Syncretism
I introduced this word to my Life Group today. I don't think I explained it well.
Our lesson was on II Kings 17, where the Samaritans were mixing worship of Almighty God with the rituals of their past religions.
Syncretism is intellectually and spiritually dangerous and yet it's all around us.
Horoscopes. Yoga. Vampires. Harry Potter. Non-Christian religious symbols in your home. Halloween.
It's easy to step on toes when you preach/teach about syncretism. I take it more seriously than many do. It might be a foolish consistency or even superstitiousness, but I think not.
However, I would count dualism in there too, and probably more dangerous than some of these others, since most people don't take them seriously and therefore don't see the harm.
Dualism, on the other hand, says the human body is evil. The human body God said was good and will resurrect, and did resurrect in Jesus. The view of the physical world being evil is more anti-Christian than Halloween. Anyway, I'm pretty hypocritical about it myself: I'll watch or read works of literature that blaspheme God and then refuse to do yoga. If I were honest, that's as much from laziness and priorities than anything (although I do think the Hindu roots of it should be taken into account).
Hypocrisy can be syncretistic, too.
Our lesson was on II Kings 17, where the Samaritans were mixing worship of Almighty God with the rituals of their past religions.
Syncretism is intellectually and spiritually dangerous and yet it's all around us.
Horoscopes. Yoga. Vampires. Harry Potter. Non-Christian religious symbols in your home. Halloween.
It's easy to step on toes when you preach/teach about syncretism. I take it more seriously than many do. It might be a foolish consistency or even superstitiousness, but I think not.
However, I would count dualism in there too, and probably more dangerous than some of these others, since most people don't take them seriously and therefore don't see the harm.
Dualism, on the other hand, says the human body is evil. The human body God said was good and will resurrect, and did resurrect in Jesus. The view of the physical world being evil is more anti-Christian than Halloween. Anyway, I'm pretty hypocritical about it myself: I'll watch or read works of literature that blaspheme God and then refuse to do yoga. If I were honest, that's as much from laziness and priorities than anything (although I do think the Hindu roots of it should be taken into account).
Hypocrisy can be syncretistic, too.
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