19 Effort to Understanding God: Learn from Stanley J. Samartha Firman Panjaitan Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Tawangmangu, Karanganyar. Indonesia Email: panjaitan.firman@gmail.com Abstract The religious concept of God has essentially "killed" the real existence of God. The understanding of God has been narrowed through religious dogmas so that God no longer lives universally but is limited to religious dogmas that try to live it in its own religious way. Departing from this problem, this article aims to discuss efforts to find God who lives in the existence of human life. By using literature studies, especially examining Samartha's views on the power of syncretism to build an attitude of pluralism, the findings are that syncretism is a means to animate universal values in religion. Syncretism is the power to foster synergy between culture and religion, so as to form a grounded contextual understanding of the rules of the good life. Likewise with God. Through contextualization based on syncretism, God who has been killed by religious dogmas is brought back to life, so that it can greet life in accordance with the context in which God lives. God is seen universally and at the same time becomes a solid foundation for every religion in the world. Introduction The condition of diversity in Indonesia is very pluralistic. Christianly, this raises three attitudes in responding to religious plurality, namely first, exclusivism, which teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, and this attitude negates respect for religions outside Christianity. Second, inclusivism, which is the development of the first model after Christianity has encountered other religions. This model says that salvation can be achieved in various ways, but in the end Jesus Christ is still seen as the only norm that can lead humans to true salvation. The inclusivism model recognizes the universality of salvation and maintains the centrality of the Jesus Christ (Christ even) which is seen as the only norm for salvation. Third, pluralism, which emphasizes the understanding that salvation can be achieved in many ways. In contrast to the second model, pluralism places the center of salvation as universal God because God is seen as a reality that can be understood through various perceptions. Although acknowledging that the centrality of salvation is in the universal God, this paradigm emphasizes that Article History: Received: 4 May 2021 Accepted: 4 February 2022 Keywords: Contextual; God; Stanley J. Samartha; Syncretism. MAHABBAH: Journal Religion and Education Vol. 3, No. 1 (January 2022) DOI: 10.47135/mahabbah.v3i1.30