When asked "What religion do you follow?" the typical answer is to name a specific group, or to respond "None." An increasing number of people, however, are intentionally combining elements from various religious heritages, demonstrating that religions do not have firm boundaries, nor are they purely distinct. In Praise of Mixed Religion discusses the concept of syncretism, the term for the mixing of religious perspectives. The religious studies discipline has traditionally distinguished between two responses to syncretism: a subjective view, which treats syncretism as morally reprehensible, and an objective view, which treats it as a morally neutral phenomenon. William Harrison adopts a third perspective, the advocacy view, which claims that mixing religions is a good and necessary process. He cites countless examples - such as Islam's transformative encounter with Greek thought - from both history and recent years to show how religious traditions have gained theological and practical wisdom by borrowing key ideas, beliefs, and practices from outside their own movements. By encouraging syncretism, In Praise of Mixed Religion contests the hard boundaries between religious worldviews and presents a dramatic alternative for thinking and talking about religion.

William H. Harrison is president of Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon. He is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada and rostered pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. He has both taught and served in leadership roles with the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad and the Kootenay School of Ministry. Dr. Harrison has served in diocesan roles with the Anglican Dioceses of Kootenay and Huron and in parish ministry. His Ph.D. is in Systematic Theology, from Boston College, with a dissertation on Richard Hooker’s ecclesiological method. He has an MA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia, a BTh from University of Ottawa/St. Paul University, an Honours BA in Political Science from Carleton University, and a Professional Leadership Certificate from the University of Regina. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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“Most people are not aware of the pervasiveness of syncretism. William Harrison shows how syncretism leads to creative transformation in many fields – religious, practical, ethical, ecological, scientific, and politics – in this fascinating, visionary, and important new book.” Douglas Todd, columnist at the Vancouver Sun