Aluk Tomatua


Banua Layuk is a symbol of the highest leadership in the structure of the Ballapeu village community. This Mamasa traditional house is unique, which, according to them, resembles a ship's shape, like the ships of their ancestors when they departed from their country of origin, crossed the sea & stopped in this area through the upper reaches of the river. Likewise, the Mamasa community before the entry of Christianity, expressed their belief in the Divine with the name Dewata, who is believed to be the creator, maintainer & giver of blessings for all mankind and the universe & its contents, poured into an ancestral belief system called Aluk Tomatua.

In the ancestral belief system, Aluk Tomatua is systematically arranged through rituals related to the cycle of human life on earth, called pemali appa randanna / 4 elements of human life rules. Responding to the process of transition from the concept of the Divine in the ancestral belief of Aluk Tomatua. In our opinion, this recognition indicates that the Gods who have been known & worshiped since ancient times in the ancestral belief system, Aluk Tomatua, are also the true Gods.

He is the only true God of all the Gods on earth including the spirits of ancestors who are believed to be Gods. All other Gods in every place on earth, even the spirits of ancestors, are removed from the concept of Aluk Tomatua. The true God is also the one who controls everything, be it wells, forests, rivers, trees, kitchens & all places and infrastructure of life in the world, Gods/spirits of ancestors.

Likewise, the attitude/perspective of the Mamasa people towards the values ​​inherited from their ancestors, both in terms of beliefs, Aluk Tomatua, and cultural customs. In that context, the church is faced with its complex context, including the context of traditional beliefs that have grown & taken root for centuries in the Indonesian earth. After Christianity entered Mamasa through the missionary body, the ancestral belief system of Aluk Tomatua was slowly abandoned by the Mamasa people who embraced it, then accepted Christianity as a new religion, even though the values ​​of belief of Aluk Tomatua still strongly influenced the views of the Mamasa people on their lives.

The attitude of the evangelists towards the ancestral belief system of Aluk Tomatua is generally negative, even ignoring Aluk Tomatua because it is considered a religion of darkness. Because in their ancestral beliefs, they do not know the true God & do not confess Jesus as the savior. Toraja Christians may realize their faith as West Toraja people.

After GTM was established as a church institution, it remained in a dependent relationship in terms of funds, power & theology on the missionaries in the Netherlands, for a fairly long period, namely until 1983. It was only at the 16th General Synod meeting in the Tanda Sau Sumarorong area in 2001, that it was decided to remove the 37 articles of the Reformed Confession of Faith from the basic rules of GTM. Before the Gospel of Jesus Christ came 100 years ago, in Mamasa there was already a Gospel in the ancestral concept.

From the analysis of the belief in the Gods that we have done, we describe that before Christianity entered Mamasa, the Mamasa people in their ancestral beliefs, Aluk Tomatua, already had ideas, knowledge & recognition of the Divine, through what they call the Gods, although it was not perfect. Therefore, it is important to observe & not just imitate, John S Mbiti's attitude towards the concept of Africans in expressing their beliefs about the Divine. Likewise, sacrifices, whether solely to God/spirits, can be directed to a legitimate form of worship, including worship of ancestors is seen as merely a deep respect for the deceased, not as a form of worship.

However, if the Gods in question are Gods on earth who exist in every place and even he is the spirit of ancestors, then that concept cannot be justified from a biblical theological perspective. In that translation, what is important is the theological transposition, which is not just a formal/linguistic change, but rather the transposition of biblical faith in the world of Asian culture & religion.

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