In the field of contextual theology and the study of religions, increasing attention has been given over the past several decades to the ways in which the figure of Jesus is represented outside the framework of Western church traditions. These studies demonstrate that the figure of Jesus, once understood primarily within the boundaries of classical Christian doctrine, now requires reinterpretation within diverse local cultural and religious contexts. In many Asian societies, Jesus appears in symbolic, mystical, or prophetic forms that reflect processes of reception and reinterpretation across religious traditions (Amaladoss 2006; ed. Sugirtharajah 1993). This approach opens space for what is commonly referred to as contextual Christology, namely, an effort to understand the figure of Christ through the horizons of local culture, language, and religious experience.

Within the context of the Indonesian archipelago, one important source for understanding such encounters across traditions is the classical Javanese literary work the Serat Centhini. This text is regarded as one of the most monumental works of Javanese literature, compiled in the early 19th century within the Surakarta royal court environment, and is often described as an ‘encyclopaedia of Javanese culture’ because it encompasses various aspects of Javanese religious, social, and philosophical life. The Serat Centhini consists of twelve volumes and hundreds of poetic cantos [pupuh] that combine elements of travel narratives, spiritual teachings, social ethics, and mystical reflections rooted in Islamic traditions, Javanese mysticism [kebatinan], and earlier cultural inheritances.

Scholarly studies on the Serat Centhini have developed through various academic approaches, ranging from philology and literary studies to cultural studies. In general, the text is understood as a masterpiece of Javanese literature whose breadth of content has led scholars to describe it as both an encyclopaedia of Javanese culture and as the pinnacle of Javanese mystical synthesis (Marsono 2005–2008). Previous studies have largely focused on descriptive and structural aspects, including summaries of the text’s contents (Adisasmita 1974, 1975), transliterations and translations of the text (Kamajaya 1991), as well as narratological and gender studies that reveal constructions of social relations within the text (Muslifah 2004). In the field of linguistics, scholars have also highlighted the influence of the Arabic language as a result of interactions with Islamic traditions (Junanah 2008), indicating that the Serat Centhini is a product of intercultural and interreligious intertextuality. In addition, several studies have examined its symbolic, metaphorical, and spiritual dimensions, including the meaning of sexuality as a form of religious expression in Javanese culture (Nurnaningsih 2016). Tejo (2016) reworked the narrative of the Serat Centhini by presenting the characters Gathak and Gathuk as followers of Amongraga; however, he did so in the form of reflective essays and critiques of contemporary life that diverge from the original narrative structure and plot of the text. Thus, previous studies have tended to position the Serat Centhini as a rich object of cultural, literary, and linguistic inquiry, yet they have not specifically directed their attention towards a systematic theological analysis.

More recent approaches, particularly within cultural studies, view the Serat Centhini as a site of discursive contestation that continually undergoes transformation, wherein the text is reproduced in various popular forms such as novels, performances, and mass media (Agusta, Susanto & Rais 2011). This perspective emphasises that texts are never neutral, but rather shaped by relations of power, ideology, and socio-historical dynamics (Foucault 2002; Haryatmoko 2016). Nevertheless, although these studies successfully demonstrate the dynamics of discourse and textual transformation, there has been no specific research examining the representation of the figure of Isa in the Serat Centhini through an intertextual hermeneutical approach that engages Gospel traditions, Islam, and Javanese cosmology. Accordingly, this study seeks to fill that gap by developing a contextual Christological analysis that reads the text not merely as a cultural product, but also as a space for theological dialogue across traditions. The novelty of this research lies in its attempt to decolonise Christology through a reading of classical Javanese texts, thereby offering a new perspective within contextual theological studies that has received little exploration in previous scholarship.

Within this framework, the representation of the figure of Isa [Jesus] in the Serat Centhini becomes particularly intriguing from theological and hermeneutical perspectives. In several passages of the text, Isa is explicitly mentioned as a noble figure and associated with theological concepts such as ruhullah. However, this representation does not fully conform either to ecclesiastical Christology or to normative Islamic theology; rather, it is situated within the horizon of Javanese mysticism, which emphasises asceticism, purity of life, and spiritual wisdom (Purwaningtyas 2012; Ricklefs 2006). In this context, Isa does not appear as the central figure of salvation doctrine as in Christian theology, but instead as a spiritual exemplar and model of inner mystical life integrated into Javanese religious cosmology.

