Baptistic Theologies, 2009

le searching the Bible in order to find the proper way to please God. In both cases there was a split concerning the issue of baptism - whether this was for believers only. The difference is in the way the events went further. In Zurich, as Estep argues, the Council of the city was convinced by the Reformed ideas that infant baptism was valid and so the Radicals had to leave. 49 On the other hand, in Bicaz the majority of members of the Bible study group were convinced by the baptistic perspective and the other representatives had to leave. The comparison does not have to do so much with who had to leave or who had 48 Ibid., pp. 127-9. 49 William Estep, Istoria Anabaptistilor (Oradea: Editura Cartea Crestina, 2006), p. 21. 52 Baptistic Theologies not but proves that in order for there to be a fresh spiritual awakening searching spirits are needed. This was the case in Bicazu Ardelean in 1925 when the Baptist movement started and in Zurich in 1525 when the Reformed and Anabaptist movements began. A second behavioural trait that was evident in Bicazu Ardelean was the wish to obey the Bible. A testimony coming from a secondary source asserts that at a moment in time before Dunca visited the village they were convinced that some practices from the traditional church were not according to the Bible. The first thing they did was to ask questions of their Greek Catholic priest, whose answer, for them, were unsatisfactory: ‘What do you want me to do? Start a Reformation?’ 50 This attitude convinced them more than ever that they had to find another way, a way that would not contradict what they understood from the Bible. The Bible was the starting point of the Reformation in Zurich and other parts of Europe. The Bible started the Radical Reformation also. It was the message of the Bible which transformed the people in Bicazu Ardelean, and Dunca’s attitude toward the scriptures inspired them to accept the message proclaimed. The people also proved able to take initiatives. As was emphasised before, the signs Dunca asked from God to see if the mission was in the Lord’s will had to do with the people’s initiative. The first one was their insistence in asking him to visit them. Another important sign he asked for was their visit to Toplita. People proved to have initiative in doing all of these things. This was also seen in their organising a chapel room shortly after they heard the Baptist message, and obtaining an authorisation to have the Baptist faith recognised in the village even though they were not yet baptised. The examples could continue. There was the purchase of the church’s meeting place, which was inaugurated on 6 th January 1931 51 and exists today. The church building used to be a dance hall but in 1926 the people initiated the buying process and within five years they were able to have church meetings in a new building. Their initiative is remarkable and proves their interest in working f