• He Obeyed God as Ruler Rather Than Men
    The Watchtower—1986 | June 15

    • John Hus found himself attracted to the writings of Wycliffe, especially the work On Truth of Holy Scripture, which he obtained in 1407.

      He was opposed, however, by Archbishop Zbynek of Prague, who took exception to Hus’ preaching and publicly burned many of Wycliffe’s writings in 1410. Zbynek followed this by prohibiting all preaching except in recognized churches, which excluded the Bethlehem Chapel where Hus presided. Hus refused to obey the archbishop’s prohibition, stating that he had to “obey God rather than men in things which are necessary for salvation.” He appealed to the pope, whereupon the archbishop excommunicated him. But Hus did not waver, finding that his greater understanding had sharpened his conscience and made it more sensitive to the teachings of the Bible. He stated clearly: “Man may lie, but God lies not,” echoing the apostle Paul’s words to the Romans. (Romans 3:4) King Wenceslas defended Hus’ reform movement, and ultimately Zbynek fled the country, dying soon after.

      Opposition to Hus rose once more when he condemned a crusade against the king of Naples and exposed the sale of indulgences for it, thus spoiling the priests’ revenues. The indulgences allowed a person to get a remission of temporal punishment by a money payment. To avoid bringing problems on the city, Hus left Prague for temporary exile in the country. There, in 1413, he wrote the work On Simony, which exposed the clergy’s love of money and the support that was given them by the secular authorities. Again, Hus found his authority in God’s Word, saying: “Every faithful Christian should be so minded as not to hold anything contrary to the Holy Scriptures.”

      Hus also wrote a treatise entitled De Ecclesia (On the Church). In it he set forth a number of propositions, one of which stated: “That Peter never was, and is not, the head of the Church.” He found that the key verses of Matthew 16:15-18 clearly established Jesus Christ as the foundation and head of the church, which was the entire body of called-out believers. So the law of Christ as found in God’s Word stood supreme and not that of the pope. Rather, the papacy had its origin in the power of imperial Rome.

      Testimony Before the Council of Constance

      The Catholic Church could no longer put up with Hus’ exposures and summoned him to answer for his views before the Council of Constance, held from 1414 to 1418 near Lake Constance.b He was tricked into attending by the king’s brother, Emperor Sigismund, with the promise of a safe-conduct, which quickly proved to be false. Soon after his arrival he was arrested, but he continued to resist the authority of both the pope and the council.

      When the council called upon Hus to retract his ideas and teachings, he replied that he would gladly do so if he was proved wrong by Scripture, in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:14-16. Hus felt that his conscience would always reproach him if he made a retraction couched in ambiguous terms. He declared: “My wish always has been that better doctrine be proved to me out of Scripture, and then I would be most ready to recant.” Despite his challenge that the least member of the council show him his error from God’s Word itself, he was condemned as an obstinate heretic and sent back to prison without anything being discussed from the Bible.

      On July 6, 1415, Hus was formally condemned in the cathedral of Constance. He was not allowed to reply as the charges against him were read. Then his priesthood was publicly stripped from him, while his writings were burned in the churchyard. He was led out to a field in the suburbs and there burned at the stake.