Studies of Javanese literary texts also indicate that the philosophical values embedded within them reflect the Javanese worldview concerning the perfection of life, the origin of existence, and humanity’s relationship with divine reality. These values are often articulated through concepts such as sangkan paraning dumadi [the origin and destiny of existence] and the pursuit of life’s perfection [ngudi kasampurnan], which together form the epistemological framework of Javanese mysticism. In this regard, the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini cannot be understood merely as a reproduction of a particular religious tradition, but rather as the result of a complex process of cultural interpretation in which religious symbols are translated into the spiritual language of Java.

Nevertheless, theological studies concerning the representation of Jesus in classical Javanese literature remain relatively limited, particularly from the perspectives of contextual Christology and intertextual approaches engaging Gospel traditions, Islam, and Javanese cosmology. Most studies on the Serat Centhini have concentrated on literary, cultural, or Javanese philosophical aspects (Kamajaya 1991), while theological analyses of the figure of Isa within the text remain rare and unsystematic (Banawiratma & Müller 1993; Florida 1995). Yet such analysis is important for understanding how the figure of Jesus is perceived and imagined within non-Christian religious traditions, while also opening possibilities for dialogue between Christian theology and local spiritual traditions.

Based on this background, this article aims to examine the representation of the Prophet Isa in the Serat Centhini, particularly in Pupuh 65, stanzas 32–36, through an intertextual hermeneutical approach. The analysis explores how the text constructs the figure of Isa through narratives, symbols, and religious language that bring the Gospel tradition, Islamic theology, and Javanese cosmology into dialogue. Rather than evaluating this representation against established doctrinal formulations, the study seeks to understand how the figure of Isa is reinterpreted within the Javanese religious imagination through processes of cultural translation and theological reinterpretation.

Within this framework, the article employs decolonising Christology as a hermeneutical lens through which the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini may be interpreted, rather than as evidence that the text itself constitutes a historically demonstrable process of decolonisation. From this perspective, the study argues that the Serat Centhini offers a distinctive contextual reflection on the figure of Jesus by integrating Gospel traditions, Islamic theological concepts, and Javanese mystical cosmology into a coherent religious imagination. Accordingly, this article proposes Javanese Mystical Christology as an interpretative category for understanding this representation, thereby contributing to broader conversations in contextual Christology, intercultural theology, and Christian–Muslim studies within the Asian context.

This study employs a qualitative approach grounded in hermeneutical textual analysis within a theological intertextual framework. The focus of the research is not merely on philological study or literary analysis, but rather on the religious meaning of the representation of the figure of Isa in the Serat Centhini as a textual construction emerging from the encounter of various religious traditions. The analysis is based primarily on the original Javanese text of the Balai Pustaka edition, while the English translations provided in this article serve only as analytical aids for international readers. Interpretive decisions were therefore grounded primarily in the lexical, theological, and literary features of the original Javanese text rather than in its English translation. The primary object of this study is the Serat Centhini Volume I, Balai Pustaka edition, particularly Pupuh 65 (Juru Demung [traditional Javanese verse form]), Stanzas 32–36, which were selected because they contain relatively explicit representations of the Prophet Isa, including the use of theological terms such as ruhullah, as well as narratives concerning death, resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The delimitation of this textual unit enables an in-depth analysis of the narrative structure, religious symbols, and theological terminology employed within the text.

Methodologically, the study was conducted through three stages of analysis. Firstly, a textual analysis was undertaken on the selected stanzas in order to identify theological terms, religious symbols, and narrative structures that construct the representation of Isa within the Javanese religious cosmology of the Serat Centhini. Secondly, an intertextual approach was employed to examine the relationship between the Serat Centhini and broader religious traditions, particularly the Gospel traditions and Islamic traditions concerning Isa, by understanding the text as part of a network of religious discourses that interact with and influence one another (Allen 2011; Kristeva 1980; Teeuw 1984). Thirdly, a theological hermeneutical analysis was conducted by situating the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini within the broader process of cross-traditional interpretation in the context of Javanese mysticism and the Islam–Javanese tradition. Within this framework, the study also employs the perspective of decolonising Christology as an interpretative lens to understand the representation of Isa not as a deviation from normative Christology, but rather as a form of cultural interpretation reflecting the dynamic encounter between Gospel traditions, Islam, and Javanese cosmology (Ricklefs 2006; Singgih 2000; Sugirtharajah 2001). To strengthen interpretative validity, theological interpretations are derived from close textual analysis and are consistently evaluated through the dialogue of the three theoretical frameworks employed in this study. The analysis therefore seeks to identify patterns of intertextual resonance and religious reinterpretation grounded in textual evidence, rather than to reconstruct authorial intention or to argue for direct doctrinal equivalence between the religious traditions under comparison.

