Christianity in Indonesia
Encyclopedia
Christianity in Indonesia is the country's second-largest religion, after Islam
. About 7% of the population of Indonesia
are Protestants
, 3% are Catholics, with around 86% Muslims.
is in most areas almost entirely Muslim, with the exception of the Batak
peoples of North Sumatra
, who are largely Protestant. The provinces of Java
range from 5% Christian up to 12% in the capital Jakarta. In Kalimantan
, there are substantial (25-35%) Christian populations (mostly Dayak people
) in West, Central and East Kalimantan
provinces, while in South Kalimantan
the seafaring Banjar people
are Muslims, and there is only a small (1-2%) Christian population.
Bali is 92% Hindu, with a few Muslim areas in eastern Bali, neighbouring West Nusa Tenggara
province (the islands of Lombok
and Sumbawa
), which is 96% Muslim, with a minority Balinese Hindu population. In East Nusa Tenggara
(dominated by the islands of Flores
and Sumba
, along with West Timor
), over 90% of the population is Christian, with Flores almost entirely Catholic, with a greater dominance of Protestantism in Alor Island, West Timor and Sumba.
In North Sulawesi
65% of the population is Protestant (mostly Minahasa
people, over 90% Protestant), with a 7% Catholic minority and most of the rest Muslims. Other provinces of Sulawesi are predominantly Muslim, but in smaller areas there are Christian majorities, notably Tana Toraja
West Sulawesi
, where 80% are Christian, plus parts of Central Sulawesi
. Maluku is split 50/50 between Christian Protestants and Muslims. North Maluku
has a 3 to 1 split between Muslims and Christians. Papua province and West Papua province both have Christian majorities.
Chinese Indonesians are also major Christian contributor with 35% being Christians in 2000, they're scattered throughout Indonesia, concentrated mainly in major urban areas. There are trend among Chinese youth converting Christianity, largely due to past intolerance toward Chinese culture, Chinese attending Christians school and increase in education. The first wave of conversions occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, in response to intolerance of Chinese culture, and the number of ethnic Chinese Catholics during this period increased by more than 400 percent. The second wave followed after the government withdrew Confucianism's status as a recognized religion in the 1970's. It was estimated in 2006 that 70 percent of the ethnic Chinese population was Christian with active proselytism from international churches. With same rate of conversion it was estimated that 80% of the Chinese in Indonesia are Christians by 2010.
of the Bible
('Alkitab") in Indonesian language
was Albert Corneliszoon Ruyl's translation of the book of Matthew (1629). Between then and now there's at least 22 other translations that exist, excluding the translations to local languages of Indonesia (out of more than 700 local languages of Indonesia
, more than 100 languages has portions or whole Bible translated, while some, like Javanese and Batak, has more than one version). The most widespread translation used by Indonesian right now is Terjemahan Baru (1985), or "New Translation" published by LAI ("Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia" or Indonesian Bible Society).
Gottlob Brückner (1783–1857) translated the Bible into Javanese, the largest local languages of Indonesia, in 1820
, a trading post known to have been frequented by Indian traders, and linked therefore to the Indian Saint Thomas Christians
. No record nor trace of such a community remains, and the first significant evidence of Christian activity came with the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
.
The Portuguese arrived in the Malacca Sultanate
(modern-day Malaysia) in 1509 seeking access to its wealth. Although initially well-received, the capture of Goa
as well as other Muslim-Christian conflicts convinced the Malaccan Muslims that the Portuguese Christians would be a hostile presence. The resulting capture of Malacca
is believed to have enhanced a sense of Muslim solidarity against the Christian Portuguese, and ongoing resistance against the Portuguese came from Muslim Aceh
as well as from the Ottoman Empire
. Although the Portuguese built some churches in Portuguese Malacca
itself, their evangelical influence in neighbouring territories was perhaps more negative than positive in promulgating Christianity.
, the important spice islands of the eastern archipelago was more significant. They landed first in Ambon, where the natives were already polarised into 'uli-lima' (group of five) and 'uli-siwa' (group of nine), the former having converted to Islam and allying with the Muslim Javanese, with the latter retaining traditional beliefs. The Portuguese found themselves allied with the ulu-siwa, whose opposition to the uli-lima made Christianity an appealing choice.
The Islamic Sultanate of Ternate
sought the patronage of the Portuguese, offering a trading monopoly in return for military support against rival local kingdoms. In 1534, the first Roman Catholic community was established in Halmahera
, the result of an appeal to the Portuguese for protection from Halmahera
against Ternatean incursions, protection offered conditional on converting to Christianity.
Further evangelising resulted in many Ternate nobles converting to Christianity, while Francis Xavier
, a Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Jesuit Order worked in Ternate, Moro and Ambon briefly in 1546 and also 1547. St Francis wrote that most of the population were 'pagan', and hated the local Muslims, resisting conversion to Islam. He appealed for support to save souls in Maluku, which arrived in 1547 in the shape of Nuno Ribeiro, a Jesuit who is said to have converted five hundred people before being murdered in 1549.
Sultan Hairun of Ternate had refused to convert to Christianity, regarding himself as defender of the Islamic faith, and when he was murdered by a Portuguese Captain in 1570, his son, Baabullah, the new Sultan, reacted angrily, expelling the Portuguese from Maluku, waging war against both the Portuguese and their local Christian allies. As a result, the Jesuit mission was abandoned almost entirely in 1573, and Christians were killed or converted at the point of a sword. The faith survived only around the Jesuit fort in Ambon
; even there, there was a shortage of priests due to dangerous conditions, and many local people did not have knowledge of Christian creeds, and were easily apostatized to Islam or traditional beliefs.
The Portuguese by now largely impotent, the Dutch, allied with the Muslim locals against their mutual Portuguese enemy, seized the fort of Ambon in 1605. The Dutch expelled the Jesuits and Portuguese, adopting the Catholic churches for Protestant worship, which was supported through the establishment of numerous Protestant schools, where the teachers also led Sunday worship. Boundaries between Muslim and Christians were well-established on Ambon, but in Seram
and Buru
, proselytisation took place converting 'pagans' to Christianity, the policy of the VOC being to contain the spread of Islam without converting existing Muslims. Idols were destroyed by the Dutch teachers as new Christians were prohibited from continuing to follow their traditional religion.
in southern Sulawesi
expressed an interest in Christianity on several occasions in the 16th century, and while a request was made to Malacca for missionaries, none were forthcoming, perhaps because of the lack of commercial opportunities (spices) in the area, and from 1605 the area converted to Islam, having received instruction in the faith from Johor
. Subsequently, following the fall of Portuguese Malacca, many Catholics, including Jesuit priests, fled to Makassar, which was tolerant of their faith, but by 1660 the Dutch forced the expulsion of the Portuguese, who fled to Macau and Flores.
, where the Portuguese, and Christianity, were seen as a bulwark against Ternate, the powerful sultanate directly due east. Portuguese missionary activity continued in northern Sulawesi between 1563 and 1570, but following the murder of Sultan Hairun in Ternate and the ensuing anti-Portuguese attacks, the mission was abandoned.
In the Spanish-controlled Sangihe Islands
and Talaud Islands
in the kingdom of Siau, lying directly north of northern Sulawesi, Catholicism had been adopted with some enthusiasm, and when the allied Dutch-Ternatean Muslim pillaged the islands in 1613 and 1615, help was sought from the Philippines to the north. Franciscans visited from Manila
, as did a Jesuit mission.
Jesuit missionariess were also active in Minahasa
and neighbouring areas in the first half of the 17th century, but attacks from Muslims from Ternate as well as local animist peoples meant that priests had a short life expectancy. From 1655 to 1676 the Dutch established firm control of northern Sulawesi, and Catholicism was prohibited by the ruling VOC
. With Catholicism harshly suppressed, as in Ambon in Maluku, the people of Minahasa, the Sangihe and Talaud islands are to this day almost entirely Protestant (the Dutch replacing the Catholic infrastructure with the schools of Dutch Protestantism), although in the 20th century fresh Catholic mission activity commenced.
to purchase sandalwood
. During their trading missions they were frequently becalmed, and during this time are said to have converted numerous people of Solor island
, Timor
and Flores
. Hearing of these conversions, three Dominican
missionaries were sent from Malacca, arriving and establishing a church in 1562 in Flores. The mission was given financial support from the Portuguese in Goa, enabling the construction of mission stations in the area.
A major setback came when two headmen were imprisoned and mistreated by the Portuguese in 1598, resulting in a rebellion and desecration of churches throughout the region, as those opposed to the Portuguese, many of whom had been previously converted to Islam in the early 16th century, attacked the Portuguese and the Dominican mission. Subsequent setbacks came in the form of the arrival of the Dutch, who allied against the Portuguese Christians.
A new mission was established in 1617, which successfully furthered the spread of Catholicism in the region, including minor military ventures led from Larantuka
on Flores, rejecting the dominionship of Islamic Makassar. 'Black' Portuguese control over Larantuka, and influence also over Timor, was settled by truce with the Dutch in 1661. The Catholic community in east Flores was strengthened by the expulsion of Catholics from Makassar in 1660. In Portuguese Timor
the Portuguese mission at Lifau
(which supported the nominal cathedral of the Diocese of Malacca, as the Dutch would no longer tolerate one there) was in conflict with the Dutch at Kupang
, and wars were fought between the two sides with Catholic villages regarded as Portuguese and therefore enemies of the Dutch. In the first half of the 18th century 'Portuguese'-supporting factions were defeated entirely by the Dutch in West Timor, confining Catholicism to the eastern part of that island.
