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- Title
Mixing Religions: Syncretism and the German Protestant Mission in Japan.
- Authors
Petersen, Esben
- Abstract
In its experience of cross-cultural encounters and of changing religious identities the Christian Mission exemplifies many aspects of the phenomenon we know as religious 'mixing,' in its tension with more traditional identities. These religious 'mixed forms' are better known under the concept of syncretism and belong to one of the more controversial categories within the field of Religious Studies. From a research-historical perspective, the concept has helped to form contradictory positions within both religious research and especially within the study of Christianity and its contacts with other religions. The ambivalent relationship of theology to syncretism has inspired the problematization of the concept in religious research. Some see it as a flawed concept, 'since every religious phenomenon is syncretistic, as is every phenomenon in general' (O'Leary, 146). But referring to the history of the term, the concept of syncretism does not illustrate a phenomenon that one can touch concretely. Syncretism is rather a 'collective term' that refers to a particular type of relationship between diverse phenomena. Therefore, the concept neither describes nor explains anything in itself, but rather it relates to a number of issues around relations between, and networks of religions, religious elements, and religious identities (Cornille, 147). Instead of abolishing the category of syncretism, as has been recommended in certain circles of contemporary religious research, I suggest that the problematics related to the concept should instead be re-examined and discussed. In this article I shall therefore examine the category of 'syncretism,' through examples from the history of the Christian Mission in Japan. This is done in order to gain a greater overview of the problems related to the concept of syncretism in general, but also in an attempt to provide insights into how it applies to specific religious and cultural encounters. I shall study the motives for the formation of religious mixing in a cultural encounter situation, drawing on the history of the German Christian Mission in Japan.
- Subjects
CHRISTIANITY &; other religions; RELIGIOUS identity; CHRISTIAN missions
- Publication
Japan Mission Journal, 2021, Vol 75, Issue 4, p226
- ISSN
1344-7297
- Publication type
Article