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Article: Syncretism and the eternal word.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- International Bulletin of Missionary Research
- Article date:
- October 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Overseas Ministries Study Center. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Syncretism--the combining of two apparently incompatible things to produce a third entity--is an everyday occurrence. Across much of Africa and Latin America, for example, horses and donkeys blend their DNA to generate the mule --a unique and extraordinarily versatile animal combining the sure-footedness of the latter and the strength of the former. Political, social, racial, chemical, and biological syncretisms occur so frequently that we are scarcely aware of them. It is religious syncretism that startles us.
This is surprising, in some ways, since the Christian faith itself springs from the most astonishing syncretism conceivable--God becomes a human being; ...