A Calvinist Pious Society. Conversion stories of university students

Demeter, Éva (2003) A Calvinist Pious Society. Conversion stories of university students. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 48 (1-2). pp. 139-147. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

I collected stories of conversion from university students in Kolozsvár/Cluj. They had come into contact with representatives of the revival movement and constructed their own identities under the influence of the identity patterns conveyed by these people. The conversion means that their relationship with God becomes personal in that they accept salvation from sin for themselves, declare themselves to be the children of God and place their lives under His guidance. This goes together with a new way of life involving daily reading and interpretation of the Bible, impromptu personal prayers and participation in charity work. In the stories of conversion they speak about this new identity and the process through which they changed their identities. Parallel with the restructuring of the individual identity the collective identity also changes since, from the time of their conversion, they regard themselves as members of the community and the activity of the community extends to all fields of life: Bible hours, religious services, sports, summer camps, film club, etc.

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