Baptistic Theologies, 2009

six times. See Kirner, Kornya Mihaly baptista iittoro parasztapostol kronikaja, p. 194. 5S Attilla Csopjak, Kepek a Magyarorszagi Baptista Misszio Tortenetebol (Budapest: A Magyarorszagi Baptista Konyvkereskedese, 1928), pp. 14-15. 59 Kirner, Kornya Mihaly baptista iittoro parasztapostol kronikaja, pp. 138-144. Revival among Hungarian Baptists in Transylvania 69 when he reached the village he saw the policemen and asked them: ‘May I ask you kindly: Have you seen the man who is going to preach tonight?’ They replied: ‘No, we are here to stop him’. Kornya replied: ‘But I would like to listen to him’. Having had this conversation, Kornya went through without the police suspecting him, delivered the sermon and as usual found that people responded. He left using a different way out of the village, and the police officials waited to no effect. 60 On another occasion, Kornya opened the door of one of the houses in a village and greeted the lady, who was well known in the village, telling her: ‘I was a Reformed Church believer but a lost sinner. Now I am a Baptist who was saved. Would you let me talk about this to the people in the village?’ The lady was interested but was, it seems, anxious about whether she would become a focus of unwelcome attention if she sympathised with Baptists. Kornya asked her if she had a small table and a white tablecloth. She did. With her permission, he put the table in the middle of the courtyard belonging to the house, with the tablecloth on top, and laid an open Bible there. The Word of God is going to invite people, he said, and opened the gate. After a short time about twenty people from the village gathered, asking in typical village fashion: why is the gate open and why is the Bible on the table? Then, with their interest aroused and with the lady having relaxed, Kornya opened the Bible and started to preach to the group of people, who gathered around the table. 61 Although the spiritual approach had traditional evangelical elements, it was also creative in its out-working. Conclusion Analysing this period of Baptist life in Transylvania, it is clear that Baptist witness emerged largely within a Reformed context. The development of Bible study groups was crucial. The Reformed Church itself saw renewal, but many of the members were looking for a new form of church life. The work of colporteurs who were Baptist by conviction was essential to the establishment of Baptist life in the region. The tens of thousands of Bibles the colporteurs sold each year had a positive impact on the thinking and behaviour of many Hungarian people. The first Hungarian Baptists, like Baptists elsewhere, were firm in asserting, from the Bible, that to be a Christian involves personal faith, followed by baptism. " The work of the first Baptist missionaries was clearly successful. Yet most of them were < " Bunaciu, Istoria Raspandirii Credintei Baptiste in Romania, p. 92. 61 Kirner, Ko