De Ecclesia

by Jan Hus, David Schaff (Translator), Stuart Brogden (Editor)

Jan Hus (c.1369 – 6 July 1415), often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He was a philosopher, reformer, and master teacher at Charles University in Prague. Being impacted by the work of John Wycliffe, he was, before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, the first actual Church reformer. He wrote against gross error in the Roman Catholic religion.

This book, published in 1413, reviews the biblical view of the body of Christ (the ekklesia of the saints) and points out how the papist definition goes against the Word of God. For his heresy against Rome, Hus was burned at the stake.
It is said that Hus means “goose” in Bohemian. When Jan Hus was at the stake, he was asked to recant his teachings. His reply still echoes in the souls of the “You are now going to burn a goose, but in a century, you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil.” 102 years later, Frederick of Saxony had a dream about a monk who wrote on the church door of Wittenberg with a pen so large that it reached to Rome. The more those in authority tried to break the pen, the stronger it became. When asked how the pen got so strong, the monk replied “The pen belonged to an old goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old.” The following day, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses against indulgences on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Luther was referred to as the Swan, recognizing the hand of providence in raising up the goose as one in a long line of men who would not be silent.

My prayer is that this book would encourage the saints of the living God to not be silent. We live in days of wickedness, as many professing to be Christians celebrate what God terms abominable sin. We need to “honk” loudly the gospel truth, the fear of God, and the certainty of His wrath. May God give us a desire to burn with a holy fire and make His name great.

Genres: Theology, History, Philosophy, Christian

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1413

About the author

Jan Hus c. 1369 – 6 July 1415), often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical Reformation, he was, before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, the first actual Church reformer.

He is famed for having been burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church, including those on ecclesiology (the branch of theology concerned with the nature, constitution and functions of the Church), the Eucharist (the most important Christian sacrament), and other theological topics. Hus was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century, and his teachings had a strong influence on the states of Europe, most immediately in the approval for the existence of a reformist Bohemian religious denomination, and, more than a century later, on Martin Luther himself.

Between 1420 and 1431, the Hussite forces defeated five consecutive papal crusades against followers of Hus. Their defense and rebellion against Roman Catholics became known as the Hussite Wars. A century later, as many as 90% of inhabitants of the Czech lands were non-Catholic and followed the teachings of Hus and his successors.

Reviews

[Micaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won't offer a theological commentary, but I will say that Hus's writings are great for their theological clarity. I actually understand his views pretty well when I'm reading.

Also, this is a very significant historical resource in the study of the rise of Protestant ideology in the centuries before Luther.

[Chad Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth while read for early reformation ideas though not in the same way or expression as Luther's reformation.

[jacob van sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read key portions.