The analysis of Pupuh 65, Stanzas 32–36, demonstrates that the Serat Centhini presents the figure of Isa within a religious framework that is not fully identical to either ecclesiastical Christology or normative Islamic theology. Isa is referred to as ruhullah and atmajèng Hyang Agung – a formulation that indicates a distinctive relationship with the divine while not corresponding to the doctrine of the incarnation as articulated in classical Christology. At the same time, the text preserves narrative elements that exhibit strong resonance with the Gospel tradition, including the accounts of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Isa, as well as the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. Rather than indicating direct dependence upon Christian sources, this combination of elements suggests that the Serat Centhini brings together religious traditions that are subsequently reinterpreted within a spiritual horizon shaped by Javanese cosmology and mystical Islamic tradition.

According to Bakker (1974:11), the earliest traces of Christianity in the Indonesian archipelago can be traced back to the 7th century through the presence of an Eastern Christian (Nestorian) community in Fansur or Pancur, Sumatra. Bakker draws upon the records of Shaykh Abu Ṣāliḥ al-Armini, who mentions the existence of churches and Christian monasteries in that region. In addition, sources from the Church of the East by Abdishoʿ, as well as the travel accounts of Giovanni de Marignolli from the 14th century, further attest to the existence of connections between Christian communities and the Sumatran region long before the arrival of the Portuguese. These historical observations suggest that Christian traditions had encountered the cultures of the Indonesian archipelago, including Sumatra and, potentially, Java, although the nature and extent of such interactions remain difficult to reconstruct because these early Christian communities did not become firmly established within local society (Noorsena 1992:29).

According to Noorsena, the figure of Jesus encountered in a number of Javanese manuscripts cannot be separated from the influence of Islam that accompanied the rise of the Islamic kingdoms of Demak, Pajang, and Kartasura in Java. He further argues that the Serat Centhini contains textual fragments from which a portrait of Jesus in Javanese literature may be reconstructed, although the resulting image remains, in his own words, somewhat indistinct (Noorsena 1992:29). This observation is consistent with the present study insofar as it suggests that traditions concerning Isa circulated within a broader Islam–Javanese religious environment and were subsequently reinterpreted within Javanese literary culture. Rather than seeking to establish the precise historical channels through which these traditions were transmitted, the present study focuses on how they are represented and reconfigured within the text itself.

These findings carry important implications for contextual Christological reflection, particularly when read through the lens of the decolonisation of theology. In much of global theological scholarship, Christology has frequently been understood through doctrinal categories developed within the Western theological tradition, such as incarnation, atonement, and the Trinity. This framework certainly rests on a solid foundation within the church tradition, yet it has often given insufficient attention to how the figure of Jesus is understood and interpreted within non-Western religious traditions (Kärkkäinen 2016; Schreiter 1985). The representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini suggests that the figure of Jesus may also be interpreted within a religious horizon that does not fully correspond to dominant Western Christological formulations. In this text, Isa is understood through the language of Javanese mysticism – which emphasises the relationship between the human spirit and the divine source – as well as through Islamic terminology affirming the oneness of God. From this perspective, the figure of Isa may be understood as illustrating how a global religious symbol undergoes processes of cultural and theological reinterpretation within a local context (Ricci 2011; Sanneh 2009).

The textual evidence suggests that the compiler of the Serat Centhini possessed a deep familiarity with Islamic teaching while simultaneously participating in a Javanese religious environment in which traditions concerning Isa had already circulated. The present study does not seek to establish the precise historical channels through which these traditions were transmitted; rather, it examines how they are represented and reinterpreted within the text itself. Drawing upon this religious horizon, the figure of Isa was then creatively reconstructed through patterns of Javanese spirituality marked by mystical and culturally integrative characteristics. Accordingly, the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini may be understood not simply as a reproduction of either Islamic or Christian doctrine, but as a Javanese religious reinterpretation that brings together elements from different religious traditions within the framework of Javanese cosmology. Within this structure, the text does not simply borrow from external traditions, but reconfigures them into a distinctive form of Javanese religious expression.

