Christian/Pagan Syncretism

DrHuk&Duck

DrHuk&Duck

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I’m curious why Catholicism has attracted pagan syncretism and the Protestant side of Christianity has not. I know that it exists primarily in Latin America and in parts of the South, such as with hoodoo (particularly Louisiana). I’m fully aware of the pagan cultural roots of the natives and slaves from Africa…that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m referring to why this syncretism never was adopted in the Protestant tradition but was in the Catholic tradition. It’s not as if there were never Protestants around natives and slaves, so what’s the reason?
https://owlcation.com/humanities/ChristianPagan-Syncretism-in-Post-Conquest-Latin-America

travelnoire.com

5 Spellbinding Destinations To Learn The History Of Hoodoo In America

You can learn more about African-American magic by visiting these destinations that uncover the history of Hoodoo in America.
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My understanding is that the Catholic church will allow some traditions from older religions to carry over, as long as they can be made to conform to Catholic teaching, and early Catholic missionaries (particularly the Jesuits) used syncretism as an evangelistic tool.

Protestants, on the other hand, have stood firm on sola Scriptura and tended not to permit syncretism in that way. Which is not to say it doesn't exist: look at the number of people who have tried to Christianize yoga, for example.
 
Ransom said:
My understanding is that the Catholic church will allow some traditions from older religions to carry over, as long as they can be made to conform to Catholic teaching, and early Catholic missionaries (particularly the Jesuits) used syncretism as an evangelistic tool.

Protestants, on the other hand, have stood firm on sola Scriptura and tended not to permit syncretism in that way. Which is not to say it doesn't exist: look at the number of people who have tried to Christianize yoga, for example.
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I didn’t realize it was that simple. I was thinking maybe it had some theological basis or cultural basis from ancient Roman traditions.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
I didn’t realize it was that simple. I was thinking maybe it had some theological basis or cultural basis from ancient Roman traditions.
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Well, maybe it isn't that simple. I havent done a whole lot of research on religious syncretism. I was just generally aware that early missionaries, and later the Jesuits, would appeal to pagan symbolism as an evangelistic tool. Think, for example, of St. Patrick (speaking of ancient Romans) using the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity. Maybe someone else has done a bit more homework and can chime in.

It may well go right back to the ancient Roman church. There are plenty of allegations (some more credible than others) that traditional Christian observances are derived from pagan ones, or the lives of saints being based on pagan myths or legends.
 
My church recently had a missionary to Brazil speak about Catholicism in South America. The way he described it was almost like describing a dark, pagan house of worship. He said most American Catholics wouldn’t even recognize the Catholic Churches in Latin America because they are so vastly different. As a kid, I attended a Catholic school for a few years, so I’m not completely unfamiliar with Catholicism, but I suppose Catholicism in the Bible Belt might look very different than in Africa or Mexico or wherever.

I think what he might have been referring to is this: https://www.thecollector.com/la-santa-muerte-religion/
 
"Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) wrote this letter to the Abbot Mellitus, who was about to join St. Augustine of Canterbury on the mission to England in 597. 'Tell Augustine that he should be no means destroy the temples of the gods but rather the idols within those temples. Let him, after he has purified them with holy water, place altars and relics of the saints in them. For, if those temples are well built, they should be converted from the worship of demons to the service of the true God. Thus, seeing that their places of worship are not destroyed, the people will banish error from their hearts and come to places familiar and dear to them in acknowledgement and worship of the true God.'"


Pope Gregory's advice was well-meaning, but it would have been very easy for English pagans to keep on worshipping their old gods, in their familiar locations of temples dedicated to their gods, under the cover of pretending to be good Catholics.

Centuries later, the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico built a shrine for worship of the Virgin of Guadalupe, in Tepeyac, the same location where Aztecs had worshipped their mother goddess Tonantzin for centuries.

Meet Tonantzin: the Aztec deity behind “The Virgin of Guadalupe”

Our Lady of Guadalupe (In Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), is also known as the “Virgin of Guadalupe” is a Catholic, Marian apparition and the most
mexicodailypost.com

mexiconewsdaily.com

Is our Lady of Guadalupe inspired by the goddess Tonantzin?

Every year on Dec. 12, millions of faithful travel to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What is its relation to Tonatzin?
mexiconewsdaily.com mexiconewsdaily.com

"According to the story, the apparitions occurred on the Hill of Tepeyac (just behind the current-day basilica) between Dec. 9 and 12, 1531 – ten years after the fall of Tenochtitlan (capital of the Mexica empire) to the Spanish domain. Since then, Tepeyac has been a revered Catholic site of worship in Mexico.

"However, that same hill was sacred for the Mexica even before the Spanish arrived, as it was the place of worship for another Indigenous deity: Tonantzin. . . .

"The most important take away is how the Catholic church all over the world co-opted native religions to make holy days (holidays) into Catholic festivals. This is not Christianity it is syncretism."
 
OK…so all that being said…Is it fair for a Baptist missionary to characterize the Catholic Church of Latin America as essentially being part of witchcraft?
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
OK…so all that being said…Is it fair for a Baptist missionary to characterize the Catholic Church of Latin America as essentially being part of witchcraft?
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I think it's fair to say that occultic elements have crept in. I don't think it's fair to say that Catholicism is a part of the occult.
 
