> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://sethquant.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Biblical Take on Ancestor Worship in Japan - URL: https://sethquant.com/a-biblical-take-on-ancestor-worship-in-japan/ - Published: 2026-09-23T06:32:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-23T06:32:11.000Z - Description: God is honored by creativity and cultures around the world. What is good and true, according to the principles presented in scripture, is always God’s. While many, many cultural practices in Japan are celebrated instances of God’s creativity expressed through culture, some are not. - Author: Seth Quant - Tags: Japanese Culture, Discipleship, Japan Missions A Biblical Take on Ancestor Worship in Japan 0:00 /289.834667 1× One of the enduring charms of life in Japan is its clean modernity mixed with storied tradition. Many traditional forms of art and culture have been carefully preserved by generations of artisans, institutions, and amateurs. These forms have been adapted and interspersed throughout modern life across the Japanese archipelago. We live close to a bonsai museum. Completely surrounded by concrete buildings, apartments, and a major highway are hundred-year-old works of living art cared for by masters for generations. Traditional Kabuki theater remains a prominent attraction nestled among the polished brands of an upper-class Tokyo neighborhood. Different art forms and various cultures are wonderful things we celebrate and enjoy. Many of these things honor God. God is honored by much of the creativity and culture of people around the world. What is good and true, according to the principles presented in scripture, is always God’s. These good things are found in every person and every nation. Christ desires a redeemed, vibrant, and multicultural world that will join him forever in the new heavens and new earth. (Revelation 21:24-27) While many, many cultural treasures in Japan are celebrated instances of God’s creativity expressed through culture, some are not. Ancestor worship does not honor God and is a sinful practice. ## What is Ancestor Worship and Idolatry Like in Japan? Impulses for ancestor worship and related idolatrous acts, such as contacting the cult of the dead, are ancient. [According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary’s entry on Ancestor Worship](https://biblia.com/books/lbd/?ref=sethquant.com), the practice of ancestor worship has been around in Canaan since Moses’ exodus from Egypt. [Ancestor worship is based on a wide range of motivations](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/prepareDownload?itemId=info:ndljp/pid/9624059&contentNo=7&ref=sethquant.com) and has a long history in Japan. Scholars find evidence that ancestor worship has been entrenched in Japanese culture and families for many centuries. This practice, in fact, may predate the writing of The Kokiji, Japan’s first national literary document. Today, surveys suggest about 55% of Japanese households possess home altars and/or buddhist tablets believed to have ties to deceased relatives. Many Japanese people consider ritual worship at shrines, temples, and home altars to be primarily cultural practices. Some Japanese people believe these practices have religious significance; some do not. Part of the impulse to practice ancestor worship is an attempt to deal with the effects of sin. Sin brought death and grief into the world. Ancestor worship has a small grain of truth. It correctly presupposes that humans are spiritual and physical beings. Indeed, God created us all with an enduring spirit and a mortal body subject to death. We do have ongoing spirits. However, this does not mean worship of ancestors is acceptable or beneficial. It also does not mean the ideology of returning human spirits is true, the Bible repudiates this view. For a much, much deeper dive into the history, Biblical response, and challenges of ancestor worship in Japan you can read Dr. Choon Sup Bae’s and PJ van der Merwe's scholarly work on this topic. Here’s a shorter paper ["Ancestor Worship is it Biblical?" from them in 2008](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45680983%5FAncestor%5Fworship%5F-%5Fis%5Fit%5FBiblical?ref=sethquant.com). This is a more thorough chapter specifically about [“The Challenge of Ancestor Worship in Japan" from Dr. Choon Sup Bae’s dissertation](https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/a4ed0bb2-1b79-4154-9def-61073cf5dad4/content?ref=sethquant.com). ## Practicing Gratitude While Saving Worship For God Everyone is commanded consistently throughout the Old and New Testaments to worship our Creator and not created things. We are called to look to the one God for [hope, happiness, significance, and security.](https://newcitycatechism.com/new-city-catechism/?ref=sethquant.com#17) When we do not worship our one Creator in spirit and truth, our ability to properly act as his creations is negated. As God is our true hope and true life, we only find it in Him. This is why our Creator forbids us to be warped by the worship of created things. Idolatry ends in darkness and death. God does not desire bad things for us; hence the commandment against idolatry. God does not even take pleasure in the death of very wicked people. (Ezekiel 33:11) ### How exactly is the practice of feeding ancestors food or offering incense to a deceased person worship? Let’s take some time to examine what true worship is. [Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained](https://biblia.com/books/hlmnkybblwds/?ref=sethquant.com) \- > As one attempts to describe true worship, our answers tend to confuse external ritual with the more basic internal truth of worship. Our experience at church on Sunday is only the outward expression of worship. The singing of hymns, responsive readings from Scripture, corporate or private prayer, and the preaching of a sermon are all parts of worship, but true worship begins in the heart. [Easton’s Bible Dictionary](https://biblia.com/books/eastons/?ref=sethquant.com) on Worship: > Homage rendered to God which it is sinful (idolatry) to render to any created being (Ex. 34:14; Isa. 2:8). Such worship was refused by Peter (Acts 10:25, 26) and by an angel (Rev. 22:8, 9). The following biblical passages deal specifically with worship or religious practices focused around the cult of the dead: - Deuteronomy 14:1; 18:10–11; 26:14 - Jeremiah 16:5–8 Performing rituals unto human souls for spiritual protection or spiritual placation will never protect anyone or prevent harm. Instead, the Protector of All is insulted. Instead, the Just Judge of All demands more strongly we meet his righteous decree to act in accordance with his pure justice! Of course, the way to protection and mercy for all, is faith in Jesus. **Our hearts were made to worship.