10 examples of religious syncretism (explained)

Throughout history there have been many religions and, in fact, many of them still exist today. As they have grown, these religions have not been able to avoid establishing contact with others and, far from imposing themselves, they have combined some of their rites creating a whole new faith or belief.

There are many examples of religious syncretism and, in reality, we could say that practically all current religions are the result of uniting, combining and modifying their ancestral rituals. Let's look at a few examples.

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10 examples of religious syncretism, and its influences

Before looking at examples of religious syncretism, we must first understand what it refers to. Syncretism comes from the Greek "synkretismos" ("syn", "with"; "Kriti", "cretan"; and "isms", "doctrine") and is the phenomenon in which characteristics of two or more cultures, societies, ideologies or creeds are combined. This word originates from a story told by Plutarco who said that, in times of war, the The inhabitants of the island of Crete put aside their differences in order to join forces and expel the invasive.

Syncretism usually occurs in conflict situations in which the union of two ways of understanding the world results in a new one that is respectful of original beliefs, even being able to be contradictory in many ways. Instead of imposing one culture over the other, both contribute to creating a new one. In the realm of religion, what happens is that two religious creeds are changing and creating similarities, uniting their faithful.

1. Saint Thomas of Chichicastenango

In Guatemala there is the Church of Santo Tomás de Chichicastenango, one of the few Catholic temples in the world where both inside and outside rites of another religion are allowed: the ancient Mayan religion. Legend has it that in the middle of the 18th century Father Francisco Ximénez found inside the temple a very valuable manuscript, very important in the history of the Quiché language: the Popol Vuh, the "Bible" Maya.

Father Ximénez read the manuscript inside the church and, from that moment on, indigenous people of Mayan descent can practice a religion that combines aspects of Catholic worship with those of the Mayan, being a clear example of syncretism religious. Colored candles, incense smoke, flower petals and brandy cannot be absent in their trades.

2. God Serapis

The ancient Greeks made contact with Ancient Egypt and, since both cultures were polytheistic, they could not help but compare the Hellenic gods with those of North Africa. Over time Ancient Greece conquered Egypt and the conquerors under Ptolemy I made the decision to combine Greek and Egyptian religion.

Thus, the conquerors decided to link the Egyptian god Osiris with the Greek ox Apis knowing the Egyptian tradition of praying to gods with animal faces. From this combination arose the Greco-Egyptian deity of Serapis, who became the official god in both cultures. The image that the Greeks created served both Greeks and Egyptians, since he was a deity with a double face: human and ox.

3. Protestant Reformation

Syncretism was not a very frequent phenomenon in Christianity until the Protestant Reformation. It is at that time that we can mention some attempts to combine properly Christian features with those of other classical religions and cultures, as was the case of Erasmus of Rotterdam when reading about Plutarch. Syncretism was also a very important aspect on the part of the Neoplatonists, like Marsilio Ficino, who tried to reform the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

4. African American religions

Catholicism in the Caribbean and Central and South America has integrated many elements from both the pre-Columbian Indians and the slaves of African origin. Some of these religious currents are included within the Catholic Church, showing this institution a certain tolerance towards the symbols and traditions of ancient indigenous belief systems and Africans.

However, also there are religions that, although Christian based, have not been accepted by official Catholicism such as voodoo and Santeria, openly condemned by the Roman Catholic Church. Both rites are the product of combining Christian mysticism, African rites and Caribbean beliefs, resulting in a luck of black magic that, however rejected it may be by the most generic Christianity, has become the sign of identity of the Caribbean.

5. Hesuklistos

The Lacandón people are a Mayan culture that lives in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Within this culture there is the word “Äkyantho '”, a term that comes to mean “the god of foreigners”. This god is actually the Christian God, and the Lacandon worldview also includes his son Jesus, whom they call Hesuklistos..

This culture recognizes Hesuklistos as a god, but is not part of its main pantheon or Nor can it be said that the Lacandons are Christians since Jesus is a lesser deity for they. Still, it is clear that Jesus' incorporation into his ancestral religion is a sign of religious syncretism.

6. Asian Catholicism

In the same way that in the West more and more people follow Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism for the simple reason that be exotic and typical of a distant region, in Asia the same thing happens but with the western: more and more Asians decide to become Christians.

However, they have not just acquired Christianity. Given the cultural differences between the West and countries like Korea or Japan, teaching lifelong Catholicism is something that would be doomed to failure. For this reason, especially in South Korea a syncretized version of Catholicism has been adopted with the Buddhist and Confucian traditions. A) Yes, Koreans do not renounce their traditional ceremonies, but adapt them with the teachings of Jesus.

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7. Benedicar

In the South of Italy and in Sicily we can find a popular Catholicism called Benedicaria. This religion combines the ancient traditions of southern Italy with the official practices of Roman Catholicism. It is said that its origins date back to the times of Magna Graecia, since there are many traits Hellenic cultural that can be identified in this peculiar local rite, in addition to later influences Norman.

8. Baha'i faith

Bahá'í follow Bahá'u'lláh, a prophet who they believe was the successor of Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Zarathustra, Krishna and Abraham. The fact that they accept that their main prophet came after so many other founders of religions very popular has led to the idea that the Baha'i religion is actually a purely faith syncretic.

Despite this, these people consider that Bahá'u'lláh 'revealed himself to them completely independently as a revelation from God, although it could be related to the doctrines of other religions. Still, the similarity between this prophet and the Baha'i god with that of Jesus and Christian God has also made raise the possibility that this religion is an alternative version of the earliest Christian creed.

9. Rastafarian movement

Syncretism is a common phenomenon in the Caribbean. Given the contact with native indigenous cultures such as black slaves and settlers from Spain, France, England and Holland, the region was It was practically inevitable that a creed would emerge that tried to unite many elements to increase social cohesion, making everyone feel comfortable believing in what same.

In addition to voodoo and branches of Catholicism in the Caribbean, there is an important movement that has become very famous worldwide: the Rastafarian movement.. Originally from Jamaica, it syncretizes many elements from the Bible, the pan-African movement of Marcus Garvey, European traditions, the sixth and seventh book of Moses, Hinduism and culture Caribbean.

10. Moonism

The Unification Church or Moonism is considered as a syncretic organization that was founded by the Korean Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012). This religion aims to transcend the great universal religions, unite Korean messianism and unite the philosophy of Christianity with that of the Far East.

This religious proposal is so syncretic that its members have had no qualms about participating in rites and official ceremonies of other religions, such as Christianity or Islam, despite differences theological.

Bibliographic references:

• Poupard, Paul (1998). Dictionary of Religions (1st edition). Herder & Herder.
• Smith, Mark S. (2010) [2008]. God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-6433-8.
• Cotter, John (1990). The New Age and Syncretism, in the World and in the Church. Long Prairie, Minn.: Neumann Press. ISBN 0-911845-20 - 28.