Ekklesian said:
I think it's fair to say that occultic elements have crept in. I don't think it's fair to say that Catholicism is a part of the occult.
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Good analysis. I think this video clears up the matter:
 
Oh…and apparently Santa Muerte is the patron saint of drug traffickers in Mexico:
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
Oh…and apparently Santa Muerte is the patron saint of drug traffickers in Mexico:
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If that's the case, I would hate to hear what the priests hear in the confessional.
 
In 1998 I received from Baptist missionary Robert Applegate a report with pictures of the Devil Dancers in Oruro, Bolivia, and he said, "Come to Latin America and see first hand the blatant idolatry of the Priest going before the statues of whatever virgin that region happens to worship, and the Indians in their devil costumes coming along dancing behind them. This all with the blessings of the Pope! Understand that I do not hate Catholics, for because of love for them I am in Bolivia, but I hate the institution that deliberately blinds the people to gain more and more wealth and power."

The following article states that "The Dance of the Devils, also known as the Diablada or the Danza de los Diablos, is a form of Andean folk dance performed in South America’s Altiplano region. This is characterized by the performers who were [sic] costumes and masks that serve as a representation of the devil, together with other characters from the mythology and theology of the pre-Columbian era, combined with the Christian and Spanish elements incorporated during the colonial period. . . . the festival learned to adapt as it incorporated religious dimensions and Christian iconography and became a model of syncretism among cultures. As a result of the extensive history of Bolivia as a crucial mining area, the festival evolved to become a tribute to the Virgen del Socavón, which is the patron saint who protects and watches over miners."


The next article says, "It is perhaps the most emblematic of dances in the Oruro carnival in Bolivia. Here, one of this carnival's oldest groups, The Authentic Traditional Diablada, starts its three hour pilgrimage that will end with them on their knees, paying homage to the patron of Oruro, the Virgin del Socavon. . . . This dance is the centerpiece of the Oruro carnival, combining indigenous religious ceremony with Spanish carnival and Catholic beliefs."

news.cgtn.com

Bolivia Carnival: Devils dance 'Diablada' on Oruro streets

news.cgtn.com news.cgtn.com
https://pixels.com/featured/dance-o...of-bolivia-eric-bauer.html?product=wood-print
Dance Of The Devil. Carnival Of Oruro. Republic Of Bolivia. Greeting Card by Eric Bauer

 
DrHuk&Duck said:
It seems the Catholic Church condemns Santa Muerte:
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illinoisguy said:
As a result of the extensive history of Bolivia as a crucial mining area, the festival evolved to become a tribute to the Virgen del Socavón, which is the patron saint who protects and watches over miners.
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You'll note that a lot of these syncretistic "saints" are in fact folk saints: not officially sanctioned by the Roman church, but pagan figures syncretized with Catholicism. Santa Muerte is Mictēcacihuātl, an Aztec death goddess.The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, which now are largely just a celebration and memorial of deceased family members (and logically following All Saints' Day), probably evolved out of a festival in her honour. Devotion to Santa Muerte specifically (as opposed to the more sanitized, Christianized Day of the Dead) is often specifically anti-Catholic. It's basically a new Hispanic religious movement. I believe that is what the Catholic church condemns specifically, not the Day of the Dead in general.

The Festival of Oruro is ostensibly in honour of the Virgin of Socavón, one of the several supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Latin America, but historically it is derived from veneration of the local deities, incorporating such Christian figures as the Virgin Mary, the devil, and the archangel Michael.
 
Come on, y'all... Don't you remember J.T. Chick's expose on the Catholic Church?
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
I always was taught that the roots of Catholicism incorporated ancient pagan Roman beliefs.
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Well, some of it is, some isn't. The evolution of, for example, Mariology is understood well enough, and it doesn't come from paganism (with some exceptions in parts of the world; see above). Some of the folk saints are pagan in origin, but most of the classical Catholic saints were historical martyrs whose stories have been embellished with tales of the miraculous. There are two extremes: one is devolving into parallelomania and seeing paganism in everything (see: Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons). The other sees modern Catholicism, weirdness and all, as what Christ and the apostles intended all along.
 

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https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=40

This raises another can of worms. In past years I distributed large quantities of this Chick tract. The basic concept of most of this tract is very good. Unfortunately, part of the content is based on "The Two Babylons" by Alexander Hislop. The teaching in Hislop's book is basically unreliable. See this negative review of the book by Evangelist Ralph Woodrow, a very perceptive and conservative Bible-believing Christian (and a personal friend of mine).

The Two Babylons: A Case Study in Poor Methodology - Christian Research Institute

This article first appeared in the volume 22, number 2 (2000) issue of the Christian Research Journal. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org A review of The Two Babylons, or The Papal Worship by Alexander Hislop (Lorizeaux Brothers...
www.equip.org www.equip.org
 
illinoisguy said:

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0040_01.gif
https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=40

This raises another can of worms. In past years I distributed large quantities of this Chick tract. The basic concept of most of this tract is very good. Unfortunately, part of the content is based on "The Two Babylons" by Alexander Hislop. The teaching in Hislop's book is basically unreliable. See this negative review of the book by Evangelist Ralph Woodrow, a very perceptive and conservative Bible-believing Christian (and a personal friend of mine).

The Two Babylons: A Case Study in Poor Methodology - Christian Research Institute

This article first appeared in the volume 22, number 2 (2000) issue of the Christian Research Journal. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org A review of The Two Babylons, or The Papal Worship by Alexander Hislop (Lorizeaux Brothers...
www.equip.org www.equip.org
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Then there was that South American former Jesuit priest, I can't remember his name... He was a major source of Chick's dirt on the RCC and Jesuits.
 
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