Jesus at the Margins: A New Testament Christology Of Humanization in Indonesia

Abstract

Discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons in Indonesia exposes a critical tension between religious conviction, cultural identity, human dignity, and the ethical responsibility of Christian communities toward those who are marginalized. While queer theology, incarnational Christology, and Minahasan cultural philosophy have been discussed independently, limited scholarship has brought them into sustained dialogue as a contextual theological response to LGBTQ+ discrimination in Indonesia. This study addresses that gap by examining the intersection of Patrick S. Cheng’s queer Christology, Jürgen Moltmann’s incarnational and cruciform Christology, and the Minahasan philosophy Si Tou Timou Tumou Tou as resources for constructing an ethic of humanization. Using qualitative library research, the study analyzes theological texts, cultural literature, legal documents, and reports of discrimination through thematic, hermeneutical, comparative, and synthetic analysis. The findings demonstrate that these traditions converge around three ethical-theological principles: divine solidarity with marginalized persons, active responsibility for sustaining the dignity and flourishing of others, and critical resistance to exclusionary structures and rigid binaries. The study further argues that theological disagreement regarding sexuality must not be translated into violence, humiliation, coercion, or social exclusion. Its originality lies in integrating global queer and incarnational Christologies with indigenous Minahasan wisdom, thereby contributing a culturally grounded framework for pastoral care, anti-discrimination practice, theological dialogue, and wider Christian reflection on dignity, justice, and responsible coexistence in plural societies