Figure 1.-- This is the Van Dijk family . They were a Duch missionary family from Friesland province. The snapshot was taken during 1930 on Sumba Island in what was at the time the Dutch East Indies. |
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The Spanish (Magellan) and the Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach what is now Indonesaia. Portuguese Jesuits and Dominicans were active in the Malukus, southern Sulawesi, and Timor (16th century). The Durtch also reached the islands and defeated the Portuguese (1605P. The Durtch expelled the Catholic missionaries. The Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church became virtually the only Christian sect active in the islands for the next 300 years. Dutch policies did not lead to mass conversion. The United East Indies Company (VOC) was a business enterprise. It gave little attention to social efforts like education or religion. And the Calvinist dictrine was both austere and strict. Understanding it required Bible study and intellectual effort. Thus by the turn-of-the-19th century there were only small numbers of Indonesian Christians. A few small communities were established in Java, Maluku, northern Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara (primarily Roti and Timor). The Dutch dissolved the VOC during the Napoleoniv Wars (1799). They proceeded in the 19th century to implement a more comprehensive colonial policy in Indonesia. As part of the adoption od a colonial administration, more attention was given to religion. The Dutch opened the islands to proselytizing. Missionaries arrived from Europe. More tolerant German Lutherans began working among the Batak of Sumatra (1861) and by the Dutch Rhenish Mission in central Kalimantan and central Sulawesi. Jesuits established mission schools, and hospitals throughout the islands of Flores, Timor, and Alor. Many new Protestant missionary groups as well as Catholicism worked in Indonesaia in the early 20th cdntury befpre World War II. The missionary emphasis on education meant that a high proprtion of educated Indonesians were Christians Slightly under 10 percent of the Indonesian population at the time of independence were believed to be Christians. General Suharto seized control of Indonesia to prevent a Communist take over (1965). Large numbers of people believed sympathetic to the Communists were killed. The Chimese in particular were suspect. Many Chinese adopted Christianity to prove that they were not Communists. This caused problems with Islamicists. There are some small areas in Christian predominate in the Moluccas and on Kalimantan. The island of Flores is largely Christian.
Christianity was a European import. The Spanish (Magellan expedition) from the east and the Portuguese from the west were the first Europeans to reach what is now Indonesaia. Portuguese Jesuits and Dominicans were active in the Malukus, southern Sulawesi, and Timor (16th century). The Durtch also reached the islands and defeated the Portuguese (1605P. The Durtch expelled the Catholic missionaries. The Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church became virtually the only Christian sect active in the islands for the next 300 years. Dutch policies did not lead to mass conversion. The United East Indies Company (VOC) was a business enterprise. It gave little attention to social efforts like education or religion. And the Calvinist dictrine was both austere and strict. Understanding it required Bible study and intellectual effort. Thus by the turn-of-the-19th century there were only small numbers of Indonesian Christians. A few small communities were established in Java, Maluku, northern Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara (primarily Roti and Timor). The Dutch dissolved the VOC during the Napoleoniv Wars (1799). They proceeded in the 19th century to implement a more comprehensive colonial policy in Indonesia. As part of the adoption od a colonial administration, more attention was given to religion.
The Dutch in the 19th century opened the islands to proselytizing. Missionaries arrived from Europe. More tolerant German Lutherans began working among the Batak of Sumatra (1861) and by the Dutch Rhenish Mission in central Kalimantan and central Sulawesi. Jesuits established mission schools, and hospitals throughout the islands of Flores, Timor, and Alor. Many new Protestant missionary groups as well as Catholicism worked in Indonesaia in the early 20th cdntury befpre World War II.
The missionary emphasis on education meant that a high proprtion of educated Indonesians were Christians Slightly under 10 percent of the Indonesian population at the time of independence were believed to be Christians.
General Suharto seized control of Indonesia to prevent a Communist take over (1965). Large numbers of people believed sympathetic to the Communists were killed. Nonreligious persons were labelled atheists andm as a result, potentially vulnerable to accusations of Communist sympathies. Many Christian churches reported a growth in membership. Many people turned to Christianity because they were uncomfortable with the political orientation of many mosques and Islamic parties. The Chinese in particular were suspect because of China was a Communist power. Many Chinese adopted Christianity to prove that they were not Communists. This caused problems with Islamicists who saw this as another example of the Chimese as a foreign people.
The majority of Indonesian Christians in Indonesia were Protestants of various denominations. Catholic congregations grew less rapidly than Protestsnts during the 1980s. They apparently relied more on European personnel than the Protestants. Europeans experienced increasing Government restrictions on their missionary activities. The Muslim-dominated Department of Religious Affairs was especially concerned with European activity and prosletizing among Muslims. There are Koranic prohibitions on conversion.
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