The Dominican mission declined in the late 18th century, and in 1817 the last priest covering Flores died. Many Catholics reverted to pagan practices, but still thousands remained, continuing to follow Catholic pageantry. Portugal, severely weakened, withdrew from all but East Timor, but thanks to treaties signed in the 1850s, freedom of religion was guaranteed in areas being exchanged between the two countries. Following this treaty Catholicism strengthened considerably in Flores after 1860.
in the Indies, there were many European Christians as well as Asian Christians from areas proselytized by the Portuguese. The predominant denomination in Batavia was Dutch Reformed but there were also Lutherans and Catholics. The Dutch governors constructed Reformed churches, for Portuguese, Dutch and Malay speakers. Other religions were formally prohibited, but in practice Chinese temples as well as mosques remained in existence, and despite various measures to promote Christianity, there was a high degree of religious diversity and never at any time a Christian majority. At other VOC settlements clergy were likewise provided, such as at Semarang
, where the minister had a congregation that was only half Reformed and half Catholic or Lutheran and consequently efforts were made to provide inclusive preaching. Largely however, the VOC had little impact or interest in upsetting their business interests in favour of religious ideals, and indeed the theology of the Dutch Reformed church was opposed to the mass baptism adopted by Catholic missionaries, and their impact on Java as a whole was very minor.
had been established in The Netherlands. This meant that the pretence of a Protestant monopoly in the Indies was abandoned, and in 1826 the Apostolic Prefecture of Batavia was established.
As of 1800, there were an estimated 40,000 indigenous Protestants, in northern Sulawesi, central Maluku and Timor, as well as approximately 11,000 Catholics in east Flores and the islands around. This out of a population of a total 7 million represented just 0.7% Christians, against approximately 85% Muslims. Thus it can be seen that in the last two centuries although the proportion of Muslims has remained largely constant in the archipelago, the Christian population has risen rapidly, thanks in large part to the 19th century missionary societies, discussed below.
The German Rhenish Missionary Society
visited Banjarmasin
and West Kalimantan
in 1829. Following this two missionaries were sent in 1834, and in total between 1834 and 1859 20 missionaries were sent to the region, although mortality rates were high and never more than 7 were active at one time. Permission for the activity from the Dutch government was obtained after 1836.
Although the mission was headquartered in Banjarmasin, where the pastoral needs of European residents were supplied, it was apparent that converting the Muslims who dominate the cities of Kalimantan was an impossible task, and instead efforts were focused on the 'Dayak
' people of the interior, who practised traditional religions. Johann Becker, a capable linguist, translated the gospels into the Dayak Ngaju language
.
The missionaries also bought 1100 Dayak slaves over the period 1836 to 1859 in order to emancipate them as free men. Despite their efforts, only a few hundred were baptised. In 1859 the Banjarmasin War broke out, several missionaries were killed, and the mission was excluded from the region until 1866 by the Dutch, which fought to bring the former Sultanate of Banjarmasin under direct rule.
In 1866 the missionaries returned. Despite building many mission stations and schools, only 3,000 had converted by 1911, as against 100,000 Batak Christians in the similarly resourced Rhenish mission of North Sumatra. It has been suggested that this slow progress was due to the fragmented nature of the Dayaks - with no king or dominant regional powers, there was little prospect of mass conversion, while new converts faced exclusion from their traditional ceremonies.
After World War 1, the RMS was replaced by the Basel Mission. It transferred control to the first independent church, the 'Gereja Dayak Evangelis', in 1935, covering a vast geographical area from Banjarmasin 1300 km to the west and 600 km inland. In 1950 the church became the more ethnically inclusive 'Gereja Kalimantan Evangelis' (GKE) as transmigrants from other parts of Indonesia to Kalimantan joined the congregation. The church has approximately 250,000 members, and is based in Central Kalimantan
.
The Vatican agreed a Concordat
with the Dutch in 1847 that Kalimantan was a possible mission area, provided they did not settle on rivers where other missionaries were already active.
Chinese, historically a major force in West Kalimantan, included among their number some Catholics, who had migrated from other parts of the region. A first church was consecreated in Singkawang
in 1876, and from here in 1885 the post was established as a pastoral centre for the Jesuit priest who would be responsible for the area. A mission to the Dayaks of Sejiram was established in 1890, and a church constructed. The Singkawang and Sejiram missions closed in 1896 and 1898 respectively, due to lack of personnel.
The mission was re-established in Singkawang with Capuchin
Friars in 1905. The first new missions (1905–1913) were aimed at the coastal Chinese of Pamangkat, Pontianak
(location of West Kalimantan's Bishop, as it was the largest town in the region) and Sambas, as well as the deep Dayak interior, where the Catholics hoped to convert without competition from Islam, before working back towards the coast.
The Catholic training centre was established at Nyarumkop, close to Singkawang, where children (mostly Dayak, as the Chinese were less inclined towards Catholicism in West Kalimantan than in other parts of Indonesia (in 1980 only 3% of Chinese in West Kalimantan were Catholics) were educated and Catholic teachers trained.
Catholic growth prior to World War Two was slow, but subsequently saw some success, most notably after 1965 and the New Order (Indonesia)
, where all Indonesians were required to proclaim an approved religion. Growth in the Catholic population from 1950 to 2000 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pontianak was from 1.1% to 8.7%, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sintang from 1.7% to 20.1%. In the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sanggau, just over 50% of the population are now Catholic, while in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ketapang it is around 20%. Catholic presence in East and South Kalimantan is much lower than the West Kalimantan Dioceses.
Missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
began one of several Indonesian missions in East Kalimantan
in 1929 in the region of Kutai
. George Fisk, the lead missionary, asked only that new converts accept Jesus as their saviour, unlike the Catholics, who required two years of teaching. The West Kalimantan
mission, established in 1933 in Pontianak
ventured up the Kapuas River
, where they found existing Catholic converts, some of whom converted to Protestantism. The Catholics however had an advantage over the CAMA Protestants in that CAMA, but not the Catholics, prohibited the consumption of alcohol.
The CAMA mission acted quickly in establishing churches in the interior, obtaining the use of an airplane from CAMA, and became part of the Kemah Injil Gereja Masehi Indonesia, or Tabernacle Gospel Messianic Indonesian church.
In 1990 the church had 98,000 members in East Kalimantan, and 62,000 in West Kalimantan, making it the third-largest Christian denomination in Kalimantan after the Catholic Church and the GKE.
The largely mountainous 'Bataklands
' of North Sumatra
were surrounded to the north by the staunchly Islamic Acehnese, to the south by the Islamic Minangkabau and to the east by the Malays (also Muslims). The 'Bataks' were regarded by outsiders as a race of pagan cannibals, and it was largely their rejection of Islam that distinguished them from their neighbours. At the turn of the 19th century the southernmost Batak people, the Mandailing
came, through their subjection in the Padri War
, to follow Islam, rejecting traditional beliefs and, frequently, their identity as 'Bataks'.
Further north however, Bataks proved more resistant to the hostile Muslim invaders, and receptive indeed to Christianity. The first missionaries were sent by Stamford Raffles
in 1824, at which time Sumatra was under temporary British rule. They observed that the Bataks seemed receptive to new religious thought, and were likely to fall to the first mission, either Islamic or Christian, to attempt conversion.
A second mission that in 1834 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
met with a brutal end when its two missionaries were killed by Bataks resistant to outside interference in their traditional adat
.
The first Christian community in North Sumatra was established in Sipilok, a community of (Batak) Angkola people. Three missionaries from an independent church in Ermelo
, Netherlands arrived in 1857, and on 7 October 1861 one of the Ermelo missionaries united with the Rhenish Missionary Society, which had been recently expelled from Kalimantan as a result of the Banjarmasin War.
The mission was immensely successful, being well supported financially from Germany, and adopted effective evangelistic strategies led by Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen
, who spent most of his life from 1862 until his death in 1918 in North Sumatra, successfully converting many among the Simalungun and Batak Toba as well as a minority of Angkola. Nommensen initially established Huta Dame, his 'village of peace', as Christian converts were excluded from their home villages, becoming knowledgeable in matters of Batak custom. Nommensen's success was supported by Peter Johannsen, who arrived in 1866, and has been praised for the quality of his Batak translations, as well as by respected Batak Raja Pontas, an early convert. Nommensen's theology saw Christianity as renewing rather than replacing traditional Batak customs, except in cases where adat
were in direct contradiction to the Christian faith. The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or HKBP (Batak Protestant Christian community) is the church that was formed from Nommensen's actions. To meet the desire for education, a seminary was established, along with elementary schools in Christian villages. By 1918, on Nommensen's death, his church comprised 180,000 members, with 34 ministers and 788 teacher/preachers. The distinct identity of Batak Toba people, separate from their Muslim neighbours, and their future role within Indonesia was thus assured.
As the process of decolonising continued following World Wars 1 and 2, the HKBP continued to grow, not just in the tanah Batak, but also in Java and Medan, where many Bataks were seeking economic opportunities. The congregation grew 50% between 1951 and 1960, by which time it had reached 745,000. A growing disquiet at Toba 'imperialism' resulted in the establishment of the Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun
and Gereja Kristen Protestan Angkola in the 1960s, both of which were expressions of a movement towards the native Simalungun and Angkola languages and traditions as against those of the Toba among their communities. In 1992, the Gereja Kristen Protestan Pakpak-Dairi, of the Pakpak-Dairi people was split from the HKBP.
While the traditional Batak church grew through rejecting only 'negative' adat, there is a more-recent anti-adat movement among Pentecostalists that perceives non-Christian elements of Batak culture, such as ulos
as satanic.
The (Batak) Karo people were harassing European interests in east Sumatra, and Jacob Theodoor Cremer, a Dutch administrator regarded evangelism as a means to suppress this activity. The Netherlands Missionary Society
answered the call, commencing activities in the Karolands in 1890, where they engaged not only in evangelism, but also in ethnology and documenting the Karo culture. The missionaries attempted to construct a base in Kabanjahe
in the Karo highlands, but were repelled by the suspicious locals.
