes one think that our ancestors worshiped a superior God and that Christ could have been in Peru. This is enthusiastically supported by various historians and distinguished intellectuals, among others Canon Rendon, and is accepted by Dr. Manuel Chavez Ballin Catedrac of the National University of Cuzco who is considered the premier authority on Inca archaeology. Wiracocha went through the Empire preaching among the people. Wiracocha, who was considered the creator of the world and Supreme creator . . . the ultimate deity . . . for many is in reality God or his Son, Christ . . . . 97

Without fail, the Cronistas of the 16th and 17th Centuries noted the prominence of the legend of the white, bearded, Christ-like Viracocha in Inca religion. Many of them surmised this man to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. For example:

“Many Cronistas . . . [describe] the presence of white bearded people in Perú before the Spanish, and maybe even an apostle who preached in remote times.” 98

Further: “Some Cronistas supposed that an apostle of Christ came to America . . . . Among the Cronistas there was a confusion of the creating God of the Andes with an apostle of Christ….” 99

But other Cronistas cut straight to the chase and inferred that Viracocha was not merely an Apostle of Christ, rather that he was, in fact, the Christ.

Quoting Pease: “Not only Garcilaso, but also other Cronistas, concluded that the Incas had arrived through philosophic reflections at a knowledge of the true Christian God; with this criteria they established His identity with Viracocha and Pachacamac.” 100

Quoting Garcilaso: “The God of the Christians and [Viracocha] were one and the same.” 101

Alatrista, “¿Estuvo Cristo?” La Prensa, 1963.97

Cieza, Cronica at pg. 9. 98

Pease, Creador at pg. 22. 99

Id. at pg. 33. 100

Garcilaso, Comentarios, Book Two at pg. 62. 101

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About the Author

Scott Hoyt graduated from the University of California Fullerton, with a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies. He went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from the University of California Hastings, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and editor of the Hastings Law Review.

Hoyt clerked for the California Supreme Court before becoming a litigation partner at Gibson Dunn where he tried the largest case every tried in the United States court system (the Coordinated Asbestos Case) following which his litigation department was ranked first in the nation by “American Lawyer” magazine.

Prior to attending the University of California, Hoyt spent two years in Perú as a Mormon

missionary during which time he studied the legends of Viracocha as recorded by Spanish

Catholic historians during the Conquest in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Hoyt and a missionary

companion, Kirk Magelby, wrote a paper on this subject – “Los Cristianos Pre-Colombinos” –

which was printed and circulated throughout Perú.

While practicing law, Hoyt furthered his study of the history and archaeology of Peru, as well as

Mexico and Central America, wrote numerous papers on Viracocha, Quetzalcoatl (white,

bearded god of the Aztecs), and Kulkulkan (white, bearded god of the Mayas) and returned to

Perú twice for research.

Hoyt recently published a book about his missionary experiences, which includes a discussion of the legends of Viracocha – Scott Hoyt, Two Years of Eternity, Vantage Press, New York, 2010.

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