What Does Modern Syncretism Look Like?

Playing the Harlot Once Again

We are all familiar with the noun, syncretism. It indicates a joining of contradictory beliefs or principles into a common cause of one kind or other. It is a word derived from the Greek, where it initially referred to Cretan cities, usually independent and isolated from each other, joining together for common cause, such as defeating an invader.

In the Christian faith, syncretism has at times deeply infected both Israel and the Church. At root it is a state of joining together Belief and Unbelief, so that beliefs and practices of Unbelief become stock and standard for Christian communities. In Israel, one of the most persistent forms of syncretism was mixing the worship of the Living God with respect and adoration of idols. First Israel, then Judah were sent into captivity because they refused to live exclusively for God, but wanted to have a bit of idolatry on the side. A quick reading of I and II Chronicles underscores how this was the sin of sins which finally brought down the longsuffering wrath of God upon His people. Judah refused to take away the altars on the "high places" but continued to offer worship and obeisance to idol gods, along with keeping up formal worship practices in Jerusalem. This is what the Bible calls, "playing the harlot".

Here is just one passage amongst numerous declamations by the prophets:

And the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys:

"Behold I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. So your altars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be smashed; and I shall make your slain fall in front of your idols. I shall also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I shall scatter your bones around your altars.

"In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. And the slain will fall among you, and yo will know that I am the Lord." ' " Ezekiel 6: 1--7

The pattern is repeated in the New Covenant, when final judgment fell upon Israel and Jerusalem in AD 66-70. Jerusalem was destroyed because of her syncretism: the deceitful and duplicitous attempt to make common cause with the pagan nations of the earth, siding and conspiring with them against Messiah, the King and against His people. This is made clear repeatedly in Revelation which is primarily about the judgment of God falling upon Israel and Jerusalem in AD 70, even as our Lord foretold. (Revelation 17 & 18--where Jerusalem is called Babylon, the mother of harlots.)

Syncretism did in Israel. It also marks the eventual departure of the Lord from rotten parts of His Church. Syncretism is very, very bad ju ju. But what does syncretism look like in the modern word--where secular humanism has exalted man to the place of God? In what ways is the Church guilty of mixing the Belief with Unbelief? Clearly, unless we are speaking of Hindu immigrants or superstitious Chinese and their ancestor shrines, there is no cult nor idols nor altars to mix into the Christian faith in modern secular society. Does this mean that we have once and for all dispensed with syncretism? Does this meant that secular humanism is a blessing for the Church?

Unfortunately, many within the Church, consciously or unconsciously, think so. It is inevitable, therefore, that syncretism remains a terrible curse upon the Church. This is what it now looks like: a survey amongst evangelical Christians in the UK puts the spotlight on the problem and exposes what form syncretism in the modern secular West takes.

A Snapshot of the Beliefs and Habits of Evangelical Christians in the UK

This looks like a helpful report.

91% think Jesus is the only way to God
96% attend a church once a week
77% are in small groups
83% read/listen to the Bible a few times a week
96% pray a few times a day
96% have given money to their church this year
88% strongly agree that their faith is the most important thing in their life
94% believe in creation care
83% believe in miraculous gifts today
83% agree the Bible has “supreme authority” in beliefs, views, and behaviour
71% believe it is a Christian’s duty to be involved in evangelism (58% talk about their faith to someone once a month)
62% think sex before marriage is wrong (38% believe it is not wrong).
54% believe it in inerrancy”; 32% are for it or unsure (nearly half believe the Bible has errors).
37% think abortion is wrong; 46% are straddling (unsure/disagree a little); 17% disagree.
37% strongly agree that hell is a place where the condemned will suffer eternal conscious pain; 13% agree a little with this; 31% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; 11% disagree a lot.
51% are strongly favor women in leadership; 20% disagree only a little; [71% are in favor]; 9% are unsure; 10% disagree a little; 10% strongly disagree.
59% agree a lot that homosexual sexual acts are wrong; 14% agree a little; 11% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; and 8% disagree a lot.
Hat Tip: Justin Taylor

That's what syncretism looks like in the modern world. In every ethical and social area where the pagan secular humanists have won societal control and imposed their agenda, the evangelical church shows compromise with, concession to, and agreement with the world. The inerrancy of Scripture is telling: the pagan world has slammed the integrity of the Scriptures in the West for over two centuries now: upshot--in the hearts of nearly half of evangelical Christians incense is offered to the secular rationalist gods. Pre-marital sex, abortion, women's "rights"--all these pop secular humanist causes which have captured society--have been adopted and embraced by a large component of Believers.

Syncretism is alive and well. In Israel, God called it playing the harlot, committing spiritual adultery. Nothing has changed--only the masks worn by the actors and the audience. Playing the harlot it remains.