Ancestral Rites and Memorial Services

The Issue

Ancestral rites raise the question of whether offering food to deceased ancestors and bowing before them is a religious act directed toward the spirits of the dead or a cultural custom for remembering and honoring one's forebears. In Korea, ancestral rites (jesa) are a long-standing family ritual.

The Traditional Protestant Position

Korean Protestant churches have prohibited ancestral rites since the earliest days of missionary work, on the following grounds:

• The First and Second Commandments, which forbid serving other gods and bowing down to them (Exodus 20:3-5).
• The belief that the spirits of the dead come to receive food is contrary to the teaching of Scripture.
• Paul's warning concerning things sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 10:20).

These churches taught that filial piety is practiced by serving one's parents while they are living, and that after their death the departed are remembered through a memorial service in which worship is offered to God. As a result, early Korean believers faced serious conflict within their families and clans.

Other Views

• The Catholic Church in Korea suffered severe persecution during the Joseon period for prohibiting ancestral rites, but since a 1939 decision of the Holy See it has regarded the rites as a social courtesy toward ancestors and permits them under certain conditions.
• Some Protestants hold that bowing is merely a form of greeting rather than worship, and others hold that honoring the deceased by sharing food is acceptable so long as no ancestral tablet or paper tablet (jibang) is used.
• There is also a missiological concern that disputes over ancestral rites divide families and close doors to evangelism.

Practical Questions

• May a believer attend ancestral rites held by unbelieving family members, and may one observe a moment of silence or pray instead of bowing?
• May one eat food offered in ancestral rites (a question of how to interpret 1 Corinthians 8 and 10:25-27)?
• Does setting out food as part of a memorial service risk blending it with ancestral rites?

Answers vary somewhat by denomination and pastor. In general, participating in the rites by bowing is prohibited, while believers are encouraged to maintain harmony with their families and respect for the deceased.