Abstract:
This article gives a brief history and meaning of the terms syncretism and
inculturation. The article highlights the fact that over the centuries Christianity has
wrestled with syncretism. Following Lamin Sanneh (1989) the authors discuss three
styles Christianity has employed in engaging cultures with the Gospel. The three styles
are: quarantine, syncretist, and reform. The article draws examples from the history
of missions to illustrate how this went on; showing what happened when Christianity
engaged the Jewish community and the Greco-Roman world. The article argues
that inculturation is not “everything goes”. Using the Nso’1 context of Cameroon,
the authors critique inculturation which leads to syncretism and suggest holistic
“translatability” and holistic “critical contextualisation” as a way out.