In retaliation the Dutch administration waged a war to conquer the Karolands, as part of their final consolidation of power in the Indies. The Karo pereceived Christianity as the 'Dutch religion', and its followers as 'dark-skinned Dutch'. In this context, the Karo church was initially unsuccessful, and by 1950 the church had only 5,000 members. In the years following Indonesian independence the perception of Christianity among the Karo as an emblem of colonialism faded, with the church itself adoptinng more elements of traditional Karo culture such as music (previously the brass band was promoted), and by 1965 the Karo church had grown to some 35,000 members, with 60,000 baptised in 1966-1970. At the same time, Islam was also being seen as increasingly attractive. From 5,000 Muslims (mostly non-Karo) in Karoland in 1950, there were 30,000 in 1970. Although the Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) is the largest Karo church there are also Catholic (33,000 members as of 1986) and several
Pentecostalist denominations.
on 5 February 1855, and are said to have knelt on the beach and prayed, claiming Papua for Christ. 5 February has, since 2001, been a public holiday in Papua, in recognition of this first landing.
Ottow and Geisler studied the Numfor language, and were subsequently granted a monthly stipend by the Dutch government. The missionaries proposed a scheme to start a tobacco
plantation using Christian Javanese to train the Papuans, and were given 5,000 guilders by the Dutch and two Christian Javanese tobacco farmers. The Dutch administrators perceived the missionaries activities as a cut-price means of colonisation, while the missionaries themselves made profits from trading Papuan goods. The Utrecht Mission Society (UZV) joined the mission from 1863; they were prohibited from trade, and instead established a trading committee.
The UZV established a Christian-based education system as well as regular church services. Initially the Papuans' attendance was encouraged using bribes of betel nut
and tobacco, but subsequently this was stopped. In addition, slaves were bought to be raised as step children and then freed. By 1880, only 20 Papuans had been baptised, including many freed slaves.
The Dutch government established posts in Netherlands New Guinea
in 1898, a move welcomed by the missionaries, who saw orderly Dutch rule as the essential antidote to Papua paganism. Subsequently the UZV mission had more success, with a mass conversion near Cenderawasih Bay
in 1907 and the evangelization of the Sentani people by Pamai, a native Papuan in the late 1920s. Due to the Great Depression
, the mission suffered a funding shortfall, and switched to native evangelists, who had the advantage of speaking the local language (rather than Malay), but were often poorly trained. The mission extended in the 1930s to Yos Sudarso Bay, and the UZV mission by 1934 had over 50,000 Christians, 90% of them in North Papua, the remainder in West Papua. By 1942 the mission had expanded to 300 schools in 300 congregations.
The first Catholic presence in Papua was in Fakfak
, a Jesuit mission in 1894. In 1902 the Vicariate of Netherlands New Guinea was established. Despite the earlier activity in Fakfak, the Dutch restricted the Catholic Church to the southern part of the island, where they were active especially around Merauke
. The mission campaigned against the destructive practices of headhunting
and promiscuity among the Marind-anim
. Following the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed one in five in the area, the Dutch government agreed to the establishment of model villages, based on European conditions, including wearing European clothes, but which the people would submit to only by violence
In 1925 the Catholics sought to re-establish their mission in Fakfak; permission was granted in 1927. This brought the Catholics into conflict with the Protestants in North Papua, who suggested expanding to South Papua in retaliation. The Catholics and Protestants also began a race for the highlands.
After World War Two, New Guinea remained outside of Indonesian control, under Dutch administration, but in 1963, it was absorbed under dubious circumstances into Indonesia. The Indonesians were suspicious of 'Dutch' elements, which included church teachers and missionaries, who had been educated in Dutch fashion, and began an overnight Indonesianization. Papua acquired a significant population of mostly Muslim transmigrants
, who were given land and a house by the Indonesian government. Religious differences as well as cultural with Muslim Indonesian army and administrators have exarcebated the Papua conflict
, in which over thousands of Papuans have been killed by Indonesian security forces. Some human right groups like the IWGIA
estimate the number of killed Papuans to be over 100,000. The majority of government resources were directed to non-Papuan Muslims rather than Papuan Christians, and non-Papuan Muslims were also given senior administrative roles. Church leaders, suspected of Papuan nationalism, were strictly monitored and in many cases killed where they strayed too close to Papuan separatist movements.
, subduing it entirely
in 1908. Three missionaries from the Protestant Utrecht Mission Society began work around Singaraja in 1864. Only one Balinese was baptised, and in 1881 following a disagreement, he conspired to have one of the missionaries murdered.
Subsequently the Dutch government forbade further missionary activity, wishing to avoid further such disruption. In 1930, a Chinese-speaking missionary from CAMA (see also above), obtained permission to work in Bali, in order to serve the needs of Chinese Christians. Several hundred native Balinese decided to convert. The reaction of the Hindu Balinese to the missionary's edicts - to destroy idols and temples as being of the devil - was hostile - the Christian converts had their rice fields sabotaged and they were expelled from their villages. As a result the Dutch again withdrew permission to preach from foreign missionaries, as of 1933, on the basis that the missionary had not kept to the Chinese commununities, but had also preached to the native Balinese.
A native Javanese missionary began work in Bali in 1933, and in 1937 the Dutch posted a minister to Denpasar of the Dutch 'Indische Kerk', catering for Europeans in the first instance, but also to the 1000+ Protestant Balinese, while a Catholic priest was posted to Denpasar in 1935, from where several hundred Balinese converts were made in several years.
A Dutch response to the hostility of the Balinese to Christian converts was to establish a Protestant village in Bali, that of Blimbingsari, in 1939. Palasari, its neighbour, a Catholic village, was established in 1940.
Blimbingsari village developed the Gereja Kristen Protestan Bali, the Balinese Protestant church, which was established in 1948. In its early years the GKPB and its antecedent followed the theology of Hendrik Kraemer
in the Dutch Reformed tradition, explicitly rejecting most of Balinese culture as heathen and unchristian, disposing of gamelan
orchestras in favour of Western arts. As a result, many Balinese Protestants left Bali, where they were largely excluded from everyday Balinese life, to the extent that there are more GKPB members outside of Bali than within Bali.
In 1972 native Balinese I Wayan Mastra, who grew up in a Balinese Hindu family, but converted to Christianity while at a Christian school in Java, became head of the GKPB church, and began a process of Balinisation. For instance, when the Blimbingsari church, a basic stone and wood building was destroyed by earthquake in 1976, it was rebuilt in more Balinese pendopo
style, with a garden with running water, traditional Balinese entrance and a semi-open aspect. Subsequent GKPB churches have followed a similar pattern. The Balinese Catholic church was from the beginning more open to Balinese traditions.
The Christian communities of Blimbingsari and Palasari are the core of Balinese Christianity, with the religion very much in a minority in the rest of the island.
and Chinese
claimed to be Christians. Christians in Indonesia are more free to practice their religion compared to several countries such as China
, Malaysia, and some Arab countries
. In Papua
and North Sulawesi
provinces Protestants form the majority of the population. Large populations of Christians are also found around Lake Toba
in North Sumatra
, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Tana Toraja
inland, and Maluku
.
Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, the missionaries remain free to spread the Christian religion in Indonesia. And many Christian schools that teach the Christian religion. Protestants in Indonesia consists of various denominations, namely the Christian and Missionary Alliance
, Batak Christian Protestant Church
, Pentecostalism
, Charismatic Christianity
, Seventh-day Adventist Church
, True Jesus Church
, Mennonite
, Methodism
, Baptists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Simalungun Protestant Christian Church, Syriac Orthodox Church
, and other denominations.
s and forced conversion
s of Christians occurred during the 1999-2002 Muslim-Christian conflict
in Maluku
, along with attacks on churches throughout Indonesia. The army, especially the special forces unit Kopassus
, was accused of aiding the attacks in Maluku, and official response to these attacks was lacking, while the full force of the law was used against those Christians involved in revenge attacks. The 2006 execution of three Catholic citizens
in Sulawesi
nurtured further fears that the Indonesian state favoured Muslims while penalizing the Christian minority.
Even after the Maluku conflict subsided, Christians are victims of minor, but regular, attacks by radical Muslim organizations such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). In 2005, Indonesians were shocked by the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls, perpetrated by Muslim extremists in Sulawesi.
In 2010, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found, for purposes of U.S. immigration law: "[T]he record compels a finding that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group." The definition of this term is "a group of individuals in a certain country or part of a country, all of whom share a common, protected characteristic, many of whom are mistreated, and a substantial number of whom are persecuted" but who are "not threatened by a pattern or practice of systematic persecution." The court blamed the rise of anti-Christian sentiment on Suharto consorting with militant Islamic groups in the 1990s in order to maintain his power, noting that he had 'purged his cabinet and army of Christians and replaced them with fundamentalist Muslims', adding that support and protection for violent Islamic militia such as Laskar Jihad
by the military and political elite had continued since Suharto's exit from power. According to the ruling: "Christian churches throughout Indonesia have been burned, bombed, and vandalized by Muslim extremists. These attacks are often accompanied by threats, such as: 'God has no son. Jesus could not help you. Until doomsday, Muslims will not make peace with Christians. Death to all Christians.'"
On February 8, 2011, trial spectators attacked the defendant, prosecutors and judges and Muslim rioters severely vandalized Protestant and Catholic churches, schools, and other property in Temanggung, Central Java
in protest that prosecutors only demanded that the court sentence Antonius Bawengan to five years in prison (the maximum sentence permitted by law) for his alleged blasphemy against Islam via distributed leaflets. A local Muslim cleric allegedly demanded that Antonius receive a death penalty. The judge immediately sentenced Antonius to five years in prison. Local Muslim residents reportedly protected a Catholic priest and tried to minimize damage. The local Muslim cleric later received a one year sentence for inciting the Temanggung riot. The Temanggung riot occurred two days after 1,500 Sunni Muslims attacked
Ahmadiyya
Muslims in Cikeusik, Banten
, murdering three.
