Orthodox Hybridities: Anti-Syncretism and Localization in the Evangelical Christianity of Thailand

At the turn of the twenty-first century, evangelicals employ a brand of anti-syncretism that incorporates a substantial amount of hybridity. This creativity inside a framework of seeming inflexibility is one of the things that helps evangelical Christianity localize while "holding its shape." It also enables conversions to be grounded in idiosyncratic experience while enabling those conversions to present as orthodox. Employing interviews with ethnic Thai and Sino-Thai who have converted from Buddhism to Christianity, the article explores two mechanisms of hybridity that can be observed among Thai evangelicals. Hybridities of extension fit locally specific material into frames that are transculturally shared, while hybridities of transition exploit cognitive and terminological overlaps that facilitate a person's movement across otherwise discrete religious boundaries. Together, these orthodox hybridities give evangelical Christianity a feel of the local while preserving converts' sense of being loyal to a transculturally shared set of teachings.