these things. Others are turned away from the truth by fear, and
languish on in a strange perplexity, deprived of charity, patience,
and of every other virtue. On the one hand, they are urged on by
knowledge of the truth; and, on the other, by the fear of losing their
reputation, or of exposing their wretched bodies to death. For my own
part, I will expose mine to it (I trust with the assistance of our Lord
Jesus Christ), if his mercy comes to my assistance; for I do not desire
to live in this corrupted age, unless I can lead to repentance myself
and others, according to the will of God. This is what I ardently
desire for you; and I exhort you, as well as all those united to you,
to hold yourselves ready for the combat; for behold already appear the
preludes to the beginnings of Antichrist: the combat is near, and the
poor bird[30] must flap his wings against the wings of Behemoth, and
against this tail of Antichrist, that always engenders abominations.
The prophet has shewn it to us when he declares, that he who teaches
falsehood is the tail of Antichrist, and a grave old man is the head.
The Lord will confound both one and the other; he will confound the
pope and his preachers, his officers and his doctors, who, under a
false name of holiness, conceive abominations. What greater abomination
is there than that of the prostitute, who abandons herself publicly
to every comer? Nevertheless, the abomination is greater still of him
who, sitting in high places, offers himself, as if he were God, to
the adoration of all;[31] traffics in spiritual things, and sells all
that he possesses not. Woe, then, unto me if I preach not against such
an abomination! Woe unto me if I weep not, if I write not against it!
Can you find one man for whom such things are not a calamity? Already
the great eagle takes its flight and cries to us: “Woe! woe to the
inhabitants of the earth!”
FOOTNOTES:
[30] John Huss alludes to his name, which, in the Bohemian, signifies
_goose_.
[31] “Adhuc major est abominatio bestiæ, quæ parata est a quocumque
veniente adorari.”
LETTER V.
TO JOHN BARBAT.
[Huss consoles him, and justifies himself by exposing why he
preferred obeying God, who had commanded him to preach, to the pope,
the archbishop, and all those who had prohibited him from so doing.]
I salute you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
I have learned, my beloved friends,[32] your grievous affliction. Look
upon it as for your good; for it is to bring to light your firmness and
your constancy, that you have fallen into various temptations.
I also, my very dear friends, have been tempted; and I rejoice at last
that I am called a heretic for the gospel’s sake, and excommunicated
like a rebellious and wicked man. To fortify in me the sweet calm of
my soul, I have called to mind the life and words of Christ and the
Apostles (Acts, iv.). I remembered in what manner Annas, the high
priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all the kindred of
the high priest, when they addressed the Apostles, prohibited them
from speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. “_But Peter and John
answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God,
to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but
speak the things which we have seen and heard._” And when the same
priests prohibited them a second time from preaching, they replied
(Acts, v.), “_We ought to obey God rather than man_.”
It is true that the pagans, the Jews, and the heretics, all regulate
their conduct on this precept of the obedience that is due unto God.
Alas! this maxim blinds those who are not Christians, but not the
Apostles, nor the true disciples of Christ.
St Jerome says:--“If the master or bishop prescribes what is not
contrary to the faith or the Scriptures, the servant should obey.
But if he commands what is contrary to these, we must rather obey
the Master of the soul, than the master of the body.” And in another
place he adds:--“If the emperor orders you, to do that which is good,
execute the will of the emperor; should he require you to do ill,
answer, ‘It is better to obey God than men.’”
St Augustin also says, in his _Sermon on the Words of the Lord_:--“If
my earthly presence commands that which you ought not to do, despise
this power, and fear a higher one. Consider the different degrees of
human power. Do you obey the under officer, if the proconsul orders
you the contrary? And if the proconsul orders you to do one thing, and
the emperor another, would you attempt to disobey the latter for the
former? If the emperor commands you to do that which is prohibited by
God, despise the emperor and obey God. We ought, then, to resist the
power of the devil or of men, when they suggest any thing against God;
and in doing so, we resist not, but obey even God’s commands.” Such are
the sentiments of St Augustin.
Gregory also says, in his last _Treatise on Morality_:--“Know,
therefore, that evil should never be done from mere obedience.” St
Bernard writes in one of his letters:--“To do evil after the orders of
any one, is not to obey, but to disobey.” And St Isidore maintains,
that if he who is in authority does and orders a thing which is not
according to the Lord, or violates the written law, and orders it to be
overstepped, to him ought to be applied these words of St Paul: “If an
angel should descend from heaven, and preach to you a gospel different
from that which we preach, let him be accursed!” He also declares,
that whoever forbids you to do what is commanded by the Lord, ought to
be held in execration by all who love the Lord--he ought to be regarded
as a false witness and a sacrilegious person.