On the other hand and also in February 2011, a local FPI leader and followers each received at most a 5.5 months sentence and were released based on time served after members of the group struck an HKBP pastor in the head with a wooden plank and stabbed an HKBP elder in the abdomen. The planned, drive-by attack occurred in Bekasi
, West Java while the victims were walking to church service and related to local Muslims' objection to church construction. While local human rights activists expressed disappointment in the minimal sentences, no riots occurred. Earlier, in 2010, hundreds of FPI members had attacked congregants during an HKBP church service in Bekasi, beating many women. Police were on site, but provided little protection.
On early Ramadan in August 2011, group of muslims attacked and burned three churches on Kuantan, Sengingi, Riau Province. Police not giving any clue for reason of burning, Poice says its for sake of keeping ramadan peacefuly for muslim.
Non-Muslims experience ongoing discrimination
, including obstacles to university entrance and civil service jobs. A survey conducted in 2002 in Jakarta
noted that 80% of respondents wanted faiths other than Islam outlawed, 73% wanted non-Muslims excluded from teaching in government schools, and 42% did not want churches constructed in their area. Of particular concern to non-Muslim religious organizations, a 2006 joint ministerial decree on house of worship
(signed by the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry) requires a religious group to obtain the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity before building a house of worship. This decree has been used frequently to prevent construction of non-Muslim places of worship and has been cited by radical Muslim organizations for various attacks on non-Muslims.
Islam in Indonesia
Islam is the dominant religion in Indonesia, which also has a larger Muslim population than any other country in the world, with approximately 202.9 million identified as Muslim as of 2009....
. About 7% of the population of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
are Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, 3% are Catholics, with around 86% Muslims.
Distribution
Christianity, although a minority religion in Indonesia, is not evenly spread throughout the archipelago. The island of SumatraSumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
is in most areas almost entirely Muslim, with the exception of the Batak
Batak (Indonesia)
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and...
peoples of North Sumatra
North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, who are largely Protestant. The provinces of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
range from 5% Christian up to 12% in the capital Jakarta. In Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
, there are substantial (25-35%) Christian populations (mostly Dayak people
Dayak people
The Dayak or Dyak are the native people of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily...
) in West, Central and East Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
provinces, while in South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan/South Borneo is one of the thirty-three Provinces of Indonesia and one of four Indonesian provinces in the Indonesian part of Borneo. The provincial capital is Banjarmasin...
the seafaring Banjar people
Banjar people
The Banjar are a coastal, native ethnic group that settled in Tanah Laut and Banjarmasin in the south and in Hulu Sungai in the north of South Kalimantan, Indonesia, the second largest city on the island of Borneo. Several centuries ago, some of them had travelled to many places in the Malay...
are Muslims, and there is only a small (1-2%) Christian population.
Bali is 92% Hindu, with a few Muslim areas in eastern Bali, neighbouring West Nusa Tenggara
West Nusa Tenggara
West Nusa Tenggara is a province in south-central Indonesia. The province encompasses the western portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, except for Bali as the Wallace line running the length of the Lombok Strait forms the western boundary of the province....
province (the islands of Lombok
Lombok
Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...
and Sumbawa
Sumbawa
Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. It is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara....
), which is 96% Muslim, with a minority Balinese Hindu population. In East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara is a province of Indonesia, located in the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, including West Timor. The provincial capital is Kupang, located on West Timor...
(dominated by the islands of Flores
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...
and Sumba
Sumba
Sumba is an island in eastern Indonesia, is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of 11,153 km², and the population was officially at 611,422 in 2005...
, along with West Timor
West Timor
West Timor is the western and Indonesian portion of the island of Timor and part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara, .During the colonial period it was known as "Dutch Timor" and was a centre of Dutch loyalists during the Indonesian National Revolution...
), over 90% of the population is Christian, with Flores almost entirely Catholic, with a greater dominance of Protestantism in Alor Island, West Timor and Sumba.
In North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the west . The islands of Sangihe and Talaud form the northern part of the province, which border Davao del Sur in the Philippines.The capital and largest city in North Sulawesi is...
65% of the population is Protestant (mostly Minahasa
Minahasa
The Minahasa are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes...
people, over 90% Protestant), with a 7% Catholic minority and most of the rest Muslims. Other provinces of Sulawesi are predominantly Muslim, but in smaller areas there are Christian majorities, notably Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, home of Toraja ethnic group people. The local government seat is in Makale, where the center of Toraja culture is in Rantepao...
West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, which was created in 2004.- Geography :It is on the island of Sulawesi and includes the regencies of Polewali Mandar, Mamasa, Majene, Mamuju, and Mamuju Utara, which were formerly part of South Sulawesi...
, where 80% are Christian, plus parts of Central Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia located in the centre of Sulawesi. It was established on 13 April 1964....
. Maluku is split 50/50 between Christian Protestants and Muslims. North Maluku
North Maluku
North Maluku is a province of northeastern Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, which are split between it and the province of Maluku. Maluku province used to cover the entire group...
has a 3 to 1 split between Muslims and Christians. Papua province and West Papua province both have Christian majorities.
Chinese Indonesians are also major Christian contributor with 35% being Christians in 2000, they're scattered throughout Indonesia, concentrated mainly in major urban areas. There are trend among Chinese youth converting Christianity, largely due to past intolerance toward Chinese culture, Chinese attending Christians school and increase in education. The first wave of conversions occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, in response to intolerance of Chinese culture, and the number of ethnic Chinese Catholics during this period increased by more than 400 percent. The second wave followed after the government withdrew Confucianism's status as a recognized religion in the 1970's. It was estimated in 2006 that 70 percent of the ethnic Chinese population was Christian with active proselytism from international churches. With same rate of conversion it was estimated that 80% of the Chinese in Indonesia are Christians by 2010.
Bible translation
The first translationBible translations into Indonesian
The first translation of the Bible in Indonesian language was Albert Corneliszoon Ruyl's translation of the book of Matthew...
of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
('Alkitab") in Indonesian language
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
was Albert Corneliszoon Ruyl's translation of the book of Matthew (1629). Between then and now there's at least 22 other translations that exist, excluding the translations to local languages of Indonesia (out of more than 700 local languages of Indonesia
Languages of Indonesia
More than 700 living languages are spoken in Indonesia. Most belong to the Austronesian language family, with a few Papuan languages also spoken. The official language is Indonesian , a modified version of Malay, which is used in commerce, administration, education and the media, but most...
, more than 100 languages has portions or whole Bible translated, while some, like Javanese and Batak, has more than one version). The most widespread translation used by Indonesian right now is Terjemahan Baru (1985), or "New Translation" published by LAI ("Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia" or Indonesian Bible Society).
Gottlob Brückner (1783–1857) translated the Bible into Javanese, the largest local languages of Indonesia, in 1820
Prehistory
A 12th Century Christian Egyptian record of churches suggest that a church was established in Barus, on the west coast of North SumatraNorth Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, a trading post known to have been frequented by Indian traders, and linked therefore to the Indian Saint Thomas Christians
Saint Thomas Christians
The Saint Thomas Christians are an ancient body of Christians from Kerala, India, who trace their origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" because they are followers of "Jesus of Nazareth". The term "Nasrani" is still used by St...
. No record nor trace of such a community remains, and the first significant evidence of Christian activity came with the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
Sumatra
Islam is believed to have taken hold in Indonesia largely in the 15th and 16th centuries, as contact with Indian traders resulting in the promulgation of Islam in areas of Java, Sumatra and the Malay peninsulaMalay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
.
The Portuguese arrived in the Malacca Sultanate
Malacca Sultanate
Established by the Malay ruler Parameswara, the Sultanate of Malacca was first a Hindu kingdom in 1402 and later became Muslim following the marriage of the princess of Pasai in 1409. Centered in the modern town of Malacca, the sultanate bordered the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam in the north to...
(modern-day Malaysia) in 1509 seeking access to its wealth. Although initially well-received, the capture of Goa
Portuguese Conquest of Goa (1510)
The Portuguese Conquest of Goa occurred in 1510 on behalf of the Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque. Goa was not among the cities Albuquerque had received orders to conquer: he had only been ordered by the Portuguese king to capture Hormuz, Aden and Malacca.The city of Goa had been...
as well as other Muslim-Christian conflicts convinced the Malaccan Muslims that the Portuguese Christians would be a hostile presence. The resulting capture of Malacca
Capture of Malacca (1511)
The Capture of Malacca in 1511 occurred when the Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque subdued the city of Malacca in 1511.The port city of Malacca controlled the narrow strategic strait of Malacca, through which all sea-going trade between China and India was concentrated...
is believed to have enhanced a sense of Muslim solidarity against the Christian Portuguese, and ongoing resistance against the Portuguese came from Muslim Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
as well as from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Although the Portuguese built some churches in Portuguese Malacca
Portuguese Malacca
Portuguese Malacca was the territory of Malacca that, for 130 years , was a Portuguese colony.- History :From the writing of the Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia in the middle of the 16th century, the site of the old city of Malacca was named after the Myrobalans, fruit-bearing trees...
itself, their evangelical influence in neighbouring territories was perhaps more negative than positive in promulgating Christianity.
Maluku
While the Portuguese religious influence over Malacca and Sumatra was very small, their mission to MalukuMaluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
, the important spice islands of the eastern archipelago was more significant. They landed first in Ambon, where the natives were already polarised into 'uli-lima' (group of five) and 'uli-siwa' (group of nine), the former having converted to Islam and allying with the Muslim Javanese, with the latter retaining traditional beliefs. The Portuguese found themselves allied with the ulu-siwa, whose opposition to the uli-lima made Christianity an appealing choice.
The Islamic Sultanate of Ternate
Sultanate of Ternate
The Sultanate of Ternate was originally named the Kingdom of Gapi, but later change the name base of its capital, Ternate. The sultanate is one of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Indonesia, established by Baab Mashur Malamo in 1257...
sought the patronage of the Portuguese, offering a trading monopoly in return for military support against rival local kingdoms. In 1534, the first Roman Catholic community was established in Halmahera
Halmahera
Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia.Halmahera has a land area of 17,780 km² and a population in 1995 of 162,728...
