Challenges in the Korean Protestants dealing with ancestor worship Term Paper

Challenges in the Korean Protestants dealing with ancestor worship - Term Paper Example The challenge faced by protestant Christians when dealing with ancestor worship can be attributed to the fact that there existed other religious beliefs that had helped propagate the practice in the Korean society over the years, especially traditional religions. Consequently, this essay provides a critical analysis of the challenges that Protestants have faced in their dealing with ancestor worship especially since they have always sought to protect the Christian doctrine from adopting any form of practice that would imply absorption of aspects of ancestor worship. The diverse nature of religion in both South and North Korea is exemplified by the study conducted by Johnson and Hickman, which indicate there are five and four types of religion with each claiming about 10 percent Korean population being their members (14). This paints a clear picture of the interaction between different religions among members of the Korean population. These figures represent the growth of region in Korea with Christianity also achieving huge success in the society. The growth in Christianity is significant especially when considering that Protestants make up the second largest group of worshippers being second to Buddhism, which was, introduced to the Koreans years earlier that Christianity. Protestant churches entered Korea in the 1800s and has since attracted millions of members with approximately 60 000 Protestant churches operating in the in the region in addition to having about 100 000 ministers and 12 000 overseas missions (Kim, Jung Han 132). Even with this development and continued growth of Christianity, ancestor worship has continued to be exercised within Korean society. Although the protestant doctrine does not support ancestor worship, and there are other factors outside Protestant Christianity that has contributed to the maintenance of this practice in the Korean society. To make an assessment of what has sustained the practice of