With particular regard to the figure of Isa, the use of the terms ruhullah and atmajèng Hyang Agung suggests that the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini exhibits a form of religious intertextuality – one that brings together the Islam–Javanese tradition, the Gospel memory of Isa, and Javanese conceptions of the divine into a distinctive spiritual construction.

From this perspective, the Serat Centhini may be read through the lens of the decolonisation of Christology as a hermeneutical space in which the figure of Isa is reinterpreted within Javanese religious cosmology. Decolonisation here does not mean rejecting the ecclesial Christological tradition, but rather providing space for interpreting the figure of Jesus beyond theological formulations that have historically been shaped primarily within Western intellectual contexts. In Javanese religious literature, the figure of Isa is not positioned as a foreign religious figure, but as a spiritual person who can be understood through the symbolic language of local cosmology. The designation of Isa as atmajèng Hyang Agung, for instance, demonstrates how the idea of a distinctive relationship with the divine is articulated within a Javanese spiritual framework that emphasises the relationship between the human spirit and divine reality. Within this framework, the representation of Isa exhibits a strong conceptual resonance with mystical themes found in the Javanese kebatinan tradition, particularly the ideal of manunggaling kawula Gusti [the unity of the servant and the Lord], which emphasises spiritual intimacy between the human person and the divine source (Aryanto & Kurniawan 2023). This conceptual resonance should not be understood as implying doctrinal identity, but rather as illustrating how the figure of Isa is reinterpreted through symbolic categories familiar within Javanese religious culture.

Furthermore, the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini suggests that the interaction between religious traditions does not invariably produce doctrinal conflict, but can give rise to forms of religious understanding that are dialogical and creative in character. In this text, the Gospel tradition, Islamic terminology, and Javanese cosmology do not negate one another; rather, they interact within a new symbolic structure. The Injil is acknowledged as a book of divine revelation, yet is understood through the Islamic paradigm of revelation transmitted by the angel Jibril. The resurrection narrative of Isa is preserved, yet is not linked to a theology of atonement. The Holy Spirit is explicitly mentioned, yet is interpreted within the imaginative thought-world of Java. Taken together, these textual features suggest that the Serat Centhini does not merely bring together different religious traditions, but reinterprets them within a symbolic framework that is distinctively shaped by the Javanese religious context.

On the basis of the foregoing analysis, the present study suggests that the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini may be understood as what may be described heuristically as a form of Javanese mystical Christology. This Christology is not constructed through doctrinal definitions concerning the nature of Christ, but through spiritual symbols that emphasise divine relationship, the sanctity of life, and closeness to transcendent reality. Within this interpretive framework, the representation of Isa functions as a symbolic expression of spiritual intimacy with the divine rather than as a doctrinal formulation concerning the person of Christ. In this respect, it exhibits a strong conceptual resonance with the kebatinan ideal of manunggaling kawula Gusti, while remaining distinct from both classical Christian Christology and normative Islamic theology (Mulder 1998). Accordingly, the present study does not propose a new Christological doctrine, but rather offers an interpretive framework for understanding how the figure of Isa is represented and religiously reinterpreted within Javanese literary and spiritual traditions. Such an interpretation suggests that Christological reflection need not always develop in the form of systematic doctrine, but may also emerge through symbolic and mystical representations within local religious traditions (Amaladoss 2006; Pieris 1988).

This study suggests that the Serat Centhini offers a valuable locus for theological reflection on the figure of Jesus beyond the horizon of the Western church. The representation of Isa in this text may be interpreted through the language of local cosmology without losing its spiritual dimension. These findings suggest new possibilities for dialogue between Christian theology and Asian religious traditions, while also indicating that contextual Christological reflection does not develop solely within the discourse of academic theology, but also within local literary and spiritual traditions. Within this context, the Serat Centhini may be understood as an important source for exploring how the figure of Jesus is religiously reinterpreted within the Javanese religious imagination and how such reinterpretation contributes to a more contextual and dialogical Christological reflection within global theology.

