Altar and Throne in Central Moluccan Societies

The problem of the interpenetration of cultures immediately involves anyone engaged in missionary work -whether it be of the traditional Christian type or the modern types of technical assistance and political influence. There seem to be at least two dimensions of this problem, the first having received relatively more attention than the second. First there is the mutual interaction on the level of ideas and beliefs between the two cultural systems in contact. Secondly, there is the interaction of the two cultural systems on the sociological level. It can be argued that a considerable amount of the scholarly work done on the first level is of limited value and relevance because it has not taken adequate account of the social-cultural infrastructure. This study attempts to do just this in describing the situation which obtains in contemporary Central Moluccan village societies against the historical background out of which it has developed.