Decolonising Christology in Javanese mysticism: The representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini

Abstract

The portrayal of Isa in Serat Centhini, a nineteenth-century Javanese literary encyclopaedia from the Surakarta court tradition, reveals a rich intertextual interaction between the Gospel tradition, Islamic theology, and Javanese mystical cosmology. This raises an important hermeneutical question concerning how Christology should engage with non-Western literary traditions that reinterpret Jesus beyond the categories of ecclesiastical doctrine. This study examined the construction of Isa in Serat Centhini Pupuh 65 (stanzas 32–36) through an intertextual hermeneutical approach and proposed a framework for a decolonised Christology rooted in Javanese mystical thought. The research employed qualitative textual-hermeneutical analysis using three theoretical perspectives: decolonial Christology, intertextuality theory, and Javanese cosmology and mysticism. Literary, anthropological and theological sources were analysed in dialogue with contextual Christology. The findings indicate that Serat Centhini presents Isa through three interconnected discursive layers: Islamic theological terminology (ruhullah, Jibril), Gospel liturgical narratives (death, resurrection and Pentecost), and references to the supreme Divine reality in Javanese cosmology (Hyang Agung, atmajèng, Pangeran [Supreme Divine Reality, soul, Lord]). Rather than appearing as separate traditions, these elements are integrated within a distinctively Javanese theological imagination that transcends doctrinal boundaries. The study concludes that Serat Centhini represents an early form of theological translation that articulates a decolonised Christology through Javanese mystical language, predating later postcolonial theological formulations.
Contribution: This research contributes to contextual theology by challenging the assumption that Christology belongs exclusively to Western systematic theology and by offering resources for theologians, missiologists and interfaith practitioners seeking culturally grounded Christological approaches in Asian, especially Javanese, contexts.