Sinkretisme as missiologiese uitdaging

Religious syncretism is usually seen as the intermingling of two religious systems to the extent that the uniqueness of a specific religion is compromised. It is thus understood as missiologically negative. This article attemps to view this from another � and more positive � angle. Here we show how...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: JJ Kritzinger, SJJ Niemand
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: AOSIS 2007-09-01
Series:Verbum et Ecclesia
Online Access:http://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/VE/article/view/118
Description
Summary:Religious syncretism is usually seen as the intermingling of two religious systems to the extent that the uniqueness of a specific religion is compromised. It is thus understood as missiologically negative. This article attemps to view this from another � and more positive � angle. Here we show how the process of inculturation, the �incarnation� of the gospel within a culture is not much different from the process we term �positive syncretism�. It is also possible that the process could veer off in a negative direction. This process therefore remains a formidable challenge to mission in the sense that while there are always new cultural worlds to be penetrated by the gospel, the process cannot be controlled by any �outsiders�. This theory is applied and tested by looking at the phenomenon of African Independent Churches, and a simple two-dimensional model is developed as illustration of a typology.
ISSN:1609-9982
2074-7705