On Oct 31, 1517 (507 years ago), ML nailed his famous 95 Theses to the chapel door in Wittenberg, Germany, thus launching the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation was an attempt to return the church to a more biblical path. The Reformers sought to develop a theology and practice that conformed more closely to the NT. Some branches of the Reformation were more thorough than others, but they all wanted to bring the church back to the Bible.

The Reformation was a revolt against the authority of the RCC and its head, the pope. The Reformers, like Wycliffe, Hus, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox, believed the RCC was corrupt and that the pope did not have the authority to impose unbiblical teachings and practices on the church.

The consequences of the Reformation still persist today. Protestant, evangelical and fundamental Christianity trace their lineage back to the ideas rediscovered during the Reformation.

Every year about this time, I like to dedicate a message to exploring what the Lord did through the Reformation. Today I’d like to consider one of the earliest major reformers—Jan Hus of Bohemia. Hus was a preacher, scholar, and theologian who advocated reform and had great influence on later reformers.

If you’ve ever heard the expression, “Your goose is cooked,” you’ve heard a reference to Jan Hus. “Hus” is the word for “goose” in the Bohemian/Czeck language, and Hus was executed by being burned at the stake—the goose was cooked. His death on July 6, 1415 is still celebrated by Protestants in the Czech Republic as a national holiday.

Hus’ Reformation teachings became a major influence on later reformers, especially Martin Luther. Luther stumbled upon a volume of sermons by Hus, whom he knew had been condemned as a heretic. But Luther was very impressed with Hus. He said, “I could not understand [why] they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill.”^[1]

In fact, in a debate, Luther’s opponent (John Eck) described Luther as a follower of Jan Hus, and Luther responded, “Ja, Ich bin ein Hussite.” Yes, I am a Hussite![2] He later wrote, “In my opinion, John Hus bought with his own blood the gospel which we now possess.” Luther was not ashamed to be a follower of Jan Hus. Nor should we be ashamed to be in step with Hus.

Today I want to consider the life and times of Jan Hus and look at the beliefs that he died for and that were so influential in the Reformation to follow.

^[1] Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, “Introduction,” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 369.

[2] https://www.1517.org/articles/why-luther-claimed-to-be-a-heretic#:~:text=In%20Leipzig%2C%20the%20Catholic%20Scholastic,Catholics%20must%20have%20run%20cold