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A Postcolonial Biblical Reading A PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI THE ANTICHRIST IN LAHAYE & JENKINS’ LEFT BEHIND AND ENDO’S SILENCE: A POSTCOLONIAL BIBLICAL READING A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) degree in English Language Studies By Natan Setiawan Gultom Student Number: 186332010 THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2021 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI THE ANTICHRIST IN LAHAYE & JENKINS’ LEFT BEHIND AND ENDO’S SILENCE: A POSTCOLONIAL BIBLICAL READING A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) degree in English Language Studies By Natan Setiawan Gultom Student Number: 186332010 THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2021 i PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINALITY This is to certify that all ideas, phrase, sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if he took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references. Yogyakarta, 3rd June, 2021 Natan Setiawan Gultom iv PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Natan Setiawan Gultom NIM : 186332010 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: THE ANTICHRIST IN LAHAYE & JENKINS’ LEFT BEHIND AND ENDO’S SILENCE: A POSTCOLONIAL BIBLICAL READING beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 3 Juni 2021 Yang menyatakan Natan Setiawan Gultom v PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would foremost like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Paulus Sarwoto, for his unending support and eternal patience. His expertise and guidance have been my parakletos, not just in the task of this thesis writing, but throughout the semesters I had the privilege of listening him speak and lecture. Thank you for your encouragement and patience. My sincere gratitude also goes to Prof. Dr. Novita Dewi. She has been the wise and experienced ship’s captain, guiding me through the vast and rough waters in the journey of investigating American Literature, World Literature, and Postcolonial Literature. Both have been influential in discovering my awe towards the vastness and endless depth of literary studies. I would like to also thank my thesis reviewer and examiner for their valuable insights and suggestions to my thesis. My extended gratitude goes to the lecturers of the ELS department who I had the privilege to be part of their classes, Dr. J. Bismoko, F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. B. B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., and Dr. Haryatmoko. The writing of this thesis would be lingering without the support of my 2018 classmates and especially my Lit-stream crew, Asep, Roza, Sigit, Tanto, and Vania, who went hand in hand and battled the rough waters together. I thank all of you for the warmth companionship. Personally, the adventure of writing this thesis has been a thrill ride which led me to unexpected places. After many hours of investigation, I found out how much of my theological considerations has been flexed and stretched to the possibilities I thought was well placed in the unknown. Initially considered Postcolonial Biblical as an affront towards literalist interpretations, I now console in the delight of how such criticism is relevant in my state as a Christian and a vi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI person living with a postcolonial upbringing. Christianity as a metanarrative which promotes itself to the other had a murky history in their approach. Now, with the help of Postcolonial Biblical criticism, such promotion of the Christian beliefs is in the spirit of attunement towards the other and engaged in a positive engagement. With centering the narratives of the marginal, literal and postcolonial biblical interpretation could continue in the fruitful discussion pertaining various aspects of the Bible. This is the liberation of not just the marginal, but the liberation for the literalists as well. vii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI DEDICATION To my patient wife, Nathalia, my son and daughter, Noah and Nathanya, for indulging and challenging me concurrently. To my large and ethnically colorful family, Op. Ramot Gultom/br. Nainggolan (Batuara), Hardjo Soemiran, and Tumundo-Lengkong, who have supported me in endless encouragement and prayer. In loving memory of my father-in-law, Pdt. Hengky Heibert Tumundo, MA (1951-2020), who have passed on during my time of investigation. Soli Deo gloria “Define yourself—not by how much you are loved, but by how much you love others.” —Connor Chalfant viii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................. i APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................................................ ii THESIS DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................ iii STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINALITY ................................................... iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ......................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................... vi DEDICATION ............................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ix ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. xi ABSTRAK ...................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 A. Background of Study .......................................................................... 1 B. Research Questions ............................................................................. 7 C. Chapter Outline .................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................ 13 A. Review of Related Studies .................................................................. 13 1. Antichrist and the History of Its Interpretation................................... 13 2. Antichrist and Fiction ....................................................................... 22 B. Review of Related Theories ................................................................. 33 1. Postcolonial Biblical Criticism ......................................................... 33 2. The European Other .......................................................................... 46 CHAPTER III: THE ANTICHRIST SURROGATION IN LAHAYE AND JENKINS’ LEFT BEHIND .................................................................. 51 A. The Antichrist through the Eyes of LaHaye and Jenkins ..................... 51 B. The Colonial Bent of the Novel .......................................................... 61 CHAPTER IV: THE ANTICHRIST SURROGATION IN ENDO’S SILENCE ........................................................................................ 68 A. The Antichrist through the Eyes of Shusaku Endo .............................. 68 B. The Anti-Colonial Bent of the Novel .................................................. 77 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 90 ix PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 99 x PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ABSTRACT Natan Setiawan Gultom. The Antichrist in LaHaye & Jenkins’ Left Behind and Endo’s Silence: A Postcolonial Biblical Reading. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies, Graduate Program. Sanata Dharma University. This thesis investigates the origins of the Antichrist which stems from the classical biblical account. As part of a biblical interpretation, the Antichrist is introduced throughout the world in the literalist/classical account. Further scrutiny in this thesis is done when one starts reading such figure using Postcolonial Biblical Criticism. Postcolonial study within biblical criticism is in line with the understanding that Christendom is acquiring new centers of gravity, especially in Third World countries. These new centers are escorted by the development of non-Western Christian theologies. Biblical reading using postcolonial lens help readers to be critical toward his/her own theological-hermeneutical biases and conjectures because
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