Baptistic Theologies, 2009

dszlbhordozd [Lajos Janos, The first Hungarian Baptist flag bearer], typewritten document in my personal library, pp. 1-5. 62 Baptistic Theologies since for him that would have been re-baptism, but he had explained that in Germany there were people who practised adult baptism. When Antal Novak arrived in Nagyszalonta this group saw him as an answer to their prayers. 34 After a few people in the group expressed their desire to receive believer’s baptism, Novak said he was ready to help. During a conference organised by the BFBS in 1875 he met Henrik Meyer, an ordained Baptist minister based in Vienna, and invited him to come to Nagyszalonta where, he reported, there were eight people willing to receive baptism according to the teaching of the New Testament. On 20 th August 1875, Meyer - who was to become the major overseer of Hungarian Baptists - was able to come and he officiated at a baptism, at Bekes Gyula, where eight people or were baptised. This was a very important moment in the history of the Hungarian Baptist mission, since this was the first group of native Hungarian people to receive baptism as believers, and they formed the first Hungarian Baptist Church in Transylvania. This Baptist congregation emerged from a Reformed Bible study group, and this was important for its subsequent spiritual ethos. Throughout his life, Antal Novak remained a hard-working colporteur, operating in very difficult circumstances. In this period poverty and infectious disease affected many families in Transylvania. When Novak died in 1877, in Heltau, his death was probably a result of one of those infectious diseases. His life illustrates the determined spiritual commitment to the Bible that helped to shape the early Baptist movement in Transylvania. Evaluating and summarising Antal Novak’s life, this is how Attila Csopjak, a Baptist writer and minister writes about his ministry: Rottmayer introduced Novak in the knowledge of faith. The consequence of their conversations was the repentance of Novak, who as a believer took the Bible from city to city especially alongside the river Tisza. As the Bible was spread and people started to read it, in some of the cities protestant people stalled to meet in groups. Although Novak’s task was primarily to sell the Bibles, he took those opportunities to testify to the Truth. Thus slowly life emerged in these gatherings.... Where Novak and his wife turned up, there spiritual renewal started. Thus, Novak became a 37 salvation soldier in central Hungary. Antal Novak’s ministry was crucial in the history of Hungarian Baptist Mission in Transylvania for several reasons. He was the first to realise that the seeds of the emerging Baptist mission were those Protestant 34 Meszaros: A Baptista Misszid megjelenese, p. 35. 35 Bunaciu: Istoria Raspandirii Credintei Baptiste in Romania, pp. 88-89. 3<> Meszaros, A Baptista Misszid Megjelenese, p. 35. 37 Attila Csopjak, Kep