Religious syncretism
Religious syncretism is the blending of religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation of other beliefs into an existing religious tradition.
This can occur for many reasons, where religious traditions exist in proximity to each other, or when a culture is conquered and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in eradicating older beliefs and practices.
Many religions have syncretic elements, but adherents often frown upon the application of the label, especially those who belong to "revealed" religions, such as Abrahamic religions, or any system with an exclusivist approach, seeing syncretism as corrupting the original religion.[1] Non-exclusivist systems of belief on the other hand feel more free to incorporate other traditions into their own.
Ancient history
Classical Athens was exclusive in matters of religion. Some sources assert that the Decree of Diopeithes made the introduction of and belief in foreign gods a criminal offence,[2] and allowed only Greeks to worship in Athenian temples and festivals as foreigners were considered impure. Other sources dispute the existence of the decree.[3]
Syncretism functioned as a feature of
The
The degree of correspondence varied:
Likewise, when the Romans encountered
Romans were familiar with the concept of syncretism because from their earliest times they had experienced it with, among others, the Greeks. The Romans incorporated the originally Greek Apollo and Hercules into their religion. They did not look at the religious aspects that they adopted from other cultures to be different or less meaningful from religious aspects that were Roman in origin. The early Roman acceptance of other cultures religions into their own made it easy for them to integrate the newly encountered religions they found as a result of their expansion.[6]
Early Christianity
In the first few centuries after the death of Jesus, there were various competing "Jesus movements". The Roman emperors used syncretism to help unite the expanding empire.[10] Social conversion to Christianity happened all over Europe. It became even more effective when missionaries concurred with established cultural traditions and interlaced them into a fundamentally Christian synthesis.[11] Sometimes old pagan gods—or at least their aspects and roles—were transferred to Christian saints, such as when Demetrius of Thessaloniki inherited the role of patron of agriculture from Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries after the latter's demise in the 4th century.[12]
Syncretism is distinguished from assimilation, the latter of which refers to the church's ability to "incorporate into herself all that is true, good, and beautiful in the world". This idea was present in the early Church; the Second Apology of Justin Martyr states: "Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians".[13] The Church has assimilated many (though not all) of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. Augustine of Hippo is remembered for assimilating the ideas of Plato, while Thomas Aquinas is known for doing so with the ideas of Aristotle. In his essay on the development of Christian doctrine,[14] John Henry Newman clarified the idea of assimilation.[15]
Early Judaism
In
In spite of the Jewish
Judaism with Christianity and Islam.Post-classical history
Islam and West Asian religions
The Islamic mystical tradition known as Sufism appears somewhat syncretic in nature in its origins, but this is rejected by many other modern scholars.[19]
Mainstream
The
The
Satpanth is considered a syncretism of Ismaili Islam and Hinduism.
South and East Asian religions
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2008) |
Buddhism has syncretized with many traditional beliefs in
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism in ancient India have made many adaptations over the millennia, assimilating elements of various religious traditions.[citation needed] One example of this is the Yoga Vasistha.[29]
Akram Vigyan Movement established by Dada Bhagwan is considered to be a Jain-Vaishnava Hindu syncretistic movement.[30]
The
Meivazhi is a syncretic monotheistic minority religion based in Tamil Nadu, India. Its focus is spiritual enlightenment and the conquering of death, through the teachings. Mevaizhi preaches the Oneness of essence message of all the previous major scriptures – particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity – allowing membership regardless of creed. Meivazhi's disciples are thousands of people belonging once to 69 different castes of different religions being united as one family of Meivazhi religion.
