Christianity was present in the kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago from the 16th century. The emergence of these kingdoms was driven by the increasing sea trade traffic with Christian traders from the Portuguese and Spanish empires. [1] By the 1800s, Christianity's expansion had slowed. In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century the foundations of the Indonesian churches that exist today were laid, such as in the island of Java. During the war of independence, the church also contributed to community life. Churches of this day, such as Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI), Gereja Kristen Jawa (GKJ), Gereja Kristen Pasundan (GKP), Gereja Reformasi Indonesia (GRI), and Gereja Isa Almasih (GIA) has been assimilated into the daily lives of the people and has become part of the journey of the Indonesian nation to this day. [2]
In 1901, the Dutch Ethical Policy was born which had a very big influence on the Dutch colonial areas including the Dutch East Indies and one of the impacts is the zending emergence. Zending is an effort to spread the Protestant Christian religion. Zending entered the archipelago through several waves. The first wave of arrival of zending to the Indonesian Archipelago was brought by the British and Dutch in the 17th century, more precisely by the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). [3]
Dutch missionaries, including those the UZV (Utrechtsche Zendings Vereeniging) Evangelists, from sought to introduce Western education, health practices, clothing, attitudes/behavior, village planning, and roads. [4]
In 1563, the Sultanate of Ternate under the leadership of Sultan Hairun prepared his son Sultan Babullah to spread power and influence Islam to North Sulawesi. But, Henriques de Sa, as the Portuguese ruler, preceded him and sent a small fleet with a priest, Diego de Magelhaes, to North Sulawesi with the final destination being Toli-Toli. This priest gave teachings for 14 full days and baptized the King of Manado as well as the King of Siau because he happened to be in Manado at that time. The political situation had a strong influence on the spread of the Gospel in the Nusa Utara . However, the spread of the Gospel, especially Catholicism, suffered a very deep decline. Many people have been baptized but do not receive further services because economically the Nusa Utara is not very productive, compared to the islands of Maluku, So the rulers of that era were more interested in living in Ambon and Ternate or Tidore. [5] The presence of Europeans (especially the Portuguese) in Maluku in general and Ternate in particular, the spices were only secondary and the spread of Christianity was of paramount importance. The Portuguese took advantage of Ternate as a spice producing region in the world to introduce Christianity to the Ternate people, both from the common people and the high officials of the Sultanate of Ternate, as well as other kingdoms in the Moloku Kie Raha region. [6]
The Larantuka Kingdom was one of the largest Christian kingdoms in Indonesia. The Lamaholot town of Larantuka was previously inhabited by the kakang nuba (the king's companions) at that time. [7] Larantuka was named as a town belonging to Mary (Town of Reinha) in 1845, when the King of Larantuka named Olla Adobala was baptized by a Portuguese Catholic priest and given the name DVG (Don Fransisco Olla Adobala Diaz Viera Ghodinho). [8] The surrender of the King of Larantuka in the sacrament of baptism was accompanied by the symbol of handing over the golden scepter of the Larantuka Kingdom to Tua Ma (the local people's name for the figure of Mother Maria Reinha Rosari) which means that Larantuka is completely "Town of Reinha" (the queen) and the kings are representatives or servants of Tua Ma. [9]
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)History of Indonesia |
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