, the result of an appeal to the Portuguese for protection from Halmahera
Halmahera
Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia.Halmahera has a land area of 17,780 km² and a population in 1995 of 162,728...
against Ternatean incursions, protection offered conditional on converting to Christianity.
Further evangelising resulted in many Ternate nobles converting to Christianity, while Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
, a Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Jesuit Order worked in Ternate, Moro and Ambon briefly in 1546 and also 1547. St Francis wrote that most of the population were 'pagan', and hated the local Muslims, resisting conversion to Islam. He appealed for support to save souls in Maluku, which arrived in 1547 in the shape of Nuno Ribeiro, a Jesuit who is said to have converted five hundred people before being murdered in 1549.
Sultan Hairun of Ternate had refused to convert to Christianity, regarding himself as defender of the Islamic faith, and when he was murdered by a Portuguese Captain in 1570, his son, Baabullah, the new Sultan, reacted angrily, expelling the Portuguese from Maluku, waging war against both the Portuguese and their local Christian allies. As a result, the Jesuit mission was abandoned almost entirely in 1573, and Christians were killed or converted at the point of a sword. The faith survived only around the Jesuit fort in Ambon
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
; even there, there was a shortage of priests due to dangerous conditions, and many local people did not have knowledge of Christian creeds, and were easily apostatized to Islam or traditional beliefs.
The Portuguese by now largely impotent, the Dutch, allied with the Muslim locals against their mutual Portuguese enemy, seized the fort of Ambon in 1605. The Dutch expelled the Jesuits and Portuguese, adopting the Catholic churches for Protestant worship, which was supported through the establishment of numerous Protestant schools, where the teachers also led Sunday worship. Boundaries between Muslim and Christians were well-established on Ambon, but in Seram
Seram
Seram is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. It is located north of Ambon Island. The chief port/town is Masohi.- Geography and geology :...
and Buru
Buru
Buru is the third largest island within Maluku Islands of Malay Archipelago. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Maluku province of Indonesia and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies...
, proselytisation took place converting 'pagans' to Christianity, the policy of the VOC being to contain the spread of Islam without converting existing Muslims. Idols were destroyed by the Dutch teachers as new Christians were prohibited from continuing to follow their traditional religion.
Sulawesi
Southern Sulawesi
It is reported that the pork-eating leaders of MakassarMakassar
Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...
in southern Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
expressed an interest in Christianity on several occasions in the 16th century, and while a request was made to Malacca for missionaries, none were forthcoming, perhaps because of the lack of commercial opportunities (spices) in the area, and from 1605 the area converted to Islam, having received instruction in the faith from Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
. Subsequently, following the fall of Portuguese Malacca, many Catholics, including Jesuit priests, fled to Makassar, which was tolerant of their faith, but by 1660 the Dutch forced the expulsion of the Portuguese, who fled to Macau and Flores.
Northern Sulawesi
The Portuguese baptised over a thousand in ManadoManado
Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...
, where the Portuguese, and Christianity, were seen as a bulwark against Ternate, the powerful sultanate directly due east. Portuguese missionary activity continued in northern Sulawesi between 1563 and 1570, but following the murder of Sultan Hairun in Ternate and the ensuing anti-Portuguese attacks, the mission was abandoned.
In the Spanish-controlled Sangihe Islands
Sangihe Islands
The Sangihe Islands – – are a group of islands constitute 2 regencies in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regency & Sitaro Islands Regency...
and Talaud Islands
Talaud Islands
Talaud Islands is a group of islands located north of Sulawesi island in Indonesia, northeast of the Sangihe Islands...
in the kingdom of Siau, lying directly north of northern Sulawesi, Catholicism had been adopted with some enthusiasm, and when the allied Dutch-Ternatean Muslim pillaged the islands in 1613 and 1615, help was sought from the Philippines to the north. Franciscans visited from Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, as did a Jesuit mission.
Jesuit missionariess were also active in Minahasa
Minahasa
The Minahasa are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes...
and neighbouring areas in the first half of the 17th century, but attacks from Muslims from Ternate as well as local animist peoples meant that priests had a short life expectancy. From 1655 to 1676 the Dutch established firm control of northern Sulawesi, and Catholicism was prohibited by the ruling VOC
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. With Catholicism harshly suppressed, as in Ambon in Maluku, the people of Minahasa, the Sangihe and Talaud islands are to this day almost entirely Protestant (the Dutch replacing the Catholic infrastructure with the schools of Dutch Protestantism), although in the 20th century fresh Catholic mission activity commenced.
East Nusa Tenggara
Portuguese traders ventured from Malacca to TimorTimor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
to purchase sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
. During their trading missions they were frequently becalmed, and during this time are said to have converted numerous people of Solor island
Solor Archipelago
The Solor Archipelago is a group of islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, lying to the east of Flores and to the west of the Alor Strait and the Alor Archipelago. To the north is the west part of the Banda Sea, while to the south across the Savu Sea lies the island of Timor...
, Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
and Flores
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...
. Hearing of these conversions, three Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
missionaries were sent from Malacca, arriving and establishing a church in 1562 in Flores. The mission was given financial support from the Portuguese in Goa, enabling the construction of mission stations in the area.
A major setback came when two headmen were imprisoned and mistreated by the Portuguese in 1598, resulting in a rebellion and desecration of churches throughout the region, as those opposed to the Portuguese, many of whom had been previously converted to Islam in the early 16th century, attacked the Portuguese and the Dominican mission. Subsequent setbacks came in the form of the arrival of the Dutch, who allied against the Portuguese Christians.
A new mission was established in 1617, which successfully furthered the spread of Catholicism in the region, including minor military ventures led from Larantuka
Larantuka
Larantuka is a subdistrict of East Flores Regency, on the eastern end of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Like much of the region, Larantuka has a strong a colonial Portuguese influence...
on Flores, rejecting the dominionship of Islamic Makassar. 'Black' Portuguese control over Larantuka, and influence also over Timor, was settled by truce with the Dutch in 1661. The Catholic community in east Flores was strengthened by the expulsion of Catholics from Makassar in 1660. In Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor was the name of East Timor when it was under Portuguese control. During this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Netherlands East Indies, and later with Indonesia....
the Portuguese mission at Lifau
Lifau
Lifau is a town and suco in the East Timor exclave of Oecusse District. The city is located west of the mouth of the Tono River. 1,938 people are living in the suco.- History :...
(which supported the nominal cathedral of the Diocese of Malacca, as the Dutch would no longer tolerate one there) was in conflict with the Dutch at Kupang
Kupang
Not to be confused with Tanjung Kupang in JohoreKupang is the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara province in southeast Indonesia....
, and wars were fought between the two sides with Catholic villages regarded as Portuguese and therefore enemies of the Dutch. In the first half of the 18th century 'Portuguese'-supporting factions were defeated entirely by the Dutch in West Timor, confining Catholicism to the eastern part of that island.
The Dominican mission declined in the late 18th century, and in 1817 the last priest covering Flores died. Many Catholics reverted to pagan practices, but still thousands remained, continuing to follow Catholic pageantry. Portugal, severely weakened, withdrew from all but East Timor, but thanks to treaties signed in the 1850s, freedom of religion was guaranteed in areas being exchanged between the two countries. Following this treaty Catholicism strengthened considerably in Flores after 1860.
Batavia
As the centre for the VOCDutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
in the Indies, there were many European Christians as well as Asian Christians from areas proselytized by the Portuguese. The predominant denomination in Batavia was Dutch Reformed but there were also Lutherans and Catholics. The Dutch governors constructed Reformed churches, for Portuguese, Dutch and Malay speakers. Other religions were formally prohibited, but in practice Chinese temples as well as mosques remained in existence, and despite various measures to promote Christianity, there was a high degree of religious diversity and never at any time a Christian majority. At other VOC settlements clergy were likewise provided, such as at Semarang
Semarang
- Economy :The western part of the city is home to many industrial parks and factories. The port of Semarang is located on the north coast and it is the main shipping port for the province of Central Java. Many small manufacturers are located in Semarang, producing goods such as textiles,...
, where the minister had a congregation that was only half Reformed and half Catholic or Lutheran and consequently efforts were made to provide inclusive preaching. Largely however, the VOC had little impact or interest in upsetting their business interests in favour of religious ideals, and indeed the theology of the Dutch Reformed church was opposed to the mass baptism adopted by Catholic missionaries, and their impact on Java as a whole was very minor.
The 19th century
After the collapse of the VOC and defeat by the English, the Indies were eventually restored to the Dutch in 1815. By this time the separation of church and stateSeparation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
had been established in The Netherlands. This meant that the pretence of a Protestant monopoly in the Indies was abandoned, and in 1826 the Apostolic Prefecture of Batavia was established.
As of 1800, there were an estimated 40,000 indigenous Protestants, in northern Sulawesi, central Maluku and Timor, as well as approximately 11,000 Catholics in east Flores and the islands around. This out of a population of a total 7 million represented just 0.7% Christians, against approximately 85% Muslims. Thus it can be seen that in the last two centuries although the proportion of Muslims has remained largely constant in the archipelago, the Christian population has risen rapidly, thanks in large part to the 19th century missionary societies, discussed below.
The Rhenish Missionary Society
The German Rhenish Missionary Society
Rhenish Missionary Society
The Rhenish Missionary Society was one of the largest missionary societies in Germany. Formed from smaller missions founded as far back as 1799, the Society was amalgamated on 23 September 1828, and its first missionaries were ordained and sent off to South Africa by the end of the year.The...
visited Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin
Banjarmasin is the capital of South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. As a result, Banjarmasin is sometimes called the "River City"...
and West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
in 1829. Following this two missionaries were sent in 1834, and in total between 1834 and 1859 20 missionaries were sent to the region, although mortality rates were high and never more than 7 were active at one time. Permission for the activity from the Dutch government was obtained after 1836.