In China, most of the population follows syncretistic religions combining
Likewise, in Southeast Asia, the local variants of Buddhism have been adapted to accommodate folk beliefs, such as the veneration of
At least hundreds of thousands of people follow religions that syncretize Chinese folk religion and Christianity, while others follow similar belief structures that incorporate Islamic theology instead[32] and have precedent in some 19th and 20th century Muslim populations in China.[33]
The traditional
Modern history
Christianity
One can contrast Christian syncretism with
Protestant Reformation
Syncretism did not play a role when Christianity split into
New World
Catholicism in Central and South America has been integrated with a number of elements derived from
Some Andean areas, such as in Peru, have a strong influence of Inca-originated Quechua culture into Catholicism. This often results in Catholic holy days and festivities featuring Quechua dances or figures, such as the Assumption of Mary celebration in Chinchaypujio, or the fertility celebrations for Pachamama in the mostly Catholic Callalli.
The Lacandon people of Central America acknowledge Äkyantho', the god of foreigners. He has a son named Hesuklistos (Jesus Christ) who is supposed to be the god of the foreigners. They recognize that Hesuklistos is a god but do not feel he is worthy of worship as he is a minor god.[41]
The
In the
East Asia
Southeast Asia
An Islamic and Hindu-Buddhist-Animist Syncretist movement in Indonesia known as Abangan was politically and socially active for a while.[49] In the Philippines Folk Catholicism blends religious and magical elements from the precolonial Philippine nations which were practicing either Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, Islam or other religions; together with Hispano-American Roman Catholicism.[50]
Mongolia
Khotons follow a syncretic form of Islam that incorporates Buddhist and traditional elements (like Tengrism).[51]
Spain
Hinduism and Islam
Punjab
Census reports taken in Punjab Province during the colonial era (British India) noted and documented various practices highlighting religious syncretism among Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Hindus, and Meo Muslims.
"In other parts of the Province, too, traces of Hindu festivals are noticeable among the Muhammadans. In the western Punjab,
sharbat are served out) are clearly influenced by similar practices at Hindu festivals, while the illuminations on occasions like the Chiraghan fair of Shalamar (Lahore) are no doubt practices answering to the holiday-making instinct of the converted Hindus."[58]: 174"Besides actual conversion, Islam has had a considerable influence on the Hindu religion. The sects of reformers based on a revolt from the orthodoxy of
Shias... they belong mostly to the Sunar caste and their connection with the sect is kept a secret, like Freemasonry. They pass as ordinary Hindus, but their devotion to the Imam is very strong."[58]: 130"The Meos (Muhammadans) of the eastern Punjab still participate in the observance of the Holi and Diwali festivals. On the latter occasion they paint the horns, hoofs, etc., of their bullocks and join in the general rejoicings".[58]: 174
— Excerpts from the Census of India (Punjab Province), 1911 AD
Bengal
Similar to that of Punjab, census reports conducted in British India highlighted syncretic practices among Bengali Hindus and Muslims.[59]
"That both were originally of the same race seems sufficiently clear, not only from comparisons to physical characteristics, but from the similarity of their language, manners and customs. The Bengali Musalman is still in many respects a
Hindu. Caste distinction, one of the main objects of which would seem to be to prescribe the limits of the jus connubii, are to a certain extent as prevalent and as fully recognised among the Mohammedans of Bengal, as among Hindus. As Buchanan pointed out sixty years ago, they not unfrequently meet at the same shrine, both invoking the same object of worship though perhaps under different names. Instead of commending a letter "In the name of God" (which is the orthodox fashion), the Bengali Musalman will superscribe the name of some Hindu deity. He speaks the same language, and uses precisely the same nomenclature and the same expressions of thought as his Hindu neighbor. Their very names are identical, the prefix of Shaikh alone distinguishing the convert to Islam."— Excerpts from "The Census of Bengal", 1874 AD, Page 87
In the Sundarbans (spread across Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh), it is noted that Bonbibi, a guardian spirit of the forests is venerated by Hindus and Muslim residents alike. In most of the shrines of Banbibi in the Sundarbans, Banbibi is most commonly worshipped along with her brother Shah Jangali and Dakkhin Rai.[60]
