Jan Hus
Jan (John) Hus was a 15th century church reformer who was burned to death as a heretic on July 6, 1415, by order of the Council of Constance. In 1457, a number of Hus’ followers established the Moravian Church in its homeland of Bohemia. We will commemorate Hus’ martyrdom with a service of Holy Communion on Sunday, July 6.
Among factors leading to the Council’s condemnation of Hus, were differences between their view of the nature of the church and his. Officially, membership in the institutional church and participation in its sacraments was not only necessary for salvation but guaranteed it. Hus, who had observed and was troubled by widespread corruption and questionable morality among church leaders, believed participation in the institutional church was not the same thing as being part of Christ’s “true church.” Instead, Hus claimed that the church was like the net of fish in Jesus’ parable. Some in the church were saved; others were not.
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13: 45-50)
Hus’ view challenged the power of the Roman Church. Doubtless there were those on the Council who simply wanted to preserve the church hierarchy’s position of privileged authority. With the benefit of hindsight however, impartial observers must also admit that the Council’s fears of church schism and social unrest were not unfounded. Radical followers of Hus launched the Hussite Wars of 1420-1431. Within a hundred years of Hus, the cohesiveness of the Western Church was fractured by the Protestant Reformation and European society was wracked by wars between Catholics and Protestants.
There is much to be learned from the case of Jan Hus. Sometimes it takes courageous prophetic
action to reverse entrenched corruption and injustice and make the church more faithful to Christ. Hus’ actions and those of other reformers won fresh appreciation for the authority of Scripture and increased roles for laypersons.
Yet, prophetic action was costly for reformers, church, and society. Unintended consequences
including schism and accompanying violence followed the reformers’ radical reinterpretation of the Christian life. Believers on both sides responded in ways which did not reflect the love of Christ. In 1999, Pope John Paul II expressed “deep regret for the cruel death inflicted on Hus.”
– Pastor Derek French