The process by which elements of one religion are assimilated into another religion resulting in a change in the fundamental tenets or nature of those religions. It is the union of two or more opposite beliefs, so that the synthesized form is a new thing. It is not always a total fusion, but may be a combination of separate segments that remain identifiable compartments. Originally a political term, "syncretism" was used to describe the joining together of rival Greek forces on the Isle of Crete in opposition to a common enemy.
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Specifically we are faced with a problem of meaning. What is actually understood by words, symbols, or actions as expressed in creeds, or application to certain needs, is the test of the presence of syncretism. The receptor is the one who assigns meaning. It is therefore essential that the sender communicate with words or symbols that are not merely approximate equivalents, but dynamic equivalents, of meaning.
Syncretism of the Christian gospel occurs when critical or basic elements of the gospel are replaced by religious elements from the host culture. It often results from a tendency or attempt to undermine the uniqueness of the gospel as found in the Scriptures or the incarnate Son of God. The communication of the gospel involves the transmission of a message with supra - cultural elements between a variety of cultures. This includes the disembodiment of the message from one cultural context and the reembodiment of it in a different cultural context.
Cross - cultural communication of the gospel always involves at least three cultural contexts. The gospel message was originally given in a specific context. The receiver / sender assigns meaning to that message in terms of his own context. The receptor seeks to understand the message within a third context. The problem of syncretism will be encountered with each new outreach of the church and also as the culture changes around an established church.
The Bible reveals syncretism as a long - standing tool of Satan to separate God from his people. It strikes at the heart of the first commandment. Beyerhaus notes a threefold answer in the OT to the challenge of external syncretism: segregation, eradication, and adaptation. Pressures from early Canaanite practices with Baal and Asherah were followed by the demands of the national gods of Assur and Babylon. Internally the prophets of Israel sought to enforce the obligatory nature of Israel's holy traditions, to apply the revealed will of God to actual situations, and to forcefully present the eschatological vision of God's continuing control, justice, and promises.
The NT was born in a melee as rulers sought to blend cultures through syncretistic monotheism, all forms of the same God. All the gods of Egypt, Persia, and Babylon became Greek. The influence of Mani spread from Africa to China. Esoteric knowledge vied with unique, historical revelation. Rome harbored all cults and mystery religions. Antioch, Ephesus, and Corinth each boasted syncretistic gods seeking to absorb the church. NT confrontations include Simon Magus, the Jerusalem Council, the Epistle to the Colossians, combating Jewish thought mixed with early Gnosticism, and the rebuke of the church at Pergamum. Against these forces the church developed its creeds, canon, and celebrations. The Christmas celebration date was set over against the festival of the birth of the sun god, Sol Invictus, in protest against a major attempt to create a syncretistic imperial religion.
Visser't Hooft discusses the many syncretistic pressures of the NT times exerted by Judaism, Gnosticism, emperor worship, and the mystery cults. It is helpful to study the books of Hebrews, 1 John, and the Revelation from the perspective of defending against syncretism. The NT canon and the recognized creed became the church's two greatest weapons against the growth and transmission of syncretism. Church history is filled with the struggle against syncretism from political, social, religious, and economic sources. Syncretistic pressure can be seen today. In our global - village context secular humanism seems to be the common ground for solving shared problems. The values of this world view strive for a place in the church's response to both the demands for conformity and the cries for liberation confronting it.
In the striving by missionaries for an indigenous national church with a contextualized gospel, the danger of syncretism is ever present in attempts at accommodation, adjustment, and adaptation. Tippett reminds us that while striving for relevance we must remember that in communication only message is transmitted, not meaning. Beyerhaus points out three steps in biblical adaptation:
In the history of theology the term "syncretism" is used specifically to define two movements aimed at unification. In the Lutheran tradition, George Calixtus (1586 - 1656) attempted to reconcile Lutheran thought with Roman Catholicism on the basis of the Apostles' Creed. This precipitated a syncretistic controversy that was to last for many years. In Roman Catholicism "syncretism" refers to the attempt to reconcile Molinist and Thomist theology.
S R Imbach
Bibliography
W A Visser't Hooft, No Other Name; H Kraemer, Religion
and the Christian Faith; T Yamamori and C R Taber, eds., Christopaganism or
Indigenous Christianity; H Lietzmann, The Beginnings of the Church Universal.
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