Although the mission was headquartered in Banjarmasin, where the pastoral needs of European residents were supplied, it was apparent that converting the Muslims who dominate the cities of Kalimantan was an impossible task, and instead efforts were focused on the 'Dayak
Dayak people
The Dayak or Dyak are the native people of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily...
' people of the interior, who practised traditional religions. Johann Becker, a capable linguist, translated the gospels into the Dayak Ngaju language
Ngaju language
Ngaju is an Austronesian language spoken along the Kapuas, Kahayan, Katingan, and Mentaya Rivers in Central Borneo, Indonesia. It is closely related to Bakumpai language. There are three dialects—Pulopetak, Ba'amang, and Mantangai.- Consonants :...
.
The missionaries also bought 1100 Dayak slaves over the period 1836 to 1859 in order to emancipate them as free men. Despite their efforts, only a few hundred were baptised. In 1859 the Banjarmasin War broke out, several missionaries were killed, and the mission was excluded from the region until 1866 by the Dutch, which fought to bring the former Sultanate of Banjarmasin under direct rule.
In 1866 the missionaries returned. Despite building many mission stations and schools, only 3,000 had converted by 1911, as against 100,000 Batak Christians in the similarly resourced Rhenish mission of North Sumatra. It has been suggested that this slow progress was due to the fragmented nature of the Dayaks - with no king or dominant regional powers, there was little prospect of mass conversion, while new converts faced exclusion from their traditional ceremonies.
After World War 1, the RMS was replaced by the Basel Mission. It transferred control to the first independent church, the 'Gereja Dayak Evangelis', in 1935, covering a vast geographical area from Banjarmasin 1300 km to the west and 600 km inland. In 1950 the church became the more ethnically inclusive 'Gereja Kalimantan Evangelis' (GKE) as transmigrants from other parts of Indonesia to Kalimantan joined the congregation. The church has approximately 250,000 members, and is based in Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia, one of four in Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya.The province has a population of just over 2.2 million at the 2010 Census...
.
Catholic Church
The Vatican agreed a Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
with the Dutch in 1847 that Kalimantan was a possible mission area, provided they did not settle on rivers where other missionaries were already active.
Chinese, historically a major force in West Kalimantan, included among their number some Catholics, who had migrated from other parts of the region. A first church was consecreated in Singkawang
Singkawang
Singkawang is located at the province of West Kalimantan or Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia. It is located at about 145 km north of Pontianak, the provincial capital, and is surrounded by the Pasi, Poteng, and Sakok mountain...
in 1876, and from here in 1885 the post was established as a pastoral centre for the Jesuit priest who would be responsible for the area. A mission to the Dayaks of Sejiram was established in 1890, and a church constructed. The Singkawang and Sejiram missions closed in 1896 and 1898 respectively, due to lack of personnel.
The mission was re-established in Singkawang with Capuchin
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
Friars in 1905. The first new missions (1905–1913) were aimed at the coastal Chinese of Pamangkat, Pontianak
Pontianak, Indonesia
Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River...
(location of West Kalimantan's Bishop, as it was the largest town in the region) and Sambas, as well as the deep Dayak interior, where the Catholics hoped to convert without competition from Islam, before working back towards the coast.
The Catholic training centre was established at Nyarumkop, close to Singkawang, where children (mostly Dayak, as the Chinese were less inclined towards Catholicism in West Kalimantan than in other parts of Indonesia (in 1980 only 3% of Chinese in West Kalimantan were Catholics) were educated and Catholic teachers trained.
Catholic growth prior to World War Two was slow, but subsequently saw some success, most notably after 1965 and the New Order (Indonesia)
New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
, where all Indonesians were required to proclaim an approved religion. Growth in the Catholic population from 1950 to 2000 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pontianak was from 1.1% to 8.7%, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sintang from 1.7% to 20.1%. In the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sanggau, just over 50% of the population are now Catholic, while in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ketapang it is around 20%. Catholic presence in East and South Kalimantan is much lower than the West Kalimantan Dioceses.
Christian and Missionary Alliance
Missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
began one of several Indonesian missions in East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...
in 1929 in the region of Kutai
Kutai
Kutai is the traditional name of a historic region in East Kalimantan in Indonesia on Borneo, a Dayak people of the region with a language of the same name and their historic states. Today the name is preserved in the names of three regencies in East Kalimantan, the Kutai Kartanegara Regency, the...
. George Fisk, the lead missionary, asked only that new converts accept Jesus as their saviour, unlike the Catholics, who required two years of teaching. The West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
mission, established in 1933 in Pontianak
Pontianak, Indonesia
Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River...
ventured up the Kapuas River
Kapuas River
The Kapuas River is a river in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, at the geographic center of Maritime Southeast Asia. At in length, it is the longest river of Indonesia and one of the world's longest island rivers...
, where they found existing Catholic converts, some of whom converted to Protestantism. The Catholics however had an advantage over the CAMA Protestants in that CAMA, but not the Catholics, prohibited the consumption of alcohol.
The CAMA mission acted quickly in establishing churches in the interior, obtaining the use of an airplane from CAMA, and became part of the Kemah Injil Gereja Masehi Indonesia, or Tabernacle Gospel Messianic Indonesian church.
In 1990 the church had 98,000 members in East Kalimantan, and 62,000 in West Kalimantan, making it the third-largest Christian denomination in Kalimantan after the Catholic Church and the GKE.
The Batak mission
The largely mountainous 'Bataklands
Batak (Indonesia)
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Toba, Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Angkola and Mandailing, each of which are distinct but related groups with distinct, albeit related, languages and...
' of North Sumatra
North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
were surrounded to the north by the staunchly Islamic Acehnese, to the south by the Islamic Minangkabau and to the east by the Malays (also Muslims). The 'Bataks' were regarded by outsiders as a race of pagan cannibals, and it was largely their rejection of Islam that distinguished them from their neighbours. At the turn of the 19th century the southernmost Batak people, the Mandailing
Mandailing
The Mandailing is a traditional cultural group in Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came under the influence of the Kaum Padri who ruled the Minangkabau of Tanah Datar. As a result, the Mandailing were influenced by Muslim...
came, through their subjection in the Padri War
Padri War
The Padri War was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra between two rival muslim factions. The Dutch intervened from 1821 and helped the Adats defeat the Padri faction.-Background:...
, to follow Islam, rejecting traditional beliefs and, frequently, their identity as 'Bataks'.
Further north however, Bataks proved more resistant to the hostile Muslim invaders, and receptive indeed to Christianity. The first missionaries were sent by Stamford Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
in 1824, at which time Sumatra was under temporary British rule. They observed that the Bataks seemed receptive to new religious thought, and were likely to fall to the first mission, either Islamic or Christian, to attempt conversion.
A second mission that in 1834 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
met with a brutal end when its two missionaries were killed by Bataks resistant to outside interference in their traditional adat
Adat
Adat in Indonesian-Malay culture is the set of cultural norms, values, customs and practices found among specific ethnic groups in Indonesia, the southern Philippines and Malaysia...
.
The first Christian community in North Sumatra was established in Sipilok, a community of (Batak) Angkola people. Three missionaries from an independent church in Ermelo
Ermelo
Ermelo is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland in the Veluwe area with a population of over 26.000.-Etymology:...
, Netherlands arrived in 1857, and on 7 October 1861 one of the Ermelo missionaries united with the Rhenish Missionary Society, which had been recently expelled from Kalimantan as a result of the Banjarmasin War.
The mission was immensely successful, being well supported financially from Germany, and adopted effective evangelistic strategies led by Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen was a German Lutheran missionary to Sumatra who also translated the New Testament into the native Batak language. Stephen Neill, a historian of missions, considered Nommensen one of the greatest missionaries of all time...
, who spent most of his life from 1862 until his death in 1918 in North Sumatra, successfully converting many among the Simalungun and Batak Toba as well as a minority of Angkola. Nommensen initially established Huta Dame, his 'village of peace', as Christian converts were excluded from their home villages, becoming knowledgeable in matters of Batak custom. Nommensen's success was supported by Peter Johannsen, who arrived in 1866, and has been praised for the quality of his Batak translations, as well as by respected Batak Raja Pontas, an early convert. Nommensen's theology saw Christianity as renewing rather than replacing traditional Batak customs, except in cases where adat
Adat
Adat in Indonesian-Malay culture is the set of cultural norms, values, customs and practices found among specific ethnic groups in Indonesia, the southern Philippines and Malaysia...
were in direct contradiction to the Christian faith. The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or HKBP (Batak Protestant Christian community) is the church that was formed from Nommensen's actions. To meet the desire for education, a seminary was established, along with elementary schools in Christian villages. By 1918, on Nommensen's death, his church comprised 180,000 members, with 34 ministers and 788 teacher/preachers. The distinct identity of Batak Toba people, separate from their Muslim neighbours, and their future role within Indonesia was thus assured.
As the process of decolonising continued following World Wars 1 and 2, the HKBP continued to grow, not just in the tanah Batak, but also in Java and Medan, where many Bataks were seeking economic opportunities. The congregation grew 50% between 1951 and 1960, by which time it had reached 745,000. A growing disquiet at Toba 'imperialism' resulted in the establishment of the Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun
Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun
Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun is a Lutheran and Reformed Protestant church formally founded to spread Christianity among the Simalungun people, a tribe living in Simalungun, North Sumatra, Indonesia...
and Gereja Kristen Protestan Angkola in the 1960s, both of which were expressions of a movement towards the native Simalungun and Angkola languages and traditions as against those of the Toba among their communities. In 1992, the Gereja Kristen Protestan Pakpak-Dairi, of the Pakpak-Dairi people was split from the HKBP.
While the traditional Batak church grew through rejecting only 'negative' adat, there is a more-recent anti-adat movement among Pentecostalists that perceives non-Christian elements of Batak culture, such as ulos
Ulos
Ulos is the traditional cloth of the Batak people of North Sumatra. Different kinds of ulos have different ceremonial significance. The ulos is normally worn draped over the shoulder or shoulders, or in weddings to ceremonially bind the bride and groom together...
as satanic.
