The Spread of World Religions – Jerry H. Bentley
As edited by Kevin Reilly- Worlds of History 3rd ed.
In addition to describing how cultures and religions spread throughout Eurasia during this period, Bentley also asks why. Address the following questions/tasks on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What makes a people convert to a "foreign" religion? In trying to answer this question, he distinguishes three patterns of religious conversion: Give one example of each pattern for Buddhism and Christianity.
a. voluntary association
b. syncretism, or assimilation and
c. conversion by pressure.
2. Obviously, these categories overlap, and it is often difficult to tell whether a conversion is voluntary or coerced.
a. Which of these patterns best describes the spread of Christianity and Buddhism?
b. How useful do you find these categories?
c. Can you think of other patterns of religious conversion?
Note: I have included the information below to acquaint you with the process of religious syncretism.
Question: "What is religious syncretism?"
Answer: Syncretism, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is “the reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief.” This is most evident in the areas of philosophy and religion, and usually results in a new teaching or belief system.
Religious syncretism often takes place when foreign beliefs are introduced to an indigenous belief system and the teachings are blended. The new, heterogeneous religion then takes a shape of its own. This has been seen most clearly in Roman Catholic missionary history. Take, for example, the Roman Catholic Church's proselytizing of animistic South America. Threatened with the fear of death, natives were baptized into the church by the tens of thousands without any preaching of the Gospel whatsoever. Former temples were razed, with Catholic shrines and chapels built on the same spot. Natives were allowed to substitute praying to saints instead of gods of water, earth and air, and replaced their former idols with new images of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, the animistic religion the natives had formerly practiced was never fully replaced—it was adapted into Catholic teachings, and this new belief system was allowed to flourish.
Definition: Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in the culture, or when a culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or, especially, practices.