It would appear from these words, that these names are applicable to
those who interdict the preaching of the Divine Word, and that such
persons are excommunicated according to the words of the Prophet,
“Cursed be those who resist thy commandments!” Jerome expresses the
same feeling as is experienced by myself, when he thus writes to
Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne:--“Let no bishop abandon himself to
envy and anger, through an infernal jealousy, because the priests
exhort the people, preach in the churches, and bless the multitude.”
I declare, then, to those who prohibit me to do these things, that he
who interdicts priests from doing that which God commands, professes
himself to be superior to Jesus Christ.
Bede, in speaking of our Saviour, repeats this passage:--“Go ye into
the village that is over against you, and immediately you shall find
an ass tied, and a colt with him: loose them, and bring them to me:
and if any man say any thing to you, say ye, The Lord hath need of
them; and straightway he will let them go.” Jesus Christ, says Bede,
teaches mystically the doctors, by these words, that if they meet with
any obstacle, if any one prevents them from freeing sinners from the
bonds of the devil, from drawing them to God in confessing the faith,
they ought not, for this reason, to renounce preaching his word, but
should, on the contrary, continue to insinuate it into their souls; for
the Lord has need of such labourers to edify his Church. Who could, in
fact, quote all that the saints have written, when teaching us, that it
is better to obey God than man?
Our oppressors oppose to us these words:--“All, therefore, whatsoever
they bid you observe, that observe and do,” (Matth. xxiii.); but they
are reduced to silence by the prohibition which follows:--“But do not
ye after their works.” God says, (Deut. xxiv.)--“Do according to all
that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them,
so ye shall observe to do.” The Lord desires, therefore, that he who
obeys, should only do so after his own commandments. It is also said,
(1 Pet. ii.)--“Servants be subject to your masters with all fear.” And
the Apostle further adds:--“Not only to the good and gentle, but also
to the froward.” Not, however, in things in which they are wickedly
inclined; for that would be to obey the devil. The will of God and the
Holy Scriptures, therefore, teach us, that obedience to superiors is
obligatory only in lawful matters. I have clung firmly to this truth,
and have preferred in my sermons, to inculcate obedience to God,
rather than to the pope and the archbishop, or any others that may
oppose this saying of Christ.
I put my name to these words, in order to teach you how to confront the
emissaries of the devil.[33]
FOOTNOTES:
[32] Although this letter was more particularly addressed to John
Barbat, Huss intended it to be read to several others.
[33] “Ut sciatis canibus diaboli obviare.”
LETTER VI.
TO THE BELIEVERS IN PRAGUE.
[He felicitates them on the constancy with which they listen to the
word of God.]
John Huss, a servant of Jesus Christ in hope, to all those who love
God, who confess his law, in expectation of the Saviour, with whom they
desire to live for all eternity!
Grace be with you, and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered
himself as a victim for our sins, to deliver us from this world of
affliction, and from eternal damnation, according to the will of God
the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever!
Dearly beloved,--Having learned your zeal and your progress in the
word of God, I render thanks unto the Lord, that he has deigned to
enlighten you to such a point that, perceiving the frauds of antichrist
and his ministers, you may not allow yourselves to be turned away from
the truth.
I feel a lively confidence that his mercy will crown the work of
regeneration commenced in you, and that he will not permit you to turn
aside from the truth, whence many diverge through fear of danger,
apprehending man, a weak sinner as he is, more than the all-powerful
God, who has power both to kill and bring to life; to destroy and
to save; to preserve his faithful believers in the midst of grave
and numerous perils; and to give them in exchange for a brief space
of suffering an eternal life of inexpressible happiness. Wherefore,
beloved, do not let yourselves be borne down by terror; and do not
be frightened if the Lord should tempt some of you, by allowing the
ministers of antichrist to exercise their tyranny over you. God himself
has said to his servant, (Prov. iii.), “Be not afraid of sudden fear,
nor of the power of the wicked falling upon thee; for the Lord will be
at thy side, and will keep thy foot, that thou be not taken.” And he
has also said, by the mouth of his prophet David, “I am with him in his
day of trial: I will deliver him.”
Knowing that, dearly beloved, consider, with St James, that it is
fortunate for you to fall into various temptations; because the trial
of your faith worketh in you patience, and that contributes to render
you perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
St James also says,--“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for
when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which
God hath promised to them that love him.” Remain steadfast, therefore,
in the truth, and act in every thing like true children of God. Have
full confidence; for Christ has overcome, and you will overcome also.
Remember always Him who suffered so much at the hands of sinners; relax
not in your good resolution; but, laying down together the whole burden
of your sins, rush to the combat with your eyes fixed steadfastly on
Jesus, who established our faith, and who, for a glorious object,
despising shame, suffered the ignominy of the cross, and is now seated
on the right hand of God.