Karo Church
The (Batak) Karo people were harassing European interests in east Sumatra, and Jacob Theodoor Cremer, a Dutch administrator regarded evangelism as a means to suppress this activity. The Netherlands Missionary Society
Netherlands Missionary Society
Netherlands Missionary Society was a Dutch Protestant missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the Qing Dynasty. The most famous of which was Karl Gützlaff....
answered the call, commencing activities in the Karolands in 1890, where they engaged not only in evangelism, but also in ethnology and documenting the Karo culture. The missionaries attempted to construct a base in Kabanjahe
Kabanjahe
Kabanjahe is a town approximately 2 hours from Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Kabanjahe is to the south of Berastagi. Kabanjahe is the capital of Karo Regency. Frequent buses connect the two towns and a journey takes about 30 minutes....
in the Karo highlands, but were repelled by the suspicious locals.
In retaliation the Dutch administration waged a war to conquer the Karolands, as part of their final consolidation of power in the Indies. The Karo pereceived Christianity as the 'Dutch religion', and its followers as 'dark-skinned Dutch'. In this context, the Karo church was initially unsuccessful, and by 1950 the church had only 5,000 members. In the years following Indonesian independence the perception of Christianity among the Karo as an emblem of colonialism faded, with the church itself adoptinng more elements of traditional Karo culture such as music (previously the brass band was promoted), and by 1965 the Karo church had grown to some 35,000 members, with 60,000 baptised in 1966-1970. At the same time, Islam was also being seen as increasingly attractive. From 5,000 Muslims (mostly non-Karo) in Karoland in 1950, there were 30,000 in 1970. Although the Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) is the largest Karo church there are also Catholic (33,000 members as of 1986) and several
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
Pentecostalist denominations.
Papua
Papua, unlike the rest of Indonesia, has had no historic contact with Muslim evangelists, and had its first Christian missionary contact in 1855. With little competition, the mission was relatively successful. Missionaries Carl Ottow and Johann Geisler, under the initiative of Ottho Gerhard Heldring, entered Papua at Mansinam island, near ManokwariManokwari
Manokwari is a city in Indonesia. It is the largest city and, since 2003, the capital of the province of West Papua, at the western end of New Guinea. The city has many resorts and is a major tourist area. It is one of the seats of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manokwari–Sorong. It is also the...
on 5 February 1855, and are said to have knelt on the beach and prayed, claiming Papua for Christ. 5 February has, since 2001, been a public holiday in Papua, in recognition of this first landing.
Ottow and Geisler studied the Numfor language, and were subsequently granted a monthly stipend by the Dutch government. The missionaries proposed a scheme to start a tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
plantation using Christian Javanese to train the Papuans, and were given 5,000 guilders by the Dutch and two Christian Javanese tobacco farmers. The Dutch administrators perceived the missionaries activities as a cut-price means of colonisation, while the missionaries themselves made profits from trading Papuan goods. The Utrecht Mission Society (UZV) joined the mission from 1863; they were prohibited from trade, and instead established a trading committee.
The UZV established a Christian-based education system as well as regular church services. Initially the Papuans' attendance was encouraged using bribes of betel nut
Betel nut
The Areca nut is the seed of the Areca palm , which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as "betel nut" as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves.-Description:...
and tobacco, but subsequently this was stopped. In addition, slaves were bought to be raised as step children and then freed. By 1880, only 20 Papuans had been baptised, including many freed slaves.
The Dutch government established posts in Netherlands New Guinea
Netherlands New Guinea
Netherlands New Guinea refers to the West Papua region while it was an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. Until 1949 it was a part of the Netherlands Indies. It was commonly known as Dutch New Guinea...
in 1898, a move welcomed by the missionaries, who saw orderly Dutch rule as the essential antidote to Papua paganism. Subsequently the UZV mission had more success, with a mass conversion near Cenderawasih Bay
Cenderawasih Bay
Cenderawasih Bay , also Teluk Sarera , formerly Geelvink Bay is a large bay in northern Province of Papua and West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia, at . The Dutch name comes after a Dutch ship and family called Geelvinck...
in 1907 and the evangelization of the Sentani people by Pamai, a native Papuan in the late 1920s. Due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the mission suffered a funding shortfall, and switched to native evangelists, who had the advantage of speaking the local language (rather than Malay), but were often poorly trained. The mission extended in the 1930s to Yos Sudarso Bay, and the UZV mission by 1934 had over 50,000 Christians, 90% of them in North Papua, the remainder in West Papua. By 1942 the mission had expanded to 300 schools in 300 congregations.
The first Catholic presence in Papua was in Fakfak
Fakfak
Fakfak is a city in Indonesia and seat of the Fakfak Regency. It is served by Fakfak Airport. It is the only town in West Papua with a Muslim Indian and Arab Indonesian presence.-History:...
, a Jesuit mission in 1894. In 1902 the Vicariate of Netherlands New Guinea was established. Despite the earlier activity in Fakfak, the Dutch restricted the Catholic Church to the southern part of the island, where they were active especially around Merauke
Merauke
Merauke is a town considered to be one of the easternmost towns in Indonesia, located in Merauke Regency, Papua province, Indonesia. It is next to Maro River.In 2006 it had a population of 71,838....
. The mission campaigned against the destructive practices of headhunting
Headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of taking a person's head after killing them. Headhunting was practised in historic times in parts of China, India, Nigeria, Nuristan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand, and the Amazon Basin, as...
and promiscuity among the Marind-anim
Marind-anim
Marind-anim are a people living in South New Guinea, south of the lower parts of river Digul, east of Yos Sudarso Island, mainly west of Maro River . Today the area inhabited by Marind-anim is contained by Papua province of Indonesia.In the past, they were famed because of headhunting...
. Following the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed one in five in the area, the Dutch government agreed to the establishment of model villages, based on European conditions, including wearing European clothes, but which the people would submit to only by violence
In 1925 the Catholics sought to re-establish their mission in Fakfak; permission was granted in 1927. This brought the Catholics into conflict with the Protestants in North Papua, who suggested expanding to South Papua in retaliation. The Catholics and Protestants also began a race for the highlands.
After World War Two, New Guinea remained outside of Indonesian control, under Dutch administration, but in 1963, it was absorbed under dubious circumstances into Indonesia. The Indonesians were suspicious of 'Dutch' elements, which included church teachers and missionaries, who had been educated in Dutch fashion, and began an overnight Indonesianization. Papua acquired a significant population of mostly Muslim transmigrants
Transmigration program
The transmigration program was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government, and later continued by Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country...
, who were given land and a house by the Indonesian government. Religious differences as well as cultural with Muslim Indonesian army and administrators have exarcebated the Papua conflict
Papua Conflict
The Papua conflict is an ethnic separatist insurgency in Indonesia, predominantly in the Papua and West Papua provinces on the island of New Guinea. Since the withdrawal of the Dutch colonizers in 1963, the militant Free Papua Movement organization has conducted a low-level campaign of attacks on...
, in which over thousands of Papuans have been killed by Indonesian security forces. Some human right groups like the IWGIA
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs is an independent and non-profit international human rights-based membership organization, whose central charter is to endorse and promote the collective rights of the world's indigenous peoples...
estimate the number of killed Papuans to be over 100,000. The majority of government resources were directed to non-Papuan Muslims rather than Papuan Christians, and non-Papuan Muslims were also given senior administrative roles. Church leaders, suspected of Papuan nationalism, were strictly monitored and in many cases killed where they strayed too close to Papuan separatist movements.
Bali
Bali, unlike neighbouring Java, retained its Hindu culture when Islam came to the Indonesian archipelago, even gaining strength in this with the absorption of Javanese Hindus not wishing to convert to Islam. The Dutch began to build a presence on the island after 1846 in SingarajaSingaraja
Singaraja is the regency seat of Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia. The name is Indonesian for "Lion King". It is on the north coast just east of Lovina...
, subduing it entirely
Dutch intervention in Bali (1908)
The Dutch intervention in Bali in 1908 marked the final phase of Dutch colonial control over the island of Bali in Indonesia. It was the seventh and last military intervention in Bali, following the Dutch intervention in Bali ....
in 1908. Three missionaries from the Protestant Utrecht Mission Society began work around Singaraja in 1864. Only one Balinese was baptised, and in 1881 following a disagreement, he conspired to have one of the missionaries murdered.
Subsequently the Dutch government forbade further missionary activity, wishing to avoid further such disruption. In 1930, a Chinese-speaking missionary from CAMA (see also above), obtained permission to work in Bali, in order to serve the needs of Chinese Christians. Several hundred native Balinese decided to convert. The reaction of the Hindu Balinese to the missionary's edicts - to destroy idols and temples as being of the devil - was hostile - the Christian converts had their rice fields sabotaged and they were expelled from their villages. As a result the Dutch again withdrew permission to preach from foreign missionaries, as of 1933, on the basis that the missionary had not kept to the Chinese commununities, but had also preached to the native Balinese.
A native Javanese missionary began work in Bali in 1933, and in 1937 the Dutch posted a minister to Denpasar of the Dutch 'Indische Kerk', catering for Europeans in the first instance, but also to the 1000+ Protestant Balinese, while a Catholic priest was posted to Denpasar in 1935, from where several hundred Balinese converts were made in several years.
A Dutch response to the hostility of the Balinese to Christian converts was to establish a Protestant village in Bali, that of Blimbingsari, in 1939. Palasari, its neighbour, a Catholic village, was established in 1940.
Blimbingsari village developed the Gereja Kristen Protestan Bali, the Balinese Protestant church, which was established in 1948. In its early years the GKPB and its antecedent followed the theology of Hendrik Kraemer
Hendrik Kraemer
Hendrik Kraemer was a lay missiologist and prominent figure in the ecumenical movement from Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands....
in the Dutch Reformed tradition, explicitly rejecting most of Balinese culture as heathen and unchristian, disposing of gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
orchestras in favour of Western arts. As a result, many Balinese Protestants left Bali, where they were largely excluded from everyday Balinese life, to the extent that there are more GKPB members outside of Bali than within Bali.
