Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro (Chinese: 曹衡进; pinyin: Cáo Héngjìn; born in Java, 1956) is an Indonesian bishop as well as founder of the Indonesian Orthodox Church. He served in Most Holy Trinity Parish, Banjarsari, Surakarta and Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Jalan Lengkong Raya, Serpong, South Tangerang, Banten.[1]
Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro 曹衡进 | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Nikopolis (Jakarta) | |
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| Church | Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece (Formerly: Indonesian Orthodox Church) |
| Appointed | 1990 |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Orders | |
| Rank | Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Daniel Bambang Dwi Byantoro 1956 |
| Denomination | Eastern Orthodox Church (early Sunni Islam, previously Protestantism) |
| Alma mater | Protestant Theological Seminary, the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission |
Early life
editByantoro was born to a middle-class family in Indonesia.[2] He was brought up by his maternal grandfather. He studied the Koran, and received Islamic teaching. According to his claim, he was converted to Charismatic Christianity, when Christ appeared to him during his evening Islamic prayers.[2]
In 1978, Byantoro studied in Protestant Theological Seminary, the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission, (ACTS) in Seoul, South Korea. In 1982, he found The Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware in a bookshop in Seoul, who introduced the Eastern Orthodox Church to him. On September 6, 1983, he converted to the Orthodox Church with the blessing of Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Patriarch Demetrios and Metropolitan Bishop Dionysius of New Zealand and chrismated by Archimandrite Sotirios Trambas (Zelon Bishop, serving in Korea).[3]
Byantoro completed his education in Korea, then travelled to Greece and the United States before returning to Indonesia.[3]
Ministry
editOn June 8, 1988, Byantoro began ministry in Indonesia. The first person who he converted to Orthodox Church was an ex-Muslim man named Muhammed Sugi Bassari, baptized as Photios, in April 1989.[3]
Thought
editTheologically speaking, Byantoro has used the existing thought patterns of Indonesian culture to package Orthodox teaching within the Indonesian mental set up. Just as the Church Fathers had to face Greek paganism, Judaism, and Gnosticism in order to present the Gospel intelligibly to ancient peoples, Orthodox theology faces similar challenges in the context of the Indonesian mission. Those challenges are the Islamic strand that has similarities with Judaism (both Judaism and Islam have similarities with not only each other but also Christianity as all three are Abrahamic religions from their common spiritual origin from the monotheism promoted by Abraham), the Hindu-Buddhistic strand that has similarities with Greek paganism (both Hinduism and Greek paganism have their origins in Proto-Indo-European religion), the Javanese-mystical strand called Kebatinan (the Esoteric Belief) that has similarities to Gnosticism (it is divided into many mystical denominations and groups) and the secularistic-materialistic strand of the modern world.[4][5]
Jurisdictional changes and episcopal consecration
editThough not canonically released from the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Byantoro is officially regarded as defrocked by OMHKSEA [6] In 2019, he and some of the clergy left ROCOR for the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece.[7] In 2023, he was consecrated bishop of Jakarta.[8]
References
edit- ^ Contact Archived 2018-04-23 at the Wayback Machine - Monachos Corner
- ^ a b Profil Arkhimandrit Daniel Byantoro (by: Fr. Kyrillos Junan SL) Archived 2018-04-08 at the Wayback Machine - Monachos Corner.
- ^ a b c Archmandrite Daniel B.D. Byantoro. History: The Birth of the Orthodox Church in Indonesia Archived 2018-02-10 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Daniel (Byantoro)". OrthodoxWiki. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.5) Archived 2011-02-23 at the Wayback Machine license and the GNU Free Documentation License Archived 2019-01-08 at the Wayback Machine (GFDL).
- ^ Incarnational Approach to Orthodoxy in Indonesia: An Interview with Fr.Dionysios (Rm.Dionisius Surya Halim) and his presbytera Artemia Rita Archived 2016-03-11 at the Wayback Machine. Orthodoxy in China.
- ^ "Daniel (Byantoro) - OrthodoxWiki". Archived from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
- ^ "ROCOR Statement" (PDF). ROCOR. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Consecration of Theofilestatus Bishop of Nikopolis (Jakarta) Mr. Daniel". GOC. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
