Is this syncretism? [Spirituality & Religion]
Okay, so I know this probably won't get a lot of responses, but I am currently working on a presentation for my Humanities class. I was curious if the pagan rituals surrounding Christmas could be considered syncretism? (The reconciliation of different rites and practices into a single philosophy or religion)
My textbook uses this example: How better to convert pagan peoples than to present your religious program in their own terms? After all, the Greek god Dionysus had, like Christ, promised human immortality in the manner of the grapevine itself, which appears to die each fall only to be reborn in the spring. Just as Christians had prefigurings of Christ in the Hebrew Bible, it was possible to argue that Dionysus was a pagan type of Christ.
So, could the fact that most of the symbols used in Christmas come from pagan holidays count as an example of syncretism? PLEASE HELP!
My textbook uses this example: How better to convert pagan peoples than to present your religious program in their own terms? After all, the Greek god Dionysus had, like Christ, promised human immortality in the manner of the grapevine itself, which appears to die each fall only to be reborn in the spring. Just as Christians had prefigurings of Christ in the Hebrew Bible, it was possible to argue that Dionysus was a pagan type of Christ.
So, could the fact that most of the symbols used in Christmas come from pagan holidays count as an example of syncretism? PLEASE HELP!
