Should Christians Worship at Shrines?

EVERY year, more than six million people travel to an isolated cedar forest on the Shima peninsula in Japan.  They come to the Grand Shrine of Ise, where the  Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, has been worshipped for some two thousand years.  The worshippers first purify themselves by washing their hands and mouth.  Then, standing before the shrine's haiden (worship hall), they follow a ritual in which  they bow, clap, and pray to the goddess.  Shinto allows its adherents to practice other faiths, and some Buddhists, professed Christians, and others see no conflict in performing the Shinto rituals at this shrine. 

Many of the world's major religions have shrines, and countless millions of people visit them.   In professed Christian lands, there are numerous churches and shrines dedicated to Jesus, Mary and the saints.  Others like them are established in locations where Biblical events or "miracles" of more recent times are said to have taken place or where religious relics are kept.   Many people go to the shrines because they believe that their prayers are more likely to be heard if offered in a sacred place.  For others, reaching a shrine is the culmination of a long pilgrimage they have made to demonstrate devotion.

Are prayers and petitions more likely to be heard and answered if they are offered at a shrine?  Will God be pleased by the devotion of those who make pilgrimages to shrines?  More to the point, should Christians worship at shrines? The answers to these questions will not only tell us how we should view worshipping at shrines but also help us to understand the kind of worship that truly pleases God.

Next time: Should Christians Worship at Shrines?/WORSHIP "WITH SPIRIT AND TRUTH"

From The Watchtower magazine