SHINTOISM
Shinto means, “way of the gods,” and is the religion of the indigenous Japanese people dating from 300 BC. Shinto is more of a belief system and way of life than it is a religion. Shintoism is a nature religion that has no founder, no sacred scriptures, no dogmas and no preachers. There are no worship services of any kind. Worship is done by each person individually. Shintoism is polytheistic and revolves around the worship of over 300 “kami” (gods or spirits) which are supernatural entities believed to inhabit all things. The kami are worshipped at household shrines, family shrines and at over 80,000 public shrines throughout Japan. The key Shinto concepts of purity, harmony, family respect, and subordination of the individual needs to the needs of the group have been so ingrained into the Japanese character that Shintoism is a part of everyday life.
Buddhism entered Japan in 552 AD and amalgamated with Shintoism until the early 1900’s when Imperial Japan separated the two and created State Shinto to encourage the worship of the Emperor as a divine being. After WWII Shinto was formally separated from the state. Shinto is the largest religion in Japan and is practiced by 80% of the Japanese people (113 million). Buddhism is the second largest religion in Japan. Most of the country takes part in both Shinto and Buddhist activities because in Japanese culture the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive. The Japanese people see themselves as a secular people. Shintoism is non-denominational but there are three Shinto sects. Shinto followers make four affirmations: to love and honor nature, to strive for physical cleanliness, to worship ancestors and to maintain family values and traditions. Shintoism is paganism and its followers are pagans who will not see eternal life in heaven according to God’s Word.
KOREAN SHAMANISM
According to the dictionary a Shaman is, “a person who is believed to be able to contact good and evil spirits.” Shamanism has been the primary religion of the indigenous people of the Korean peninsula since prehistoric times. It consists of the worship of many gods, various spirits and ancestors. Shaman temples are located throughout North and South Korea, usually in the rural areas because Shamanism is important to the largely rural and peasant population. There are approximately eight million followers of Shamanism split equally between North Korea and South Korea. There is no priesthood for Shamanism. There are no religious texts or dogma. Koreans believe the gods simply choose who will be Shamans from among the people and then give them a special ability to reach the gods.
Shamans, who are usually women, act as the intermediary between the gods and man and their rites are known as “gut”. Do you remember the movie Ghost? In that movie Whoppi Goldberg played the part of Oda Mae Brown, a fake spirit medium who, for a price, would summon a dead relative from the spirit world so they could answer questions from their living family members. The dead relative would supposedly enter Oda Mae Brown’s body and speak to the living relative and answer their questions. Of course it was all a big con game to bilk money out of gullible family members who desperately wanted to ask questions of their dear departed loved ones.
These Korean Shamans work the same way. They can come to you but usually you have to go to their office like you would go to a doctor’s office. The Shaman’s office has a waiting room and once you get inside to see the Shaman there is an elaborate stage set to impress whoever comes to see them for answers from the gods. The Shaman’s have their own team of people to help them set the mood. Musicians are playing their instruments. There are a number of apprentices assisting the Shaman to put on the show. The Shaman makes her grand entrance onto the stage all decked out in an elaborate costume and then goes through her practiced theatrics. The Shaman will then go into a trance which allows whichever god the person is seeking to enter the Shaman’s body so she can respond to the person seeking answers to whatever questions they have. Apprentices serve for years learning how to be a professional con artists; how to act the part; and how to mimic receiving spirits in a trance. It would be funny if not for the fact that so many people are taken in by these frauds. Shamanism is paganism at its worst and its followers are gullible pagans who are disobeying the true God Jehovah’s first commandment to man, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.” Sinning against God will result in condemnation on the last Day and being sentenced to the lake of fire forever.
TAOISM (pronounced Daoism)
Taoism is a philosophical and spiritual tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists. We’ve all heard the term ying and yang, the male and female, which is used to represent the balanced forces of nature within the Tao. Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture and the roots of Taoism go back to around 550 BC. Taoism is a major religion in both China and Taiwan with an estimated 20 million followers who identify as “Taoists.” Taoists recognize a pantheon of gods and goddesses, none of which they acknowledge as being omnipotent or eternal. Taoism worship rituals are never spontaneous. They are carefully scripted and choreographed down to the last word and movement. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote the founding text of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching, which describes the, “the Way of the Tao and its Power,” which is the interplay between the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Taoists believe that the spirit within our bodies is immortal and it will join the universe after we die. Taoism is the way of the universe and all living creatures should live in harmony. Behind the nature of all things is the guiding principle of, “the way of the Tao.” Taoists believe the purpose of human life is to live according to the Tao which requires passivity, calmness and non-strife, which is referred to as “We Wei”. The three jewels of the Taoist philosophy are compassion, moderation and humility. Taoists believe in doing what’s natural and going with the flow. Taoism has no central authority and their teachings stem from the founding text by Lao Tzu plus two other writings considered to be sacred texts. Taoism is just another form of paganism that has been toned down to include nature. Taoist don’t acknowledge Jehovah as God or Jesus Christ as the Son of God so they will feel the wrath of God on the last Day along with all the other worshippers of fake religions and false gods.