The intertextual analysis of the Serat Centhini, Pupuh 65, Stanzas 32–36, suggests that the representation of the Prophet Isa in this text is more than a syncretic anomaly or a by-product of cultural acculturation. Rather, it reflects a distinctive process of religious reinterpretation within the literary and spiritual horizon of Javanese cosmology. The text constructs the figure of Isa through three mutually interacting layers of discourse: Islamic theological terminology (ruhullah, Rohul Kudus, Jibril), the narrative traditions of the Gospels (death, resurrection after 3 days, Pentecost), and the framework of Javanese cosmology (Hyang Agung, atmajèng, Pangeran). These layers are not simply juxtaposed; rather, they are woven together into a symbolic religious framework in which elements from different traditions are reinterpreted within a distinctively Javanese religious imagination. From this perspective, the Serat Centhini does not merely appropriate religious traditions, but rearticulates them within its own literary and cosmological context.

These findings carry implications that extend beyond the study of Javanese literature. Firstly, the representation of Isa in this text invites a reconsideration of the assumption that Christology can only be articulated through dominant Western theological formulations such as incarnation, atonement, and the hypostatic union. The designation of Isa as atmajèng Hyang Agung suggests that ideas concerning the relationship between the human and the divine may be expressed through the symbolic framework of local cosmology without relying upon the Greek ontological language that shaped conciliar Christology. In this respect, the Serat Centhini indicates that reflection on the figure of Jesus may also emerge within non-Christian religious traditions through processes of cultural encounter and religious reinterpretation. Read through the lens of the decolonisation of Christology, these findings contribute to a broader understanding of how Christological themes may be represented and rearticulated across different cultural and religious contexts.

Secondly, this study also clarifies the limits of normative Islamic theology when confronted with the realities of literature. In classical Islamic theology, Isa is an honoured prophet but not a divine figure. Yet in the Serat Centhini, the formulation atmajèng Hyang Agung and the integration of the Pentecost narrative indicate that Javanese Islam, particularly in its mystical and kebatinan forms, is not fully identical with the normative Islamic theology of the Middle East. The Islamization of Java, as argued by Ricklefs (2006), was not a process of doctrinal homogenisation, but rather a mystical synthesis that continuously negotiated the boundaries between tawhid, local spirituality, and the legacy of other religious narratives. Reading the representation of Isa in the Serat Centhini solely through the lens of Islamic orthodoxy would therefore yield a reductive reading that fails to do justice to the genuine complexity of the Javanese religious imagination.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this study suggests that the decolonisation of Christology should not be confined to the academic discourse of systematic theology. Rather, when read through this hermeneutical lens, the Serat Centhini illustrates how the figure of Isa may be represented and religiously reinterpreted within a local literary and spiritual tradition. In this respect, the text exhibits important conceptual resonances with processes that are now discussed in contemporary theology as cross-cultural theological translation (Sanneh 2009), without implying that the text itself consciously participates in modern decolonial discourse. Accordingly, the present study suggests that contextual theology in Asia may benefit not only from the development of new theoretical models, but also from renewed engagement with local literary and spiritual traditions as important resources for theological reflection.

This means that the study of contextual theology in Asia must not look only forward towards the construction of new theoretical frameworks but must turn back to the archive of local literature and spirituality as the primary source of theological reflection that has for so long been marginalised.

Nevertheless, this study also has several limitations. The representation of Isa in Pupuh 65 cannot be generalised as the single or uniform perspective of the Serat Centhini as a whole, given the complexity of a text comprising hundreds of pupuh, multiple authors, and a multi-layered compositional history. Reading Stanzas 32–36 opens only one window into a much larger literary and religious corpus. Future research may expand the scope of analysis to other pupuh containing representations of different religious traditions and may also examine more closely the socio-political and cultural dynamics of the Surakarta court that shaped the religious imagination reflected in the text. Such studies would contribute to a broader understanding of the historical and cultural contexts in which these representations emerged.

Ultimately, the Serat Centhini invites us to recognise that the figure of Isa can be meaningfully represented within a religious imagination far removed from the historical and theological contexts of the Western church. In the language of Hyang Agung, in the rhythm of tembang macapat, and in the contemplative world of Javanese kebatinan, the figure of Isa is rearticulated through symbolic categories that disclose a spiritual horizon not always captured by dogmatic formulations alone. From this perspective, what this study has described heuristically as a Javanese mystical Christology may be understood as a distinctive form of contextual Christological reflection rather than as an alternative Christological doctrine. It represents a mode of religious interpretation in which the figure of Jesus is received, translated, and reimagined within the symbolic universe of Javanese spirituality while remaining in dialogue with both Christian and Islamic traditions. In this respect, the present study suggests that local literary and spiritual traditions deserve greater attention as significant conversation partners in the continuing development of contextual Christological reflection within global theology.