Indonesia is predominantly Muslim. In terms of population, in fact, it is the world's largest Muslim nation, but a Christian minority of perhaps 10 percent also lives there. This comprehensive history of Christianity in Indonesia covers the vast archipelago from Sumatra to Irian Barat. It begins by questioning whether Christianity was present in Indonesia centuries before European exploration. It ends with chapters on contemporary life such as Christian media, Christian art, the growth of evangelicals and pentecostals, Chinese Indonesian Christians, and the ecumenical movement.
Few readers—perhaps only those whose focus is church history—will want to read this massive book cover to cover. Many more readers, however, including researchers across disciplines or anyone planning to work or live in Indonesia, will find it an invaluable reference source that can easily be read selectively in preparation for their work. They will find detailed background on the general history of each region presented through the lens of Christianity. They will learn how the history of the Church in these places was always enmeshed in political and economic storylines, including the politics of Islam as well as sectarian competition within Christianity.
Twenty-six contributors—all but two of whom are from Netherlands or Indonesia—worked on this project. The book is divided into twenty-one chapters, each of which stands on its own. The book includes a useful index and general bibliography as well as separate bibliographies attached to each chapter. After some chapters covering the earliest chronological period (to 1800), the heart of the book consists of chapters that are regional surveys. These regional histories are prefaced by a chapter called, “1800-2005: A National Overview,” which can be read as an executive summary of the entire book. All who read this book selectively, then, would be well advised to read the overview chapter first to gain some sense of “the big picture” before zeroing down to the chapters most relevant to their regional interests.
In the broadest strokes, Catholic Christianity followed the Portuguese and Spanish to the eastern parts of the archipelago in the era of the spice trade, establishing a tenuous foothold in places such as Ambon, Solor-Timor, and Minahasa. Eventually, the spice trade waned, the primary locus of East-West contact shifted to Java, the Dutch displaced the Iberians, and Protestants displaced Catholics among the Europeans who exercised power. Aiming to dampen the sectarian conflict that had marred European society since the Reformation, the United East Indies Company planted the Indies Church as an all-purpose, generic Protestant presence wherever Europeans lived in some concentration. This Church was supported from government coffers, served mostly Eurasians and Europeans, and seldom showed evangelical ambitions toward native Indonesians. It was only in the nineteenth century that missionary organizations in Netherlands and Germany made significant outreach to peoples indigenous to the archipelago, and then much of their activity was focused on areas that had not been touched deeply by Islam. The colonial government aimed to avoid antagonizing Islamic leadership, and for awhile it also aimed to keep Christian groups from competing among themselves over territories.
But this is not primarily a history of missions and missionaries. This book aims to chronicle the emergence of Christianity as a localized faith, and one finally led by Indonesian clergy and lay people. When the colonial era ended with the Japanese occupation, the Churches planted by European missions began to find their local bearings and become autonomous. Some were better prepared for this than others, but seminary training expanded through time to answer the need for Indonesian Church leadership. In recent decades, grant-based development programming provided one means by which the now independent Indonesian Churches remained linked to European and American donors.
Under Suharto's New Order, sectarian politics were discouraged by a foundational philosophy (Pancasila) that promoted religious faith but recognized several world religions as official. Although the Pancasila remains in place, Indonesian Christianity has watched as a widespread Islamic awakening spread throughout society in recent decades. At the same time, the post-Suharto political climate has seen a deepening democratic development and decentralization. Formal programs of transmigration, or simply the informal migration of people looking for work and land, have taken Muslims to some places where Christians had enjoyed a local majority position. In some cases, this has destabilized the social equilibrium between people of different faiths, and Christian/Muslim animosities have sometimes resulted in bloodshed and terrorism.
Whether one's focus is contemporary Christian life or Indonesian history, this reference work provides an excellent background. Those looking to deepen their understanding of a particular region will find an important steppingstone in the bibliographic sources and leads, as well as in the summarizing framework of the text itself.
