I was having one of those “spiritual but not religious” conversations with a fellow Buffaloan and we were discussing Shinto, one of my favourite topics. What I noted was:
In Shinto, a person walking the path sees an especially beautiful (holy) tree or amazing mountain view and, giving thanks to the spiritual presence he feels incarnated there, builds a shrine. Others come along and, feeling the same awe, may light a candle or say a prayer… thus the shrine becomes a centre of holiness.
In Christianity, a person walking the path sees an especially holy (beautiful) person and, giving thanks to the spiritual presence that he feels incarnated in that person’s life, names a saint. Others come along and, feeling the same awe, may light a candle or say a prayer… thus the saint becomes a centre of holiness.
Both religions also have traces of the other tradition: many a monastery or church is situated in beauty; Shinto has ancestor worship.
Thoughts?
I think that that “purpose” of saints in Christianity is different than a holy tree or mountain in Shinto. But you do bring up an interesting parallel.
I have an evangelical friend of Asian decent, studying theology with the ultimate goal of returning to Asia as a missionary. And one frustration he voiced to me goes something like this (I’m paraphrasing): “You can’t just go into an Asian world and take away their ancestors and their home altars and what-not and hand them a book and say, ‘Here. This is your religion now.’”
So I talked to him about the catholic/orthodox idea of “the domestic church” and the beautiful corner, home altar and icon-shrine. I think he very well may be the first evangelical missionary to encourage such a thing amongst his converts.