Repenters

Abstract

Whereas Inochentists and Old Calendarists rejected the official Church by grounding themselves in recognizably Orthodox patterns of piety, Repenters abandoned Orthodoxy altogether for a personal Saviour who promised them eternal life. 1 They called each other 'brother' and 'sister' , cherished the Bible above all else and withdrew from 'worldly' things in their pursuit of holiness. Repenter groups appeared in Romania during the second half of the nineteenth century and spread in various parts of the country. Some claimed simply to follow 'the Repenter religion' , but most clearly affiliated themselves with one denomination or another. 2 The spectre of Repenters appeared constantly in Orthodox writings from the 1920s, giving the impression that they were to be found knocking on doors in every village and town. In reality, the number of Repenters at this time was remarkably small, and their presence restricted to only some parts of the country. Baptists were strongest in Arad and Bihor counties, according to the 1930 census, with significant communities throughout western Transylvania and Bessarabia. Dorin Dobrincu writes that 'in 1921 the Baptist Union numbered 21,193 members (14,000 Romanians, 6,223 Hungarians, 670 Germans, and 300 Russians), congregated in 645 churches … There were 77 ordained pastors … and 668 unordained leaders'. 3 Romania's estimated population in 1920 was 16 million, meaning that Baptists constituted roughly 0.001 per cent of the population. 4 Brethren were concentrated most strongly in Teleorman, Suceava and Iaşi, although one could also find them in 6 Repenters 1 A thorough overview of the literature on Repenters can be found in Michelson, 'The History of