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 the Ise, where Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, has been worshipped for some two thousand years. The worshippers first purify themselves by washing their hands and their 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 not 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 Christians 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 their religious devotion. 

Are prayers and petitions more likely to be heard and answered if they are offered 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: WORSHIP "WITH SPIRIT AND TRUTH"

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