For today's article I will briefly be covering the beliefs of an ancient religion of Japan known as Shinto. As usual I will be contrasting these beliefs with the teachings of scripture in order to show how different Shinto is from Christianity. Okay, lets begin.
The religion of Shinto has no known date or founder, and there is approximately 3 or 4 million adherents of Shintoism. A Shintoist view of god is Polytheistic, which is based on Kami which are ancient gods or spirits. Christianity on the other hand holds to the belief in one God (Isa 45:5). Shintoist also believe in a Sun goddess named Amaterasu Omikami, which I find to sound quite similar to the queen of heaven mentioned in Jer 7:18. Shintoism can be considered a nature-worshiping religion, and it is said that Shintoism places more importance of doing their sacred rituals correctly than in belief itself. The bible however teaches us that without faith it's impossible to please God and that there are those that worship the Creature more than the Creator (Heb 11:6, Rom 1:25).
In Shinto the traditional Japanese home has has 2 family alters. One of these alters is for the Kami gods, and the other is for the family ancestors. Shinto shrines are regarded as the home of Kami, and located in the inner sanctuary is the symbol called the "Kami body" or "divine spirit symbol". The bible however teaches that God doesn't dwell in building made with hands but in the believers themselves (Act 7:48-49, 1Cor 6:19).
Shintoism does have a spring and autumn festival, and their are several rituals that occurs at the grand festival. These rituals include the chief priest and congregation bowing to an alter, the presentation of food offerings, and symbolic offerings using little branches of the evergreen sacred tree. We see that the evergreen tree is associated with idolatry when we take a look at such bible passages including 2 Kin 17:10, Isa 57:5, and Eze 6:13 to name just a few.
When a baby is born to a Shinto couple they will put it's name on a list which is kept at the shrine, if the infant's name is on the list it will become a part of the pantheon of Kami after it dies. If however the babe dies before it was added to the list it is said to turn into a Mizuko, which are thought to cause troubles. These Mizuko are worshiped in a Shinto shrine which is dedicated to calming their anger or sadness. These shrines have since grown in popularity, probably because of the growth in abortions.
To conclude I want to mention that Shinto emphasizes this life and finding happiness within it, instead of preparing for the next life. The bible however teaches us that those that love their life will lose it (Joh 12:25). As with all other followers of Pagan religions, we as Christians out to be out there evangelizing this lost group of people showing them that because of their sin they need a savior and that savior is none other than Jesus Christ.
References:
http://www.religionfacts.com/shinto/holidays
http://www.religionfacts.com/shinto/practices
www.wa-pedia.com/glossary/shinto_traditions.shtml
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