Page 62 - History of Christianity - Student Textbook

stay within the Roman church all his life, but in the hearts and minds of his hearers, the Reformation was already
quietly underway!

John Hus Burned at the Stake – 1415

In 1401 Jon Hus was ordained a priest. He spent much of his career teaching at Charles
University in Prague, and preaching in the influential Bethlehem Chapel, not far from
the University. Hus came under the influence of Wycliffe’s teachings and was offended
at the worldliness of the pope and others in religious office. He preached against the
excesses of the church, stressing personal piety and purity of life. By emphasizing the
role and authority of the Bible in church life, he lifted biblical preaching to an important place within the church
service.

However, the archbishop of Prague objected to Hus’s teachings and instructed him to stop preaching and asked
the university to burn Wycliffe’s writings. When Hus refused to comply, the archbishop condemned him and
forced him to leave Prague. Hus continued to preach and assert that Christ alone is head of the church and that
God alone can forgive sins. No pope or bishop, added Hus, could establish doctrine contrary to the Bible, nor
could any true Christian obey a clergyman’s order, if it was plainly wrong.

In 1414 Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, to defend his teachings. He was promised safe
conduct. But as soon as he arrived, he was arrested and his, as well as Wycliffe’s teachings, were condemned.
Hus refused to renounce his “errors.” To the council he proclaimed, “I would not, for a chapel full of gold,
recede from the truth.”

On July 6, 1415, the church formally condemned Hus and handed him over to the secular authorities for
punishment. He was marched to a stake, where his writings were already burning. “God is my witness that the
evidence against me is false. I have never thought nor preached except with one intention of winning men, if
possible, from their sins. Today I will gladly die.”

After his death, John Hus’s ashes were scatted on a river. Instead of stamping out Hus’s teachings, his
courageous death stirred thousands to embrace truth! A great movement called the Unitas Fratrum (“Unity of
the Brethren”) was birthed.

Before Luther: John Wycliffe and Jan Hus

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