{"id":11041,"date":"2019-07-22T15:52:15","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T19:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/?p=11041"},"modified":"2022-06-08T17:25:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:25:44","slug":"jan-hus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan Hus &#8211; 15th Century Reformer"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><h3><strong>Jan Hus the Early Reformer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15<sup>th<\/sup> century, Jan Hus has a legacy that precedes the Protestant Reformation. Hus was a medieval pastor seeking to reform the church in his homeland. He is also known for his horrendous execution at the Council of Constance in 1415, burned at the stake for his teachings.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I was overwhelmed with astonishment, I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill.\u201d \u2013 Martin Luther, 1520<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Humble Beginnings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>He was born circa 1370 to a humble family in the town of Husinec in Bohemia, southern Czech Republic today. Hus trained to be a priest in order to escape poverty. In 1393 earned his bachelor of arts at the university in Prague followed by his master of arts and doctorate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11046 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel-300x222.jpg\" alt=\"Jan Hus Preaching at the Bethlehem Chapel\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel-600x444.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel-768x569.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_Preaching_at_the_Bethlehem_Chapel.jpg 855w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>In 1401, he was ordained a priest and the Czech masters of Charles College chose him to be preacher at Prague\u2019s Bethlehem Chapel. The church was one of the largest in Europe and held 3,000 attendees. It was a center of reform in Bohemia which included sermons given in Czech and not Latin.<\/p>\n<p>In the following years, he spent time with what he called a \u201cfoolish sect,\u201d where he discovered the bible. He wrote, \u201cWhen the Lord gave me knowledge of Scriptures, I discharged that kind of stupidity from my foolish mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11047 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jan Hus\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2-600x889.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan_Hus_2.jpg 839w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a>It was during this time he became know for his impassioned sermons supporting reform, placing more emphasis on the bible, and stirring controversy by denouncing moral failures of clergy, bishops, papacy, and institutionalized religious practices of the day. Hus started trusting and relying on the scriptures more, \u201cdesiring to hold, believe, and assert whatever is contained in them as long as I have breath in me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Reform in the Midst of Turmoil<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It was a time of European political upheaval complicated by rivaling popes vying to rule all of Christendom which was eventually settled in 1409. His teachings were akin to that of John Wycliffe, the fourteenth-century English reformer. Theological writings of Wycliffe had made their way to Prague during the 1390s. Bohemia was already known for their history of reformist attitudes and some of Wycliff\u2019s theology was widely accepted including expanding the authority of church councils becoming independent of the Roman church and its papal control.<\/p>\n<p>In 1409, Hus became rector at Prague and was elevated as head of the reform movement. With the Roman church\u2019s authority being challenged, Pope Alexander V condemned Wycliff theology and burned all his works. Hus continued his reformist preaching and was soon excommunicated for his disobedience.<\/p>\n<p>He voluntarily left Prague and took refuge in castles of friends in Bohemia where he composed a number of treatises including his famous treatise on Wycliff ecclesiology, <em>De ecclesia<\/em>, which was read publicly in Prague arguing that Christ alone is head of the church and an erring pope is to obey Christ. He also wrote a collection of sermons, <em>Postilla<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1414, the Council of Constance was convened, and Hus attended but was immediately imprisoned and held for months. Instead of a hearing, he was taken before authorities where he refused to recant, and he was declared a heretic. Turned over to secular authorities, he was burned alive.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11048 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485-279x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jan Hus Execution\" width=\"279\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485-279x300.jpg 279w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485-600x646.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485-768x827.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Jan-Hus-800px-Spiezer_Chronik_Jan_Hus_1485.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" \/><\/a>He is said to have prayed, \u201cLord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies.\u201d As the flames engulfed him, he was heard reciting the Psalms. After his execution, his ashes were tossed into a lake so that there were no remains of the heretic. But some Czechs collected bits of soil where he had died and brought them back to Bohemia as a memorial.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>His Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Upon word of his death Bohemians were angered and repudiated the council. A coalition was formed and refused to submit to the authority of the Holy Roman emperor or the church and fought off five papal crusades between 1420 and 1431, known as the Hussite Wars. Later, Bohemia reconciled with the rest of Christendom on its own terms. From this came the Union of Brethern, or Unitas Fratrum which was influential in the conversion of the Wesley brothers and others.<\/p>\n<p>Historically, Hus became a martyred reformer opposing the papacy and the institution of the Roman church. His work was influential in transitioning from medieval to Reformation periods. Hus became a hero to many reformers who came after his death including Martin Luther. Hus was admired for his preaching on Reformation themes a century before Luther wrote his famous <em>95 Theses<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Years after Hus\u2019s death, in Leipzig, Luther was accused of supporting Hus\u2019s claim that the Greek church was equal to the Roman church and that the Council of Constance erred in their execution of Hus. And that councils like popes and theologians could err and therefore be subordinate to scripture.<\/p>\n<p>After reading Hus\u2019s <em>De ecclesia<\/em> treatise, Luther declared that he, his prior Johannes von Staupitz, St. Augustine, and even St. Paul were \u201call Hussites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>==&gt; Learn about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/dwight-l-moody\/\">Dwight L. Moody<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century, Jan Hus was a medieval pastor seeking to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[306,334,147,350,312,354,353,352,319,346,351,348,234,344,343,342,345,347,349],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"West Park Baptist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-22T19:52:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-08T21:25:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Jan-Hus_Lessing_1842-1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1152\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eve\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/\",\"name\":\"Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-22T19:52:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-08T21:25:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/17768d0cecd65e1f83590f68bc619f4f\"},\"description\":\"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jan Hus &#8211; 15th Century Reformer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/\",\"name\":\"West Park Baptist Church\",\"description\":\"Making a Difference in the Lives of Others\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/17768d0cecd65e1f83590f68bc619f4f\",\"name\":\"Eve\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d3d596dd7cbcf676a341b85b031a67d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d3d596dd7cbcf676a341b85b031a67d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eve\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/author\/eve\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church","description":"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church","og_description":"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.","og_url":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/","og_site_name":"West Park Baptist Church","article_published_time":"2019-07-22T19:52:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-08T21:25:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1152,"url":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Jan-Hus_Lessing_1842-1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eve","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eve","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/","url":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/","name":"Jan Hus - 15th Century Reformer - West Park Baptist Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-07-22T19:52:15+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-08T21:25:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/17768d0cecd65e1f83590f68bc619f4f"},"description":"Jan Hus is known as the greatest religious reformer of the 15th century. He sought to reform the church in his homeland of Bohemia.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/jan-hus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jan Hus &#8211; 15th Century Reformer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/","name":"West Park Baptist Church","description":"Making a Difference in the Lives of Others","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/17768d0cecd65e1f83590f68bc619f4f","name":"Eve","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d3d596dd7cbcf676a341b85b031a67d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d3d596dd7cbcf676a341b85b031a67d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eve"},"url":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/author\/eve\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11041"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14194,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11041\/revisions\/14194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westpark-baptist-dev.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}