The Creator, the King, the Sovereign Master of the world, without being
forced to it by his Divine nature, humbled himself, notwithstanding his
perfection, to our nature. He came to the assistance of us, wretched
sinners, and supported hunger, and thirst, and cold, and heat, and
fatigue, and want of sleep; he suffered, whilst instructing us, sorrow,
and grave affronts from the priests and scribes, to such a point that
they called him a blasphemer, and declared him to be possessed of a
devil, averring that he was not God, whom they excommunicated as a
heretic, whom they drove out of their city, and crucified like one
accursed.
If, then, Christ supported such things from the priests--he who
healed all kinds of diseases, without any earthly recompense, by his
word alone; who cast out devils, raised the dead, and taught the
word of God; who never did injury to any one; who committed no sin,
and who endured every thing from his enemies, because he discovered
their wickedness;--if he supported such things, why should we be
astonished that the ministers of antichrist, who are more avaricious,
more debauched, more cruel, and more cunning than the Pharisees,
now persecute the servants of God, overwhelm them with insult,
excommunicate, imprison, and kill them?
Remember what our Lord and our King said:--“If the world hate you,
know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world
would love you as being of it; but because you are not of the world,
and because I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
Remember what I say unto you; the servant is not greater than his
master: if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also; they
will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they
have not known Him who sent me.”
Remember also the prophecy of our Divine Saviour, which declares that
his elect will suffer persecution from the world, that is, from the
wicked, who know neither God the Father, nor our Lord Jesus; for
although they confess with their lips that they know God, yet they
deny him by their reprobate actions. It is of them that St Paul spoke
to Titus, when he declared that their works are avarice, simony,
debauchery, and contempt of the word of God, placing human traditions
above the word of God, and performing no work of humility, charity,
temperance, and Christian love.
Therefore is it, that the wicked will not cease to persecute the saints
as long as the war lasts between Christ and antichrist; for St Paul
has told us, that all who desire to live purely in Christ shall suffer
persecution, but the wicked shall advance in the path of perdition,
always deceived, and deceiving others.
St Paul teaches us by these words, that all pious men will suffer
persecution for Christ’s sake; the wicked will be seduced, and will
seduce others, and their heart will swell with malice for their own
destruction. It is of them that our Saviour has spoken in these
words:--“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves;
be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware
of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will
scourge you in their synagogues. And ye shall be brought before
governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the
Gentiles. They shall scourge you; the brother shall deliver up the
brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall
rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death; and
ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake, but he that endureth
to the end shall be saved.” This persecution shall last till the day of
judgment.
The Lord spoke in this way to his disciples, in order that they might,
if possible, escape from such evils. He elevated their understanding,
that they might be prudent, and might be able to recognise, by their
works, the devouring wolves whose voracity would swallow up the whole
world.
He also shewed them by what signs they might know false prophets, the
latter not agreeing with the true prophets, either in the explanation
of the Holy Scriptures, or in their works. There are false Christs,
calling themselves the chief disciples of Christ, and yet who prove
themselves, by their works, to be his greatest adversaries. These will
seek, by every means, to smother and suppress the Word of God; for it
condemns their insolence, pride, avarice, simony, and other evil works.
They have made an irruption into the churches and places of worship, to
prevent the Word of God being preached there; but Jesus Christ has not
permitted them to bring their criminal undertaking to a prosperous end.
I understand that they intend destroying the chapel of Bethlehem, and
that they interdict sermons in the other places where the Word of God
is taught. But I feel a firm confidence that God will not permit them
to succeed. They wanted to entwine the simple bird[34] in the snare of
citations and anathemas; and they have already set their ambush even
for some of you. But if that bird, which is a mere domestic fowl, whose
flight is circumscribed, and far from lofty, has broken through their
nets, how much more will other birds, that soar aloft as they announce
the Word of God, despise such ineffectual wiles. They have thrown their
nets, and displayed their anathemas, like the image of a bird of prey,
to cast terror all around; they have flung about their fiery darts from
the quiver of antichrist, in order to prohibit the Word of God and His
worship; but the more they strove to disguise their real nature, the
more they rendered it visible; and in seeking to stretch forth their
traditions like nets, they broke them to pieces; in their anxiety to
gain the peace of the world, they destroyed not only it, but, at the
same time, the spiritual peace; and in their attempts to injure others,
they wounded themselves most.
What happened to the priests of the Jews has befallen them; for they
have lost that which they were endeavouring to retain, and have fallen
into what they were striving to avoid. They hoped to succeed in
stifling and putting down the truth, which always conquers; and they
were ignorant that its very essence and characteristic consisted in
this, that the more attempts were made to dim its lustre, the more it
shone brightly forth--the greater the endeavour to suppress it, the
more it soared aloft.
Pontiffs and priests, the scribes and Pharisees, Herod and Pilate,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, formerly condemned the Truth; they
crucified it and buried it; but it rose from the tomb and conquered
them all, sending forth in its stead twelve preachers of the Word.
