EMQ » October–December 2018 » Volume 54 Issue 4
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder”]Traditional Ritual as Christian Worship: Dangerous Syncretism or Necessary Hybridity?
Edited by R. Daniel Shaw and William R. Burrows
Orbis Books,
Maryknoll, NY, 2018
278 pages
ISBN: 978-1626982628
USD $50.00
Reviewed by Hoon Jung, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
This volume is designed to “encourage communities of believers to eschew dangerous syncretism while recognizing their culturally based spirituality that reflects necessary hybridity” (xxi). The overall thesis of this project is that indigenous people can become more familiar with Christianity and consider it as a way of life rather than simply “religion” by adapting traditional ritual and ceremony to Christian worship.
Based on this idea, twelve authors from a variety of contexts unpack examples of hybridization of Christian worship and locally understood rituals and ceremonies. It is not possible to discuss every case, but each does offer the possibility that traditional rituals and ceremonies, e.g., the Simbu pig-kill festival of Papua New Guinea, or the Korean ancestral rites, could be used for the Eucharist and reconciliation in Christian worship.
This book has two main strengths. The first lies in the significance of the topic. This research touches on a very sensitive but critical issue in missiology, especially in the postcolonial era in which many indigenous people reject Christianity as merely a “foreign” religion. It is necessary for missiologists and mission practitioners to consider this problem. The second strength is that the articles in this volume deal with contexts including Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, Korea, New Zealand, Armenia, Nigeria, Japan, Israel, India, and even North America. This diversity helps the reader realize that the issue is global and not limited to some specific area.
As shown by the subtitle, the issue is related not only to hybridity, but also to “dangerous syncretism.” But the authors touch on syncretism little compared to their deep exposition of hybridity. Their case would be much stronger if the authors had also discussed syncretism more deeply in a practical case, since some might oppose the thesis of this book, thinking that the forms of Christian worship introduced by the authors are more representative of syncretism than hybridization.
For example, as both the author and the interviewee in Paul Mantae Kim’s article in relation to Korean ancestral ritual show, the Korean ancestral ritual has a religious assumption that their ancestors are living spirits and can look after, bless, or curse the descendants in the world of the afterlife (91; 93). As Kim rightly points out, this perspective is unbiblical (95–96). So, for avoiding syncretism, the author suggests changing the meaning of symbols in the ritual such as prostration or the lighting of candles to just showing respect to ancestors, and not offering food at the ritual. But, in a sense this suggestion seems naïve, since one suspects that these kinds of changes in the ritual would not overcome the ancient meanings in the minds of participants. The author’s point would be more tenable if he had included a deeper study of this psychological aspect.
Nevertheless, it is indisputable that the issues raised in this volume are necessary topics of research for missiologists and mission practitioners who wrestle with the syncretism and hybridization of Christianity with traditional rituals and ceremonies on the mission field.
For Further Reading
Van Rheenen, Gailyn, ed. Contextualization and Syncretism: Navigating Cultural Currents. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2006.
McConnell, C. Douglas, ed. The Holy Spirit and Mission Dynamics. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1997.
