Origins of the Baptist Movement Among the Hungarians

Alex Kish received his Ph.D. in Church History at the Free University of Amsterdam in 2010. He also holds an M.Div. and Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and an M.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech.

• CHAPTER 1On the Historiography of the Baptist Movement Among the Hungarians: An Introduction to a New Study of Hungarian Baptist OriginsCHAPTER 2Pioneers and Pilgrims: The First Attempt to Establish a Baptist Movement in HungaryThe Religious Situation in Hungary from the Reform Period through Neo-AbsolutismFrom the Reform Period through the Revolution of 1848The Churches under Neo-AbsolutismRoots of the Hungarian Baptist MissionJ.G. Oncken - The Father of Continental Baptists“For the praise of God and for the welfare of man, Hamburg, 1842.”Oncken’s “Mission-School”The First Baptist Missionaries in Hungary: The Sending of Rottmayer, Scharschmidt, and WoykaThe Baptist Missions in Pest and Pécs up to the RevolutionJohann Rottmayer’s Early Work in PestJohann Woyka and the Baptist Mission in PécsThe Impact of the Revolution on the Hungarian Baptist Mission and the MissionariesThe Mission to Pécs and the Fate of WoykaProgress suppressed: The work in Pest and the loss of the German brethrenThe last man standing: Rottmayer and the Baptist mission in Pest under Neo-Absolutism, 1849-1866Martial law and the Bach Period, 1849-1859From the Patent Fight to the Eve of Dualism: Rottmayer’s Renewed Cooperation with the Scottish Mission and the Baptisms of 1865The End of Rottmayer’s Work in PestCHAPTER 3The Hidden Years: The Later Work and Ministry of Johann Rottmayer and the Bible Colportage of Antal NovákThe Bible Colportage and Evangelism of Johann Rottmayer and Antal Novák as Preparation for Success of the Hungarian Baptist Mission under Heinrich MeyerAntal Novák: Pioneer of the Magyar Baptist MissionJohann Rottmayer’s work in KolozsvárEarly work and travelsRottmayer’s trip to Hamburg and re-marriageThe development of the Kolozsvár depotRottmayer’s Sunday School and HymnbookRottmayer’s Baptist Mission in Kolozsvár and Cooperative Baptist WorkRottmayer’s Retirement and the Closure of the DepotWhy was no lasting Baptist mission planted at the first attempt?CHAPTER 4Wandering Apostles and Prophets: The Establishment of a Sustained Baptist Mission in HungaryThe Impact of the Compromise on the ChurchesLiberal Ideas of a ‘Free Church in a Free State’ and the Constraints of PoliticsNationalism, Magyarization, and the ChurchesThe Churches in the Age of LiberalismLiberal CatholicismLiberal Protestantism, Confessional Orthodoxy, and the Rise of Evangelical RenewalThe Problem of the Sects: To the Protestant First?The Renewal of the Baptist Mission in Hungary under Heinrich MeyerHeinrich Meyer’s Early Life and MinistryHeinrich Meyer’s Arrival in Budapest and Early Baptist WorkThe Internal Life of the Early Hungarian Baptist MovementThe Social Composition of the Baptist MovementThe Congregational Life of Hungarian BaptistsThe Content of Hungarian Baptist ProclamationThe Internal Organization of the Baptist Movement in HungaryThe Origins of the Magyar MissionPersecution of the Baptists, Anti-Baptist Polemics, and Heinrich Meyer’s Struggle to Achieve State Recognition for the BaptistsCHAPTER 5Concluding Thoughts on the Establishment of a Lasting Baptist Presence in HungaryA Lasting PresenceThe Importance of the Wesselényi Street Baptist ChurchThe Rapid Growth of the Magyar Mission From 1881 to 1893Why did the Second Attempt to Establish a Lasting Baptist Presence in Hungary Succeed?BIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

"K. ist es gelungen, eine differenzierte, historisch-kritische, die Quellen umfassend aus-schöpfende Studie zu erstellen, die die baptistische Bewegung nicht nur im Ungarn in den heutigen Grenzen behandelt, sondern auch für das gesamte Reich der Stephanskrone umfassend und luzide darstellt. (..) Insgesamt ist ein überzeugendes und solides Buch entstanden! Es ist eine Fundgrube an Informationen und Querverbindungen zu weiteren protestantischen Kreisen der behandelten Zeit (...)." Ulrich A. Wien, in: Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, Vol. 66.2 (2017).