Performing Faith

Christian Music, Identity and Inculturation in Indonesia

Marzanna Poplawska

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781138587052
• eBook ISBN:
  9780429996283
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

This book is a study of music inculturation in Indonesia. It shows how religious expression can be made relevant in an indigenous context and how grassroots Christianity is being realized by means of music. Through the discussion of indigenous expressions of Christianity, the book presents multiple ways in which Indonesians reiterate their identity through music by creatively forging Christian and indigenous elements. This study moves beyond the discussion (and charge) of syncretism, showing that the inclusion of local cultural manifestations is an answer to creating a truly indigenous Christian expression.

Marzanna Poplawska, while telling the story of Indonesian Christians and the multiple ways in which they live Christianity through music, emphasizes the creative energy and agency of local people. In their practices she finds optimism for the continuing existence of many traditional genres and styles. Indonesian Christians perform their Christian faith through music, dance, and theater, generating innovative cultural products that enrich the global Christian heritage.

The book is addressed to a broad spectrum of readers: scholars from a variety of disciplines – music, religion, anthropology, especially those interested in interactions between Christianity and indigenous cultures; general music lovers and World Music enthusiasts eager to discover musics outside of European realm; as well as Christian believers, church musicians, and choir directors curious to learn about Christian music beyond Euro-American context. Students of religion, sacred music, (ethno)musicology, theater, and dance will also benefit from learning about a variety of indigenous arts employed in Christian churches in Indonesia.

1 Setting the scene

Christianity and European influence in Indonesia

This chapter gives an overview of the history of Christian presence in Indonesia, including the first attempts at creating indigenous Christianity. It also presents a brief account of European and Christian influence on local music genres, including the western Christian impact on gamelan (Javanese traditional ensemble) music, the subject of detailed analysis in Chapter 3.

History of the Church in Indonesia—from mission Church to indigenous Church

The Indonesian Republic officially recognizes six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and—since 1998—Confucianism. According to the 2010 census, almost 10% of the Indonesian population is Christian (3% Catholic and 7% Protestant), approximately 2% is Hindu, and 1% Buddhist and others. Most Indonesians are practicing or nominal Muslims (87%). Though the percentage of Christians may seem relatively insignificant, it amounts to about 25 million people.

A characteristic feature of Indonesian Christianity, which is the direct result of its complex history, is its uneven geographical distribution. This unevenness is due in part to the Dutch colonial policy that prohibited Catholics from working in certain territories.¹ Indonesia’s widespread migration program moved many Catholics from various islands to Java, particularly Jakarta, and some Javanese Christians to other islands—for example, Sumatra and Kalimantan.²

1 In 1854, the Dutch colonial government issued a law that forbade two different groups of missionaries from working in the same area among the same people. Because Protestants were already present in many places in Indonesia (for example, North Sumatra), this law often excluded Catholics.

2 See Brian A. Hoey (2003).

Indonesia’s first contact with Christianity was the Church of the East, or the Nestorian Church (with roots in Egypt), most likely at the beginning of the 7th century, through Christian merchants from Persia and India who visited North Sumatra and perhaps Java; however, they left only faint traces. The World Christian Encyclopedia notes that a Catholic community existed in Sumatra around that time; there is some evidence of contacts by Franciscans in 1323 in Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan. In the 9th century, Muslim historian Shaykl Abu al-Armini recorded the presence of many Nestorian churches in Indonesia, including one at Fansur on the west coast of North Sumatra. Although the evidence is scarce, it is very likely—as authors such as Kim and Yoder suggest—that there was a significant Christian presence in the archipelago long before the arrival of Europeans.³

3 See Jong Kuk Kim (2004:40) and Lawrence Yoder (1987:275). Kim notes that the Metropolitan of Java was ranked 15th out of possibly 27 metropolitans of the Church of the East. Each metropolitan had 6–12 bishops under him. Remy Sylado (2003) records that the East Church was present in the 12th century in Barus on the west coast of Sumatra.

Substantial evidence shows Indonesian encounters with Christianity in the 16th century. In 1522, the Portuguese colonial expansion reached the eastern part of Indonesia—the Moluccas and Sulawesi—and in 1530, Portuguese landed on Timor. The first Portuguese missionary to the Moluccas arrived in 1534. Francis Xavier (1506–1552), a Jesuit and one of the most famous missionaries of his time, spent nearly a year in the Moluccas in 1546 and was followed by other Jesuits and Dominicans (1548–1568). From 1556 on, Dominicans from Goa built strong communities on the islands of Flores, Solor, and Adonara. Although the small number of missionary personnel and continual fighting (between local rulers and Portuguese) endangered and isolated these remote congregations, they kept their faith and formed the oldest part of the Indonesian Catholic Church (especially around Larantuka, eastern Flores). By the end of the 16th century, there were 18 Catholic mission posts and 25,000 Christians in Eastern Indonesia. Portuguese missionaries also made converts on the northeast coast of Java, where two Portuguese priests (on their way to Timor) established a small Catholic community in 1640, in Jepara (Yoder 1987:277).

