A study of the development of Christianity in the life of the Toba Batak people in Indonesia from missionary witnesses to the present

The development of Christianity in the life of the Toba Batak people in Indonesia and in Indonesian society generally continues to support and express itself within the local cultural values of the people. It will continue to assess local theologies resulting from self-reflection and listening carefully to the needs of the people, will continue to nurture and provide for the emergence of the seed of Christianity which already existed in the traditional beliefs. The seed will grow and continue to be in dialogue and deal with the reality of the diversities of the Toba Batak people and Indonesian society in general.;This dissertation explored the development of Christianity in the life of the Toba Batak people in Indonesia from missionary witnesses to the present. Chapter I explored the traditional beliefs of the Toba Batak people in Mula Jadi Na Bolan as High God that existed in the form of culture and adat (customary) and this fact proved that the seed of Christianity already existed in the traditional beliefs of the Toba Batak people. Chapter 2 examined the history of Christian mission to the Toba Batak people; explored mission methods that experienced by the missionary especially examined mission methods by Ingwer Ludwig Nommensen who well-known as the apostle to the Toba Batak people.;Chapter 3 described the Christianity in the proses of dialogue and encounter with the culture and adat (customary) of the Toba Batak people. The challenge of culture in theological reflection is how the theology or Christianity itself interacts with the context of the people. This chapter incorporated with ethnographical research. Contextualizing Christianity in Indonesia faces a host of complexities and encounters a pluralistic community. Chapter 4 studied the Christianity in dialogue with other religions in Indonesia. This study proposed the opportunities of interfaith dialogue and encounter in Indonesia. Final chapter (5) explored the efforts to develop Christianity as contextual religion in Indonesia. Contextualization is a process by which a particular people respond to the saving Word of God; express it in its own cultural forms of worship, reflection, and the needs people's life.