This same Truth, instead of acting feebly and inefficiently, has sent
to Prague mighty eagles, surpassing all other birds, by their piercing
sight, and which, by the grace of God, fly aloft in the air, and win
over others to Jesus Christ, who will strengthen all those who are
faithful to Him. He has said--“I will be always with you, even unto
the end of the world.” If, then, God, the most powerful and just of
defenders, is with us, what evil work can prevail against us? What
fear, what death, can separate us from Him? In what shall we be the
worse, if, for His sake, we were to lose our friends, the honours of
the world, or even our miserable life itself? We shall, at last, be
delivered from our load of misery; we shall receive a hundredfold
riches infinitely more precious, friends more dear, delight more
perfect, of which death cannot despoil us; for he who dies for Christ
will surely partake the triumph: he is freed from all misery of every
kind, and enjoys eternal bliss, to which our Lord Jesus Christ deigns
to conduct us all!
Beloved brethren, and sisters no less dear to me, I write you this
letter, that you may remain fervent in the truth, which you have
acknowledged, and that you may not pay less attention than before to
the Word of God, on account of the cruel threats of his enemies; for
God is faithful to you, and will both strengthen you and keep you from
evil.
In fine, I beseech you, dearly beloved, to pray for those who, with
the grace of God, announce the truth; pray for me also, that I may
write and preach still more against the malice of hell, and that God
may accord me in this combat that support which is so necessary in
order properly to defend his Word. You know that I do not hesitate
to expose this miserable body to the peril of death for God’s truth,
being well aware that nothing will be wanting to us in his Word, and
that his Gospel must be propagated more and more every day. Moreover, I
desire to live for those who suffer violence, and who have need of the
preaching of the Word, in order that the malice of antichrist may be
laid open, and the good not be made its victims. I preach, therefore,
in other places, and I officiate for those of whom I speak, being
convinced that God’s will must be accomplished in me, whether I suffer
or die by antichrist. But should I proceed to Prague, I am certain that
snares will be there laid for me, and that you will be persecuted by
my adversaries, who serve not God, but prevent others from serving him.
We pray to God for them, however, that, if any of the elect should
happen to be amongst them, they may be converted to the truth. May God
accord you full understanding of these things which I write you; may
he grant you perseverance; and may your heart be worthy of all these
blessings, through the merits of Jesus Christ, who suffered for us the
most cruel and ignominious death, leaving us his example, that we may
suffer the same, according to his holy will. Amen.
FOOTNOTE:
[34] Huss alludes here to his own name, which, in Bohemia, signifies
“_goose_.”
LETTER VII.
TO THE SAME.
[The same subject.]
The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the believers
in Prague who sincerely love his holy Gospel!
I, John Huss, the servant of God, do supplicate and conjure you,
well-beloved, not to abandon the truth which God, in his mercy, has
imparted to you. That power which has begun to operate in us, whom he
has chosen out, will continue, I feel convinced, still to do so, and
will give us, in our temptations, perseverance and strength. I myself
only live by his mercy and grace. I can declare, with St Paul, “For
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh,
this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For
I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with
Christ; which is far better: nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is
more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know I shall abide
and continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith.” So
did St Paul write from his prison in Rome to the Philippians.
I also say unto you, dearly beloved, that although I am not in prison,
I would willingly die for Christ, and be with him; and I say also that
I should be well pleased to preach to you again the Word of God, for
your salvation. I do not know which of these would be for the best; for
I have full confidence for myself in the mercy of God, and also fear
that some evil may arise amongst you, which may occasion persecutions
against the true believers, and be the cause of eternal perdition to
those who believe not. These rejoice and desire most ardently not
only to smother in me the Word of God, but also to shut the asylum of
Bethlehem, where I have preached the Gospel of Christ to you; but if
God consent not, their efforts will be vain; and if he permit it, such
a misfortune will come to pass on account of the wicked, as Bethlehem,
where the Lord was born, and Jerusalem, where he redeemed us, were seen
to be overwhelmed to the lowest foundation.
As to us, let us render thanks to God, submitting constantly to his
divine power, which always assists those who love Him, and sets those
free who suffer for His sake, allotting their persecutors to eternal
torments. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, not to let yourselves
be cast down, but rather to pray to our Saviour Jesus Christ to give
you constancy to persevere in the faith to the end; and be persuaded
that he will accord you the free and unmolested preaching of his Word,
and that he will augment your strength in order to defend you from the
fury of that antichrist, against which he has prophesied in his holy
Scriptures.
LETTER VIII.
TO THE CHURCH OF PRAGUE.
Master John Huss, servant of God, to all who in Prague are the elect of
God, and who love our Lord Jesus Christ and his Word, wishes mercy and
peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.