New Article published – “Monotheism and Syncretism in Late Antiquity…”

A new article of mine, part of a forthcoming chapter in a volume on religious syncretism, has just been previewed in a special issue of the JMJ.  My contribution, “Monotheism and Syncretism in Late Antiquity: The ‘Hellenistic’ Religion of Julian the Apostate,” is related to religious syncretism in the thought of the Roman emperor Julian (331-363 CE), and its relationship to monotheism, Christian controversy, and religious and philosophical trends in the twilight of the “Hellenistic” world. 

The subject of religious syncretism forms for me a key area of research. This is, however, a topic routinely mischaracterized and misunderstood. Reading from Dr. O’Leary’s editorial: “Some even maintain that it is impossible to talk about religious syncretism at all, since every religious phenomenon is syncretistic, as is every phenomenon in general. The term then can mean everything and nothing… But if we take religious syncretism to signify a substantial amalgamation of two well-defined religious traditions, one that is lasting, and conscious, and that has a deep impact on one or both of the traditions it conjoins, and if to give existential spice to the topic we further specify that it must have a controversial and threatening aspect, since perceived as compromising the purity or integrity, or the very survival, of one or both of the religions involved, then I think that history presents us with many clear dramatic examples of such a fusion of traditions. Official self-definition and border control by religious authorities cannot fully master what goes on in real-life situations, where all kinds of amalgams are formed, discredited as superstition, or sanctified by being given a reassuring ecclesiastical interpretation, as in the chequered history of Marian apparitions. Hinduism and Buddhism have a tolerance of many practices as ‘skillful mean’ but also a concern for orthodoxy that never disappears. For the Christian missionary, facing some startling situation of syncretism, such as the Pachamama ceremony hosted by Pope Francis on the eve of the Amazon synod, the question is not one of detecting and condemning syncretism but rather of discerning the spiritual forces and human values at play, and perhaps finding in them an occasion of renewal for Christian practice and theology. These questions open a vast field of debate, particularly as they bear on the highly syncretistic religious culture of Japan, and also on the formation of Judaism and Christianity in their coexistence with Persian, Hellenic, and Roman religions.”

I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the concept of religious syncretism in the context of late antiquity, particularly in the fourth-century when Christianity swept the scene and both pagans and Christians were required to reconsider the boundaries and borders of their religious and philosophical traditions. Julian, the so-called Christian “Apostate” and the “last pagan emperor,” provides an obviously useful window into the question of blending and borrowing in this dramatic age, and reveals how such practices, part and parcel of the so-called “Hellenistic era,” were used to not only positively link traditions together but to gain dominance in interfaith disputes. Pursuant to my research interests and specialty, Julian is also a vital subject in the study of “pagan monotheism” in the Roman empire, a key focus of my recent book on Julian’s uncle, the emperor Constantine.

The article can be read here.

Many thanks to the editor Dr. Joseph O’Leary for his invitation to the project and to the other admirable scholars involved. Very much looking forward to working on the full volume.

K.C.