ABSTRACT
The Carta atenagórica / Crisis sobre un sermón and Respuesta de la poetisa a la muy ilustre Sor Filotea de la Cruz are two of the most controversial and complex pieces of correspondence that Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648/51–1695) wrote. The bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz y Sahagún, published the Carta atenagórica (Athenagoric Letter / Letter Worthy of Athena) without Sor Juana’s consent in Mexico in November of 1690. It was republished with her permission in Spain in 1692 as Crisis sobre un sermón (Opinion or Judgement About a Sermon) in her second volume of works. 1 Sor Juana sends the Respuesta de la poetisa a la muy ilustre Sor Filotea de la Cruz (The Poetess’ Response to the Most Illustrious Sister Filotea de la Cruz) to the same bishop, Fernández de Santa Cruz, on March 1, 1691, but it was not published until 1700 in Madrid in Fama y obras pósthumas del Fenix de México (Fame and Posthumous Works of the Phoenix of Mexico). 2
