Jan (John) Hus (1369 - 1415) ****
Early
Czech reformer. Hus (also Huss) was born in the village of Husinec in southern
Bohemia. He studied at the university in Prague, and in 1398 joined the arts
faculty as a lecturer. He also took priestly vows. During these years he
underwent a conversion, although the details are unclear. His choice of a
priestly vocation had been largely motivated by a desire for prestige,
financial security, and the camaraderie of academic society. As a result of his
conversion, Hus adopted a simpler life style and manifested more interest in
his spiritual growth.
Hus was appointed rector and preacher in
Prague's Bethlehem chapel, the center of the Czech reform movement, in 1402.
During these years many of John Wycliffe's ideas influenced Hus, especially
those dealing with the spirituality of the church. However, Hus was not solely
a product of Wycliffe's theology, because earlier Czech theologians, such as
Matthew of Janov, shaped Hus's theological development as well.
By 1407 Hus was clearly identified with the reformists.
His evangelical wing threatened not only the theological balance in Bohemia but
also the ethnic status quo by challenging the power that Germans held in the
Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia.
In 1409 Pope Alexander V empowered the
Archbishop of Prague to root out heresy (anything not inline with what the Pope
said was considered heresy, but true Christianity, almost always was at odds
with what the Pope said) in his diocese. When the archibishop asked Hus to stop
preaching, Hus refused, and was excommunicated in 1410. When Hus continued to
attack the papal politics of the Great Schism and the sale of indulgences,
rioting erupted in Prague against the church hierarchy. With no support from
the king, and the pope threatening to place Prague under interdict, Hus left
the city in 1412 to live in southern Bohemia.
In 1414, with a promise of safe conduct, Hus
traveled to the council of Constance, where he was imprisoned and placed on
trial for heresy (true Christianity). He refused to admit that the charges
against him were true unless proven so by Scripture. The charges against him
were not proven to be true from the Scripture, nevertheless, he was judged
guilty and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.
Hus's sermons attacked clerical abuses, especially
the immorality and high living of the clergy. His theology was a mixture of
evangelical and traditional Roman Catholic doctrines. Hus preached against the
veneration of the pope by stressing a strong Christocentric faith that
emphasized an individual's responsibility before God. He believed only Christ
could forgive sins and expected a coming day of judgment. However, he still
accepted the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. Hus believed that both the
wine and the bread should be administered in the Lord's Supper, and held a view
of the elements similar to the doctrine of consubstantiation. He emphasized
preaching the Word of God to bring about moral and spiritual change in
listeners' lives. To help them read the Scriptures, he also revised a Czech translation
of the Bible.
As a theologian, Hus helped restore a
biblical vision of the church, one that focused on Christ's teachings and
example of purity. Moreover, his stress on preaching and the universal
priesthood of believers became hallmarks of the later Protestant Reformation.
He also encouraged congregational hymn singing, writing many songs himself. For
Czechs, Hus was not only a spiritual leader but also a focal point of national
inspiration in the centuries following his death.
Another
View of Jan Hus or JOHN HUSS
John
Huss was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church in 1401 after
receiving the Bachelor's and Master’s degrees at the University of Prague. He
preached against the evils of the Church and gained popular acceptance. He was
the confessor for the Queen of Bohemia. He was a powerful preacher of Roman
doctrine until he translated some of the sermons of John Wycliffe into the
Bohemian language. These sermons moved him to cry out for reform in the Church
and a return to the authority of the Scriptures as the sole source of faith and
doctrine for the believer.
Huss
maintained that Christ, not Peter, was the foundation of the Church and that
some Popes had been heretics. At once Huss was branded a heretic, ex-communicated,
and his writings were suppressed. He found refuge outside Prague, where he
continued to preach, write and study. The chief product of Wycliffe's pen,
Concerning the Church, developed his teachings concerning the universal
priesthood of all believers, emphasizing that Christ is the only Head of the
Church. Because of this, some credit Huss with beginning the reformation that
Martin Luther carried to full bloom one hundred years later.
In
1414, Huss was promised safe conduct by the Pope and Emperor Sigismund to the
Council of Constance to present his views. Instead of hearing Huss, the Council
had him arrested, gave him a mock trial without the benefit of an advocate, and
condemned him to death as a heretic. He was kept in prison for seven months before
he was burned. As Huss stood before the stake he said, "In the truth of
the gospel which I have written, taught, and preached, I die willingly and
joyfully today." Then the fire was kindled, and as the red tongues of
flame driven by the wind from Lake Boden rose high around the body of the
martyr, Huss sang, "Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, have mercy on
me." The Pope dismissed his own broken promise of safe conduct to Huss
with, "When dealing with heretics, one is not obligated to keep his word."
The
martyrdom of Huss kept the "religious pot" boiling for a hundred
years so that a century later Martin Luther was warned against going to Leipzig
even when promised a safe conduct by the Pope. The influence of Huss lived on
through his preaching and the godly example of his death.