Christianity & Shinto
Ancestors and the Communion of Saints
Shinto holds the dead close. Ancestors are honored and remembered, their spirits watched over and cared for, and in time revered among the kami who guard the family and the land. Christians share this deep honor for those who came before, and hold it differently: the departed in Christ are alive with God and remembered as a great cloud of witnesses, yet worship belongs to God alone, and the tie that binds the living and the dead is the resurrection hope in Jesus. Honoring the ancestors as kami, or honoring the departed while worshiping God alone, is where Shinto and Christian faith honestly meet and part.
What Shinto teaches
In Shinto the bond between the living and the dead is never broken. Ancestors are honored at the home and the shrine, their memory kept and their spirits cared for; over generations they may be revered among the kami, watching over the family and the community they left behind. Reverence for ancestors is one of the warm centers of Japanese religious life.
What Christians believe
Christians honor father and mother and hold the faithful departed in love, remembering them as witnesses who have gone before, while reserving worship for God alone.
Where they meet
Both refuse to forget the dead or to treat them as gone for good; both keep a living bond of gratitude and honor across the generations; and both feel that those who came before still belong to us.
Where they differ
Shinto honors and cares for the ancestors, who may be revered among the kami and prayed to for the family’s good. Christianity honors the departed and remembers them as a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), but gives worship and prayer to God alone, and rests the bond between the living and the dead on the resurrection hope in Christ, in whom the faithful are alive with God and will rise. Revering the ancestors as kami, or honoring the departed while worshiping God alone, is the honest difference.
Shinto sources: the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, trans. Basil Hall Chamberlain, 1882, public domain) and Motoori Norinaga’s classic definition of kami; renderings of Japanese terms follow widely published scholarship, which varies, compare others. Bible: King James Version. Every reference on this page was checked against its source.
The word itself
Sosen no kami (sosen no kami) → ancestral kami → the honored ancestors
In Shinto the ancestors are honored and cared for, and over time revered among the kami who watch over the family. Christians deeply honor the departed and remember them as a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), yet worship God alone and hold the bond of the living and the dead in the resurrection hope of Christ.
Frequently asked questions
- How does Shinto honor ancestors?
- Shinto keeps the bond between the living and the dead close. Ancestors are honored at the home and the shrine, their spirits remembered and cared for, and over generations they may be revered among the kami who watch over the family and community. It is one of the warm centers of Japanese religious life.
- What do Christians believe about honoring the dead?
- Christians honor father and mother (Exodus 20:12) and hold the faithful departed in love, remembering them as a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), while giving worship and prayer to God alone. The bond between the living and the dead rests on the resurrection hope in Christ. Revering the ancestors as kami, or honoring the departed while worshiping God alone, is the difference.
Come and see
Shinto surrounds life with gratitude and a longing to be clean before the sacred. The Gospel tells of the God who makes the heart clean and welcomes us home. The most direct way to know Jesus is to read his words for yourself. There is no pressure here.
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