ABSTRACT
This chapter clarifies the concept of dialogue, and especially the concept of syncretism, through an analysis of the logic of religious belief. The term 'syncretism' could better be used to indicate and analyse a certain aspect of the mutual influence between religious traditions. It is clear from André Drooger's survey of the discussion of the term syncretism that it involves a process in which beliefs and practices from one religious current or world and life view are adopted by certain people in another religious current. The chapter shows how one views syncretism, and the relationship between religious traditions, depends to a large extent on one's view of the nature of a religious belief-system. It defines syncretism in the first instance as the incorporation of incompatible beliefs from one religion by another. The chapter examines notion of ambiguity when dealing with religious traditions as historical and hermeneutical processes wherein the beliefs of a tradition are subject to reinterpretation and rearrangement.
