Jan Hus

Life

Hus was born in Husinec in southern Bohemia. Sources variously give his year of birth as 1369, around 1370, or 1372. He received his bachelor's degree in 1393 and his master's degree in 1396 from the University of Prague (now Charles University), and he was ordained a priest around 1400. In 1401 he became dean of the Faculty of Arts, and around 1402–1403 he served as rector of the university. Beginning in 1402 he served as preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where he preached in Czech.

Hus was influenced by the writings of the English theologian John Wycliffe. During the Western Schism, when several rival popes claimed office at the same time, he came into conflict with church leadership. In 1410 the Archbishop of Prague had Wycliffe's books burned and excommunicated Hus (expelled him from the fellowship of the church), and in February 1411 the papal Curia in Rome also excommunicated him. After he criticized the sale of indulgences (certificates claiming to remit the temporal punishment due for sin) by Antipope John XXIII in 1412, he left Prague and stayed in the countryside. During this period he wrote his major work, On the Church (De Ecclesia).

In 1414, having received a guarantee of safe conduct from King Sigismund, Hus traveled to the Council of Constance. After his arrival, however, he was arrested on November 28 of that year. He refused demands that he recant his teachings. On July 6, 1415, the council condemned him as a heretic and handed him over to the secular authorities, and he was burned at the stake the same day. The following year his colleague Jerome of Prague was executed at the same place.

Ministry and Contributions

• Authority of Scripture: He placed the final authority for faith not in councils or the pope but in the Bible.
• Ecclesiology: In On the Church he argued that Christ alone is the true head of the church and that those whom God has chosen are its members. This book was the principal basis for the council's condemnation of him.
• Criticism of the church: He criticized simony, indulgences, and clerical greed. He is also sometimes associated with the demand that the laity receive the cup along with the bread in Communion.

After his death, the Bohemian nobility issued a declaration rejecting the council's decision. This was followed by the Hussite Wars, waged by adherents of his teachings. His tradition is described as continuing today in the Moravian Church and in Czech Protestantism.

Influence on the Korean Church

No direct historical connection to the Korean church has been established. In church history education, however, he is presented alongside Wycliffe as a forerunner of the Reformation. Church history series in denominational newspapers have sometimes featured him around July 6, the anniversary of his martyrdom. In academic theology, Professor Park Kyung-soo of Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary has published a paper analyzing the reform ideas in On the Church. Hus's thought was also the subject of a presentation by Professor Park at the 2022 Appenzeller Academic Conference at Methodist Theological University. News reports have also noted that the number of Korean Christians visiting the Hus monument in Prague increased around the time of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (2017).

Assessment

• Protestantism: Protestants regard him as a martyr who called for church reform about a century before Martin Luther. Luther is reported to have said, in effect, that all should be Hussites.
• Catholicism: The Council of Constance judged his teachings heretical. Traditional Catholic literature likewise describes him as a follower of Wycliffe's ideas.
• Other points: Some have observed that his thought depended heavily on Wycliffe. It is also noted that, unlike Luther, he left no written account of a conversion experience. The fact that he was arrested and executed despite a guarantee of safe conduct is frequently cited in discussions of his trial.