The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. Jan Huss, The Church [1411] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: The Church Edition Used: The Church by John Huss. Translated, with Notes and Introduction by David S. Schaff, D.D. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1915). Author: Jan Huss Translator: David S. Schaff About This Title: Huss’s most famous work for which he was burnt at the stake for claiming that Christ was the founder of the Church not Peter. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1995 Online Library of Liberty: The Church About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The text is in the public domain. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1995 Online Library of Liberty: The Church Table Of Contents Introduction The Church Chapter I: The Unity of the Church Chapter II: The One Universal Church Divided Into Three Parts Chapter III: All Christians Are Not Members of the Church Chapter IV: Christ the Only Head of the Church Chapter V: Good and Bad In the Church Chapter VI: Christ the Head of the Elect Chapter VII: The Roman Pontiff and the Cardinals Not the Universal Church Chapter VIII: The Faith Which Is the Foundation of the Church Chapter IX: The Church Founded On Christ, the Rock Chapter X: The Power of Binding and Loosing Chapter XI: The Abuse of Scripture In the Interest of Clerical Power Chapter XII: Christ the True Roman Pontiff Upon Whom Salvation Depends Chapter XIII: The Pope Not the Head of the Church But Christ’s Vicar Chapter XIV: When the Cardinals Are the True Successors of the Apostles Chapter XV: The Church May Be Ruled Without Pope and Cardinals Chapter XVI: The Law of God the Standard of Ecclesiastical Judgments Chapter XVII: Huss’s Resistance to Papal Authority Chapter XVIII: The Apostolic See, Or Cathedra Petri Chapter XIX: When Ecclesiastical Superiors Are to Be Obeyed Chapter XX: Obedience Not Always to Be Rendered to the Church Or Its Prelates Chapter XXI: Circumstances Under Which Obedience Is to Be Rendered to Prelates Chapter XXII: Excommunications, Just and Unjust Chapter XXIII: Suspension and the Interdict WYCLIF—Vita et doctrina Christi sunt optimum speculum . cum manifestum sit quod omnis home et solum talis qui est in vita et doctrina Christo contrarius est hereticus, et omnis christianus et solum talis qui est in vita et doctrina Christo conformis est ut sic ab heresi elongatus.—De Ecclesia, p. 41. The life and teaching of Christ are the best mirror . for it is evident that every man who in life and teaching is contrary to Christ and only such a man is a heretic: and every Christian who in life and teaching is conformed to Christ and only such a Christian is removed from heresy. HUSS—Spero, ex Dei gratia, quod sum christianus es integre, a fide non devians, et quod potius vellem pati diræ mortis supplicium, quam aliquid vellem præter fidem asserere, ad translate matadata Domini Jesu Christi.—Ad Palecz, Mon., 1:325. I hope, by God’s grace, that I am truly a Christian, not deviating from the faith, and that I would rather suffer the penalty of a terrible death than wish to affirm anything outside of the faith or transgress the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1995 Online Library of Liberty: The Church LUTHER—Verum qui, in agone mortis, Jesum filium Dei passum pro nobis, invocal et ob [Editor: illegible word] causam tanta fiducia ac constantia in ignem conjicit sese, si is non magnanimum et fortem Christi martyrem sese præbet, hand facile quisquam saleus crit.—Preface to some of Huss’s writings, 1527. Truly he—Huss—who in the agony of death invoked Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who suffered for us, and for such a cause and with such faith and steadfastness threw himself into the fire, if he did not show himself a noble and brave martyr of Christ, then will scarcely any one be saved. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1995 Online Library of Liberty: The Church [Back to Table of Contents] INTRODUCTION Of the writings of John Huss of Bohemia, the Treatise on the Church is the most important.1 From its pages the charges were drawn upon which the author was pronounced a heretic by the council of Constance and the same day, July 6, 1415, burned at the stake. It was written in Latin and the translation, here offered, is the first that has appeared in English and seems to be the first to be issued in any language. It is offered as a help in the appreciation of a memorable man who deserves well of Western Christendom and as a contribution to the study of ecclesiology. I. The Author. John Huss is the chief religious character of Bohemia, as Luther is of Germany, and John Knox of Scotland; and he is the one contribution his country has made to the progress of religious thought and of culture in Western Christendom. His fame it has been possible for several centuries to obscure through the semi-mythical personality of the Roman Catholic saint, John Nepomuk, but recently Huss’s eminence as a notable preacher and an unselfish patriot has come to recognition among his people, and in Southern Bohemia, though it is loyal to the Roman Catholic church, his memory is yearly celebrated.2 Born in 1373, Huss studied at the university of Prague—then in the golden period of its history. In 1403, he was made its rector, holding the position six months and later, in 1409, for the term of a year. In 1403, he was also appointed preacher at Bethlehem chapel which had been founded ten years before to afford preaching in the native Czech tongue. Under Huss the chapel became the most conspicuous religious centre of the city next to the cathedral of St. Vite and the centre of a national movement. His sermons at once attracted attention by their Scriptural fervor and by their attacks upon the abuses of the clergy. As Æneas Sylvius bears witness,1 he was forcible in speech; and his purity of character was such that no charge was ever made against it in Bohemia or during his trial in Constance. The hostility of the clergy, which his attacks aroused, followed him till his death. There were three specific movements, which involved Huss in trouble and brought on violent dissension in Prague. The first was the spread of Wyclif’s views. Soon after Wyclif’s death, 1384, his writings were carried to Bohemia, where they made as deep an impression as in Wyclif’s own country. His views had been pronounced heretical by Gregory XI and what was heresy in England was heresy in Bohemia. By some of the Prague clergy XLV Articles said to contain Wyclif’s views were brought to the attention of the university, 1403, for its decision. In spite of Huss’s protest and the protest of Palecz and Stanislaus of Znaim, Huss’s intimate friends, and other members of the theological faculty, the writings were forbidden to be read or taught. Huss declined to accept the decision, and was charged with declaring for the remanence of the bread and wine after the words of institution and with publicly announcing the pious hope, that Wyclif’s soul was among the saved. Vigilant for the interests of the orthodox faith, the clergy hostile to Huss appealed to Rome, and first Innocent VII and later the PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1995 Online Library of Liberty: The Church Pisan pontiff, Alexander V, instructed Zbynek, archbishop of Prague, to proceed against Wyclifite heresy, and Alexander ordered chapels, such as Huss preached in, to be closed.