** Worship will always be performed, relished, and enacted. Human hearts are hardcoded to worship; we can’t escape this fundamental impulse. Due to sin, our worshiping impulse is skewed towards dead idols. When we worship, we must act in ways sanctioned by God and in honor of Him. Followers of Jesus are forbidden from consulting the dead because it’s unnecessary, harmful, and God forbids it. Unauthorized worship, such as this, places people in contact with deceptive spiritual evil. A heart that offers incense or prayer or worship to anything other than God is an offense to Him. It’s a destructive use of time for humanity. **However, the Bible is not opposed to ancestry in general. Genealogical records in the Old and New Testament attest to God’s love for historical lists linking people to their forefathers and key foremothers.** Scripture is wholeheartedly in favor of lengthy name lists connecting the past to the present. Even Jesus has a powerful genealogy that preaches his grace and mercy to all, starting from Adam. Exploring how our past family members connect us is not condemned. Being thankful to God for our forefathers is encouraged. Worship of ancestors or the dead is always out. But, thankfulness to God for the past and gratefulness for our family history is always welcome. A picture to remember a loved grandparent or any other deceased loved one is appropriate. Asking a deceased human for spiritual help, praying to placate their “restless soul”, or relying on them in faith is idolatry. This is also why Roman Catholic or Orthodox saints should never receive prayers or any spiritual veneration. Spiritual faith is placed in God alone. We are called to worship Him alone in spirit and in truth. Christians do not pray to the dead because Christ is risen! We pray to a living God. We pray to a living High Priest, who is faithfully interceding for all Christians at the right hand of the Father to this day. (Romans 8:34) We pray to a loving Heavenly Father and a powerful Spirit of Truth. (John 14:17) **Fear motivates the baseline for many of Japan’s religious practices.** This is exhibited in things like purchasing “protection charms” that students or adults wear on their bags for anything from safety to excellent test scores. Fear also creeps up in ancestor worship practices such as maintaining a home butsudan or kamidana. In these home altars, many families keep spiritual name tablets, giving them food offerings, as a false attempt to keep supposedly present ancestors happy. The Bible teaches demons receive any offerings given to idols, and for all of us to have no participation with their evil. (1 Corinthians 10:20) Ancestor worship stems from an ancient deception. Just because human souls are eternal, it does not mean we can contact them after death legitimately or interact in any way. This is often combined with a misplaced conception of the afterlife and final judgement. Spirits are sorted into their appropriate resting places at death. There is no return to Earth as it is. There’s no afterlife movement between God’s wonderful presence and the darkness of separation from Him. Ancestor worship is at odds with God condemning all consultation of the dead. At any home altar, anywhere in the world, offerings of incense and food are given in accordance with improper beliefs. There is no positive benefit to the offerer or spirit being offered to. ## The Practical Experience of New Believers in Japan Japanese Christians who embrace Jesus in families strongly committed to ancestor worship may experience direct or soft persecution over this issue. Since the eldest male son is expected by tradition to carry on the tradition of ancestor worship, it serves as a clear decision point where believers must firmly chose the infinite riches of knowing Jesus over false, worldly religion. It doesn’t mean that the oldest son can’t, for example, make and maintain a non-religious genealogical record. But it does mean he should prayerfully, carefully, and lovingly explain to his family that he cannot partake in the rituals and cannot accept the belief system behind ancestor worship. This issue, including other Shinto and Buddhist cultural/religious rituals, may cause some family members to insist that embracing Christ is equivalent to discarding a Japanese identity. Buddhist or Shinto-practicing parents may deeply feel they are being abandoned by Christian sons or daughters. On the other hand, it may be a good time to share the hope of Jesus, which says anyone living today with faith in him can join a family of God honoring ancestors forever and always. The small kernel of truth in the ancestor worship belief is truly fulfilled and brought to completion by Jesus. Our souls can find rest in him for this current life now and the life to come. We will meet our ancestors only when we are united with our Creator. While not every family in Japan holds these traditional beliefs strongly, [navigating this conversation with a first-generation believer is of very high importance.](https://omf.org/navigating-ancestor-worship-in-japan/?ref=sethquant.com) Anyone attempting to navigate their new faith in this area should contact their local church pastor or Christian mentor for guidance and instruction appropriate to their situation. Many Japanese believers in our church navigated this issue through a loving conversation with their families. Fortunately, in their cases, their families were understanding about their Christian faith and understood their point of view. They shared how these conversations were be navigated with close family, along with lots of prayer and love. Christ calls us to love our families, with kindness and patience. We are also called to rejoice in the truth, God is worthy of the worship he prescribes. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) God works in mysterious ways. We may all be surprised in the future at which of our ancestors put their true faith in Jesus. There are a whole host of surprising ancestors in our lineage we will meet in the presence of God. Salvations can happen just before death. Therefore, who is to say exactly who is in the presence of Christ and who isn’t? The thief on the cross is now with Jesus in paradise, many enter heaven similarly to him. ### The real question is, which ancestors do we choose to respect? Which ancestors do we put aside? Do we claim more recent and culturally similar ancestors? Do we claim more culturally convenient modern ancestors? Or will we embrace our more distant ancestors like Noah and Adam who had faith and knew our living God?