Bauls are a group of mynstric minstrels who put emphasis on their mystical elements with the tradition of music. Baul tradition is essentially an amalgamation of Vaishnavism and Sufism.[61] Baul has had a considerable effect on Bengali culture. Baul traditions are included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[62]
Balochistan
Being a religious minority in the region for centuries, colonial officials found that indigenous Baloch Hindus developed a form of religious syncretism that incorporated many aspects of Islam into their cultures and traditions, greatly differing from the forms of orthodox
"Proverbially elastic though the term is,
Hindu caste that the main interest in these old trading families of Baluchistan is centred." [63]: 175: 176
"Except in Quetta, where the Hindu community has become so overgrown that conditions are abnormal, neither caste nor sub-caste enters into their composition: there is nothing incongruous or unusual in a Panchayat subscribing impartially to a Sikh Dharamsala and to the worship of a Devi or of Darya Pir; or in a Panchayat (like that of Chuharkot in Barkhan) which is composed almost wholly of Aroras having a Brahman as its president. In other words, a Panchayat is a Panchayat not of caste-members but of the whole body of Hindus in a village community. It is indeed almost always sheer waste of time to question a member of one of these old Hindu families regarding his caste. Brahman he knows and Musalman he knows; and it is enough for him that he is neither the one nor the other, but a Hindu pure and simple. Most of the families are undoubtedly Arora; some few are very possibly Khatri; the Bhatia of Las Bela are probably Rajput. But these are distinctions too nice for a local Hindu; it is more than possible that he may never have heard the terms before. Nevertheless, though his mind may be a blank as to the name of his caste, he can sometimes give the name of his sub-caste—possibly a hoary name like Ahuja, possibly a newly coined name like Ramzai or Panjazai, modelled on the name of a tribal section. But it is merely a matter of names after all. The Ramzai and the Panjazai and the Ahuja may have each some cherished peculiarities of their own. But such peculiarities strike no discord between them. The old Hindu families are a brotherhood of equals; among themselves they know no distinctions valid enough to influence the intercourse of everyday life." [63]— Excerpts from the Census of India, 1911 AD
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In a similar manner to the
"The names returned as those of
castes have been relaxed... any distinct caste organization is virtually non-existent in rural areas. Outside the towns Hindus still live in a condition of dependance on their Mohammadan overlords. The Arora, the Khatri, or the Bhatia shop-keeper in a village is a hamsaya of the proprietors of the land; that is to say, he lives rent free in a house which does not belong to him, and in return for this, and for being allowed to reside unmolested in the village, has to render certain services to his protectors." [64]: 93–94— Excerpts from the Census of India (North-West Frontier Province), 1911 AD
Baháʼí Faith
The
Caribbean and Afro-American
The process of syncretism in the Caribbean region often forms a part of cultural creolization. (The technical term "
The
Another highly syncretic religion of the area,
Recently developed religious systems that exhibit marked syncretism include the
.A
Other
Omnism is the belief in all religions with their gods.[68]
Many historical Native American religious movements have incorporated Christian European influence, like the Native American Church, that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote.[69] Further examples in North America are the Ghost Dance, and the religion of Handsome Lake.
The
In Vietnam,
Several
The
Examples of strongly syncretistic
Many of India’s estimated fifty million Pentecostals[77] have syncretic blends with Indian religions.[78] In Réunion, the Malbars practice at same time Hinduism and Christianity. but separately, not mixed (this is called "dual religious practice" in French "double pratique religieuse") but it's not considered as syncretism
The Unification Church, founded by religious leader Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954, has teachings based on the Bible, but includes new interpretations not found in mainstream Judaism and Christianity and incorporates East Asian traditions.[79][80]
See also
- Inclusivism
- Sheilaism
- Folk religion
- Interfaith dialogue
- Religious pluralism
- Religious toleration
- Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb
- New religious movement
- Multiple religious belonging
- Polytheism
- Creolization
- Afro-Brazilian religion
- Folk saints
- Afro-American religions
- multi-religious syncretism
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