In 1972 native Balinese I Wayan Mastra, who grew up in a Balinese Hindu family, but converted to Christianity while at a Christian school in Java, became head of the GKPB church, and began a process of Balinisation. For instance, when the Blimbingsari church, a basic stone and wood building was destroyed by earthquake in 1976, it was rebuilt in more Balinese pendopo
Pendopo
A Pendopo or Pendapa is a fundamental element of Javanese architecture; a large pavilion-like structure built on columns. Either square or rectangular in plan, it is open on all sides and provides shelter from the sun and rain, but allows breeze and indirect light. The word pendopo is a variant on...
style, with a garden with running water, traditional Balinese entrance and a semi-open aspect. Subsequent GKPB churches have followed a similar pattern. The Balinese Catholic church was from the beginning more open to Balinese traditions.
The Christian communities of Blimbingsari and Palasari are the core of Balinese Christianity, with the religion very much in a minority in the rest of the island.
Modern times
In the 1960s due to anti-Communist and anti-Confucian legislation many CommunistsCommunist Party of Indonesia
The Communist Party of Indonesia was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world prior to being crushed in 1965 and banned the following year.-Forerunners:...
and Chinese
Chinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians, also called the Indonesian Chinese, are an overseas Chinese group whose ancestors emigrated from China to Indonesia, formerly a colony of the Netherlands known as the Dutch East Indies...
claimed to be Christians. Christians in Indonesia are more free to practice their religion compared to several countries such as China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Malaysia, and some Arab countries
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. In Papua
Papua (Indonesian province)
Papua comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. Its capital is Jayapura. It's the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea...
and North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the west . The islands of Sangihe and Talaud form the northern part of the province, which border Davao del Sur in the Philippines.The capital and largest city in North Sulawesi is...
provinces Protestants form the majority of the population. Large populations of Christians are also found around Lake Toba
Lake Toba
Lake Toba is a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres at its deepest point. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about , the lake stretches from to...
in North Sumatra
North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja
Tana Toraja Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, home of Toraja ethnic group people. The local government seat is in Makale, where the center of Toraja culture is in Rantepao...
inland, and Maluku
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
.
Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, the missionaries remain free to spread the Christian religion in Indonesia. And many Christian schools that teach the Christian religion. Protestants in Indonesia consists of various denominations, namely the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
, Batak Christian Protestant Church
Batak Christian Protestant Church
The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan , which translates into the Batak Christian Protestant Church, is the largest Protestant denomination in Indonesia, with a baptized membership of 4,178,256. Its present leader is the Ephorus Rev. Dr...
, Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
, Charismatic Christianity
Charismatic Christianity
Charismatic Christianity is a Christian doctrine that maintains that modern-day believers experience miracles, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and other spiritual gifts as described in of the Bible...
, Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, True Jesus Church
True Jesus Church
The True Jesus Church is a non-denominational Christian church that originated in Beijing, China, in 1917. The current elected chairman of the TJC International Assembly is Preacher Yong-Ji Lin. Today, there are approximately 2.5 million members in fifty three countries and six continents...
, Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
, Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
, Baptists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Simalungun Protestant Christian Church, Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
, and other denominations.
Violence and discrimination against Christians in modern Indonesia
Forced circumcisionForced circumcision
Forced circumcision most commonly refers to the circumcision of a male who has not given his consent. In a biblical context the term is used especially in relation to Paul the Apostle and his polemics against the forced circumcision of gentile Christians...
s and forced conversion
Forced conversion
A forced conversion is the religious conversion or acceptance of a philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death...
s of Christians occurred during the 1999-2002 Muslim-Christian conflict
Maluku sectarian conflict
Sectarian conflict in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia between 1999 and 2002 killed thousands of people and displaced over 1/2 million.In the late 1990s, Indonesia was experiencing the devastating economic and political effects of the East Asian Financial Crisis which affected Indonesia more than...
in Maluku
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
, along with attacks on churches throughout Indonesia. The army, especially the special forces unit Kopassus
Kopassus
Kopassus is an Indonesian Army special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering.Kopassus was founded on April 16, 1952...
, was accused of aiding the attacks in Maluku, and official response to these attacks was lacking, while the full force of the law was used against those Christians involved in revenge attacks. The 2006 execution of three Catholic citizens
Fabianus Tibo
Fabianus Tibo was an Indonesian Catholic citizen executed by firing squad on September 22, 2006 at 1:20 a.m. local time together with Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu for leading riots in Poso, Sulawesi in 2000 that led to the murders of about 200 people...
in Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
nurtured further fears that the Indonesian state favoured Muslims while penalizing the Christian minority.
Even after the Maluku conflict subsided, Christians are victims of minor, but regular, attacks by radical Muslim organizations such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). In 2005, Indonesians were shocked by the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls, perpetrated by Muslim extremists in Sulawesi.
In 2010, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found, for purposes of U.S. immigration law: "[T]he record compels a finding that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group." The definition of this term is "a group of individuals in a certain country or part of a country, all of whom share a common, protected characteristic, many of whom are mistreated, and a substantial number of whom are persecuted" but who are "not threatened by a pattern or practice of systematic persecution." The court blamed the rise of anti-Christian sentiment on Suharto consorting with militant Islamic groups in the 1990s in order to maintain his power, noting that he had 'purged his cabinet and army of Christians and replaced them with fundamentalist Muslims', adding that support and protection for violent Islamic militia such as Laskar Jihad
Laskar Jihad
Laskar Jihad , was an Islamist and anti-Christian Indonesian militia, which was founded and led by Jafar Umar Thalib. At present, the militia is believed to have disbanded.-History:...
by the military and political elite had continued since Suharto's exit from power. According to the ruling: "Christian churches throughout Indonesia have been burned, bombed, and vandalized by Muslim extremists. These attacks are often accompanied by threats, such as: 'God has no son. Jesus could not help you. Until doomsday, Muslims will not make peace with Christians. Death to all Christians.'"
On February 8, 2011, trial spectators attacked the defendant, prosecutors and judges and Muslim rioters severely vandalized Protestant and Catholic churches, schools, and other property in Temanggung, Central Java
Central Java
Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...
in protest that prosecutors only demanded that the court sentence Antonius Bawengan to five years in prison (the maximum sentence permitted by law) for his alleged blasphemy against Islam via distributed leaflets. A local Muslim cleric allegedly demanded that Antonius receive a death penalty. The judge immediately sentenced Antonius to five years in prison. Local Muslim residents reportedly protected a Catholic priest and tried to minimize damage. The local Muslim cleric later received a one year sentence for inciting the Temanggung riot. The Temanggung riot occurred two days after 1,500 Sunni Muslims attacked
Persecution of Ahmadis
The Persecution of Ahmadis is the religious persecution of Ahmadi Muslims as a consequence of professing their faith. They have been subject to various forms of persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889...
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
Muslims in Cikeusik, Banten
Banten
Banten is a province of Indonesia in Java. Formerly part of the Province of West Java, it was made a separate province in 2000.The administrative center is Serang. Preliminary results from the 2010 census counted some 10.6 million people.-Geography:...
, murdering three.
On the other hand and also in February 2011, a local FPI leader and followers each received at most a 5.5 months sentence and were released based on time served after members of the group struck an HKBP pastor in the head with a wooden plank and stabbed an HKBP elder in the abdomen. The planned, drive-by attack occurred in Bekasi
Bekasi
Bekasi is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta in the Jabodetabek metropolitan region. To the south is Bogor Regency, east is Bekasi Regency....
, West Java while the victims were walking to church service and related to local Muslims' objection to church construction. While local human rights activists expressed disappointment in the minimal sentences, no riots occurred. Earlier, in 2010, hundreds of FPI members had attacked congregants during an HKBP church service in Bekasi, beating many women. Police were on site, but provided little protection.
On early Ramadan in August 2011, group of muslims attacked and burned three churches on Kuantan, Sengingi, Riau Province. Police not giving any clue for reason of burning, Poice says its for sake of keeping ramadan peacefuly for muslim.
Non-Muslims experience ongoing discrimination
Religious discrimination
Religious discrimination is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe.A concept like that of 'religious discrimination' is necessary to take into account ambiguities of the term religious persecution. The infamous cases in which people have been...
, including obstacles to university entrance and civil service jobs. A survey conducted in 2002 in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
noted that 80% of respondents wanted faiths other than Islam outlawed, 73% wanted non-Muslims excluded from teaching in government schools, and 42% did not want churches constructed in their area. Of particular concern to non-Muslim religious organizations, a 2006 joint ministerial decree on house of worship
Revised Joint Ministerial Decrees on Construction of Houses of Worship (Indonesia)
On 21 March 2006, the Indonesian Ministers of Religious Affairs and Home Affairs issued a decree that is commonly referred to as the Joint Decree on Houses of Worship. The decree issued as Ministry of Religious Affairs decree No. 9 of 2006 and Ministry of Home Affairs decree No. 8 of 2006...
(signed by the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry) requires a religious group to obtain the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity before building a house of worship. This decree has been used frequently to prevent construction of non-Muslim places of worship and has been cited by radical Muslim organizations for various attacks on non-Muslims.
See also
- Religion in IndonesiaReligion in IndonesiaThe first principle of Indonesia's ideology states that Pancasila: "belief in the one and only God". A number of different religions are practiced in the country, and their collective influence on the country's political, economical and cultural life is significant. As of 2011, the population was...
- Roman Catholicism in Indonesia
- Protestantism in IndonesiaProtestantism in IndonesiaProtestantism is one of the six approved religions in the country, the others being Islam, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.. According to CIA statistic, in 2000 5.7% of the population of Indonesia are Protestant...
- Christmas in Indonesia
- Freedom of religion in IndonesiaFreedom of religion in IndonesiaThe Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free...