Merriam-Webster defines syncretism as follows:
- the combination of different forms of belief or practice
- the fusion of two or more originally different inflectional forms
In the definition of syncretism we see that opposing thoughts are combined making one appear to be something that their form of thought does not represent. For example how many times can a pastor count of the funerals he has done where everyone began speaking about God but the person being buried never had anything to do with God? This comes from the perspective that a person is a Christian just because he talks about God. One can think any way and rationalize anything then place “God” in the sentence and everyone listening will presume a Christian has spoken. Because of this, contextualization should be very carefully practiced or it becomes syncretism.
