John Huss
John Huss was born over 600 years ago, about the year 1369, at Hussintz in southern Bohemia. This is the land now known as Czechoslovakia. Huss is a national hero in that country. In 1915, 500 years after his martyrdom, a large memorial was erected in his honor in the capital city of Prague.
John’s mother was widowed shortly after his birth, but she managed, with the help of God, to provide a good home and education for her children. He studied basic subjects like astronomy, mathematics, logic, and grammar at a nearby school, and then entered the university in Prague. His mother had no money, so John worked his way through school by singing in churches and doing odd jobs. He was a good student, and after receiving two bachelor’s degrees and a Master’s degree, he began lecturing in the university. In 1401 he became the Dean of Theology at this school.
During his studies, John began to read the books of John Wycliffe of England. Their two countries, though separated by most of Europe, were drawn together by a royal marriage. Wycliffe’s books had been condemned by the church hierarchy as heretical, but Huss was fascinated by them. He read them carefully, comparing each detail with what the Bible said. He even made his own copies of some of these books, and a few of these in Huss’s own handwriting are still extant. He became solidly convinced that Wycliffe had discovered the truth.
A preaching chapel had been built in Prague by two noblemen and given to the church with the stipulation that it be used only for the preaching of the Word of God. Huss was chosen to fill the pulpit, and his preaching soon attracted thousands of laborers, businessmen, farmers, and students to Bethlehem Chapel. He preached the clear gospel, but he also condemned the moral laxity of church leaders and the perverse practice of selling indulgences. This, of course, made enemies as well as friends; it was not long before a fellow professor cried in alarm to the archbishop of Prague. The archbishop quickly summoned Huss, telling him to bring the books of Wvcliffe to the meeting. Huss offered to reject all the teaching of Wycliffe if the archbishop could point out any errors, using the Scriptures as authority. But the archbishop did not even try. He took all the books and had them burned, ordering Huss to leave the chapel. Huss refused, saying, “I have been called by God, and I will defend the truth of God’s Word, even to death.”
Huss continued speaking, writing, and teaching the truth, and it seemed the whole nation was following him. Everywhere he went, large crowds gathered to hear, in spite of threats from the clergy. The opposition came to a head in 1410, when the Roman pope ordered that all Wycliffe’s writings be confiscated and burned. Huss and his friends protested, but to no avail. A few days after the fire, in which over 200 manuscript copies were burned, general excommunication was issued against Huss and all who would support him. Huss ignored the citation and continued preaching at Bethlehem Chapel.
A year later an order was issued for John’s arrest, and for the destruction of the chapel. Popular support for Huss was so great that this sentence could not be carried out. In 1412, the fury was so intense that King Wenzel convinced John to leave the city. This pseudo-exile was much blessed by God, as his preaching was heard by men from all parts of the country. He could have remained in this comparative state of fruitfulness and security, protected by his wealthy and powerful friends, but he chose of his own free will to answer the summons that came from the council at Constance.
Other issues were to be discussed and settled by this council, convened in 1414 at the request of Sigismund, the German emperor, but the one which aroused the most excitement was the possibility of silencing Huss once and for all. Huss was guaranteed safe conduct and a fair trial, but these guarantees were empty. Soon after his arrival, he was imprisoned in a dungeon underneath a Dominican convent. A city sewer flowed through this dungeon, and the smell quickly sickened him. (Pope John XXIII, partly responsible for this imprisonment, was deposed by the council. He tried to escape, but was captured and placed in the same prison with Huss!) After months in the prison, his health nearly broken, Huss was called before the council. He was not allowed to defend himself, being treated with scorn by the “pious” and “orthodox” churchmen. He refused every opportunity to recant, and so was sent out to be burned at the stake. He prayed, “Lord Jesus, forgive my enemies.” Again, at the stake, chains around his waist and neck and wood piled around him as high as his chin, he was asked to recant. He refused, and the fire was lighted. He died singing, “Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me.”
But, to the chagrin of the council, the ideas and following did not die with him, that summer of 1415. These ideas were drawn from the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. In a little over a hundred years, nine out of ten people in Bohemia were Protestants. The Moravian church traces its origin to Huss. Luther acknowledged, “We have all been Hussites without knowing it.”