CONFUCIANISM
Confucianism is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China in the sixth century BC. Confucianism developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC). Confucianism developed in China in response to Buddhist and Taoist influences in China and was later embraced by the Song dynasty (960-1297 AD). Confucianism is variously described as a tradition, a philosophy, a religion. a way of governing or simply a way of life. Confucianism emphasizes the importance of family and social harmony over otherworldly spiritual values so it’s not technically a religion and Confucius himself didn’t see his teachings in the context of starting a new religion. It’s estimated there are 6-10 million people in the world who identify themselves as followers of Confucianism and they primarily live in China.
Romans 3:20 – Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Confucianism recognizes no gods, however followers do worship the spirit of Confucius along with their ancestors. Confucianism is not an organized religion. There are no worship services, no religious hierarchy, no central authority and no dogma. There are Confucian temples throughout China that are used for important community and civic rituals. Think of Confucian temples like we in the U. S. see our civic centers. The important thing to know is that Confucianism laid the foundation for much of Chinese culture. I think Confucianism is a fake religion because Confucius was the first person to lay out the “humanist” manifesto of worshipping man as god. We see the prevalence of that in our world today. As far as I’m concerned Confucianism and humanism are interchangeable. Confucianism was the first humanist by considering human life as sacred and saying man’s moral nature comes from heaven, which Confucius saw as an absolute principle of the universe and not some divine god. In essence, Confucius was saying that man is god.
In the dictionary Confucianism is defined as, “the system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught be Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct.”
In the dictionary Humanism is defined as, “a system of thought that regards people as capable of using their intelligence to live their lives, rather than relying on religious belief.”
The above definitions aren’t that far apart. The ethical philosophy of Confucianism is commendable but the problem is Confucianism is based on self-effort of the individual, leaving no room or need for god. Confucianism teaches that man is capable of reaching heaven by his own efforts which is clearly refuted in the biblical teachings of Christianity. If we look at the last 2500 years of human history we can clearly see Confucius was wrong in his conclusions. Look at how much human misery has been caused by all the wars, killing and destruction caused by mankind. Instead of becoming more enlightened man is becoming more evil and depraved as time goes by, Not only does man lack the capability not to do evil, man can’t please the true God Jehovah by his own efforts nor can man attain heaven on his own.
2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
Confucianism, like all fake religions, relies on the works and abilities of man. Confucianism also worships a false god, which is man himself. In Romans 3:23, the Bible tells us that Christianity is the only religion that recognizes that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All believers must rely solely on Jesus Christ because his sacrificial death on the cross opened heaven’s door to all who believe in him and put their trust not in themselves, but in Jesus Christ alone. Those who worship themselves will not have their sins forgiven and when they die they will have to stand in judgment before the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ on the last Day. The wrath of God will fall on them and they will be condemned to the lake of fire for all eternity. For those who have eyes, let them see!
CAODAISM
Caodaism is almost exclusively an ethnic Vietnamese religion. It’s a young religion which started in southern Vietnam in 1926 and currently has 4-6 million followers. Vietnamese who have immigrated to other countries have taken Caodaism with them. In 1921 Ngo Van Chieu claims to have received visions from god in the form of a divine eye. Caodaism has borrowed from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and even Catholicism in forming their religious practices. They have their own church hierarchy that looks much like the Catholic church. They have incorporated reincarnation beliefs similar to the Hindus. They believe in becoming one with god like the Taoists. They believe the path to heaven is by leading a virtuous life similar to what the Buddhists believe. It’s obvious when Mr. Chieu started his religion he picked out what he liked about all the religions he was familiar with and amalgamated them into his new religion.
The followers of Caodaism engage in prayers, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence and vegetarianism. The goal of Caodaism is union with god and freedom from samsara, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth (reincarnation). Caodaists believe in two major gods, god the father (Highest Lord) and the feminine god (Holy Buddha Mother). All other devine beings obey the two creators. To achieve heaven one must cultivate their virtues and devote themselves to spiritual causes. If you do a good enough job you get to go to heaven and join with god. Otherwise, when you die you may end up in one of 3000 other worlds in one of 36 heavenly planes. We only have union with god when we have true liberation and reach Nirvana.
Any religion less than 2000 years old is a fake religion but one less than 100 years old is so obviously a fake as to be laughable. Caodaism is the worship of a pantheon of false gods. It’s a mortal sin to worship false gods before the true God Jehovah, who has commanded all men, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” God couldn’t be any clearer on the subject. All the pagans who worship false gods are disobeying God, which is a sin, and they’ll wind up in hell for it. Those pagans who reject Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God will not be saved unto eternal life in heaven. The only path to heaven is through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and by rejecting God’s saving grace they’ll face the wrath of God on the last Day.