The opening of the first school in Ambon, built by Portuguese captain and governor Antonio Galvâo, had important musical implications for this early period of European contact.⁴ In addition to subjects such as writing, reading, and arithmetic, vocal music was also taught in the form of Catholic praise songs. During that time the first translations of religious texts also took place. Francis Xavier, before his arrival in Ambon, requested from Malacca the translations of four Catholic creeds: Credo, Ave Maria, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. With these four texts, he traveled around Ambon and its surroundings, teaching mainly through singing and bell ringing. When Francis Xavier arrived in Ternate in 1542, he was greeted by a group of boys singing Gregorian chants such as “Credo,” “Ave Maria,” “the Ten Commandments,” and “the Lord’s Prayer” (Andaya 1993:124).

4 Some sources speak of Collegio Ternate on Ternate Island—a special school for boys where music was taught along with Latin and Portuguese languages. Bramantyo lists 1535 as the date of the school’s founding, while Sylado lists 1536.

The Christian presence in Indonesia has always been influenced by political events. The Dutch defeat of the Portuguese in 1605 drastically changed the political situation in the Indonesian archipelago. Catholic missionaries were expelled, replaced by Dutch Reformed chaplains supported by the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch Reformed Church was practically the only Christian influence in the islands for the next 200 years. The abandoned Catholic missions had to sustain themselves. Despite the difficult situation, in many areas Catholic faith (or remnants of it) lasted until new Catholic missionaries arrived two centuries later. At the end of the 18th century, there were 55,000 Protestant Christians and a smaller number of Roman Catholics in Indonesia.

Although the Netherlands was one of the sources of the Protestant missionary vision, both the Dutch East India Company and, later, the Netherlands East Indies colonial government maintained a policy proscribing missionary activity in areas where it might possibly threaten commercial interests.⁵ Moreover, the pastors of the Church of the Indies or Dutch Church ministered only to European officials and their families. It was not until the second half of the 19th century that Javanese Christian communities began to appear, thanks to the dedicated work of a small number of lay people—Javanese, Indo-European, and European.

5 Protestants did not missionize much until the 19th century.

The 19th century brought further radical changes in the political and religious climates of the East Indies. France conquered Holland, and in 1799 the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt. Louis, a Catholic brother of Napoleon Bonaparte and the new king of Holland, proclaimed the freedom of religion in 1806. As a result, the apostolic prefecture of Batavia (Jakarta) was erected in 1807, the first Catholic church was opened, and Catholic priests were allowed to reenter the country beginning in 1808.⁶ Despite these changes, the few secular priests were able to look after only the Dutch and Indo-European Catholics on Java and Sumatra.⁷

6 The apostolic prefecture of Batavia was renamed in 1961 as the Archdiocese of Jakarta. For the history of Archdiocese, see http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/djaka.html.

7 Secular priests are priests who are not members of religious orders.

A brief period of English colonial influence (1811–1816), accompanied by a Protestant awakening, brought evangelists of the Baptist Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society to Indonesia.⁸ Later, the Netherlands Missionary Society began work in Sulawesi (1827), and the Rhenish Mission began work among the Dayaks of Kalimantan. Many other missionary societies followed, most notably the German Lutherans, who proselytized among Bataks of Sumatra beginning in 1861. Around 1850, the Christian faith began to make inroads among the Javanese, significantly increasing the number of converts. In 1859, Dutch Jesuits appeared on the scene, inaugurating Catholic evangelizing on all the major islands.

8 They came to Java but did not find the Sultan to be interested in Christianization. See Tom Hiney (2000) for a detailed account.

The changing political and religious situation of the colonial period resulted in some tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Indonesia. Nevertheless, after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), ecumenical relations between them improved considerably. Currently, joint celebrations of annual Christian feasts are frequently held in various regions.

Throughout the 20th century, the Catholic Church and large regional Reformed and Lutheran Churches continued to grow. In 1926, the first Javanese priest was ordained, and in 1940, a Javanese, Albertus Soegijapranata, received episcopal rank and was appointed apostolic vicar of Semarang (central Java). Twenty years later, Soegijapranata became the first archbishop of Semarang (1961), initiating the indigenous Catholic hierarchy in Indonesia, which until then had been officially a mission field. An important recognition of the developing Indonesian Church was the visit of Pope John Paul II to five dioceses in Indonesia in 1989.

After 1966, Christian membership surged, partly because of the violent anti-communist repression following the abortive coup d’état of 1965 and the subsequent requirement that every citizen affiliate with one of the five officially recognized religions. The vigorous campaign aimed at Islamizing animists and “atheists” (communist sympathizers were automatically presumed to be atheists) paradoxically resulted in pushing many toward Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The largest numbers of Christian converts were in central and east Java, north Sumatra, Alor, east Timor, Lampung (south Sumatra), south Sulawesi (Toraja), and the interiors of Kalimantan and West Papua. There has been virtually no growth in strongly Muslim areas or in areas where Christians had already formed a larger part of the population.⁹

9 For 2000 census data on the growth of different religions, see Leo Suryadinata (2003).

First attempts at indigenous Christianity

Christian missionaries demonstrated various attitudes toward indigenous customs and arts. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the gradual implementation of efforts to contextualize Christianity and to express Christian faith through the language of local culture. These attempts, undertaken by both Catholics and Protestants, paved the way for efforts carried out in contemporary Indonesia—a fact that i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Technical notes
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Setting the scene: Christianity and European influence in Indonesia
• PART I Java
• PART II Flores
• Conclusion
• Appendix A: Key individuals
• Appendix B: Liturgy and music notation examples
• Appendix C: Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index