Sunday School wk#1 – Hus &
Wycliffe
Before we ever talk about TULIP
or the Solas & what they mean and why they are important, I need to take
you back in time. Like in a fairy tale,
this was a time of kings & queens, princes & princesses & 1
singular massive Christian church that all peoples feared and longed to
control.
This
was 14th Century Europe. (write on
board)
Now
before we jump into doctrines & theology we need to understand the people
& the times they live in to see why these particular ideas were so
powerful & revolutionary to them.
The
first 2 people we’ll look at is Jan Hus & John Wycliffe 2 men who are often
overlooked in Reformation History who basically taught everything Luther &
Calvin did but before Luther & Calvin did.
@@@@
(Left
on white board – photo [write name] mid 1300s Eng.)
First
we’ll start with John Wycliffe who lived in the mid 1300s; he was an English
philosopher, theologian, Bible translator & Seminary professor at
Oxford. Wycliffe loved Jesus & the Bible
& yet had lots of serious issues with the Church of his day.
3
of his issues were answering these questions:
1-
What
was the definition of “the Church”? (the
Church?)
2-
What
authority was meant to rule the life of men on Earth? (the authority)
3-
Why
was it, the higher up you looked in the RCC (Roman Catholic Church) the less
people seemed like the Jesus from the Bible (regarding worldliness & luxury
of popes & cardinals)? (worldliness
& luxury?)
Because
of these ideas, & Wycliffe’s answers to them, he strongly advocated for
translations of the Bible in the common tongue; so you can thank Wycliffe for
owning an English Bible today instead of a Latin Bible.
Wycliffe completed a translation of
the Bible directly from the Catholic’s Vulgate into Middle English in the late 1300s, now known as Wycliffe's Bible. It is probable that he
personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he
translated the entire New Testament, while his associates
translated the Old Testament for him. Wycliffe's Bible
appears to have been completed by 1384.
This was a big deal at the time
because not only were all prior editions of the Bible Latin but because often
lower parish priests couldn’t read Latin, they’d simply memorize the portions
they were to cite during Masses. So this opened up the mind of God, the gospel
& Jesus to the masses & lower clergy.
Wycliffe's followers were known as Lollards and followed his lead in
advocating doctrines like Predestination, while attacking the traditional
Catholic ideas of veneration of Saints, the Sacraments, Requiem Masses, Transubstantiation, monasticism,
and the very existence of the Papacy itself.
The
previous century’s idea that the pope was the direct channel from God to
Mankind slowly died as wave after wave of scandal & corruption & sin
came to light. No longer did men accept
the notation that their ruling kings & queens only existed at the sanction of
the Pope.
2
brave souls John Wycliffe (English) & Jan Hus (a Czech) toyed with the idea
that Christianity was something other than the current visible organization of
the church on Earth headed by the Pope.
Previously, people thought law
& lordship came direct from God through Popes & to men, to the extent
that laws passed by non-Catholic, non-approved rulers were deemed unlawful
& good Catholics need not obey them.
Ex.) That would be like saying since Obama isn’t a Southern Baptist then
it would be okay to speed, run red lights & not pay your income taxes,
since his lordship over us wasn’t invalid.
Picture
of RCC ideas of doctrinal & moral hierarchy *draw
Wycliffe was influential in the
Refomation’s way of emphasizing the spiritual freedom, “Everyman, therefore,
priest or layman, holds an equal place in the eyes of God & breaks down
medieval barriers between God and his people no longer merely mediated by
priest class & their sacrificial masses but direct from God to man.
Verse only 1 mediator between God
& man – JC
Picture of Reformers view of doctrinal &
moral hierarchy * draw
Cover 2 problems with the RCC
that led to the Protestant Reformation & leads to confusion between
Protestants & RCC today:
1-
Morality
issues – it is w/o doubt that the leadership of the RCC of the day was wildly
corrupt from sex abuses (open affairs), to violence (the crusades), to greed (selling
offices) to love of comfort & power
2-
Theological
issues – many that will be viewed in the coming weeks
So the problem today stems from either people
thinking there is no difference between 1300s-1600s RCC & the RCC today OR
just because they cleaned up their act morally (counter Reformation) then that
means the Reformation is over, ignoring the many theological issues.
End: John Wycliffe- quote
It is not good for us to trust in
our merits, in our virtues or our righteousness; but only in God’s free pardon,
as given us through faith in Jesus Christ.
Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether in His sufferings; beware of
seeking to be justified in any other way than by His righteousness. Faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation. There must be atonement made
for sin according to the righteousness of God. The person to make this
atonement [therefore] must be [both] God & Man. (Solas Christus, Sola Fide
& Sola Gratia)
@@@
Next
we’ll look at Jan Hus. Hus lived in the late 1300’s to early 1400s, was a Czech
priest, philosopher, and Master at Charles University in Prague. Hus was a key predecessor to the Protestant
Movement of the 16th Century & his teachings had a strong
influence on the states of Western Europe.
His
RCC issues:
Hus
was outspoken in his agreement with most, if not all, of Wycliffe’s teachings
but was loudest about his condemnations of the Sale of Indulgences
(which we’ll get into during Luther next week) & the Crusades. Hus spoke out against indulgences but could
not win over the men of his university.
In 1412, near the end of his life a dispute broke out where Hus asserted
that no Pope or bishop had the right to take up the Sword in the name of the
Church; but instead he should pray for his enemies and bless those that curse
him; & that man obtains forgiveness of sins by true repentance & faith,
not money. Some of Hus’ followers
publically burnt letters from the Pope, saying that people should listen to Hus
& not the Church, AKA the Pope. In
response, 3 men from the lower class who openly called the indulgences a fraud
were beheaded. He was so worried for the
people of the city he left for the countryside.
In the meantime, the faculty had condemned 45 articles & several
other theses of Hus’ as heretical.
By
the time Hus’ ideas had become widely accepted in Bohemia, there was broad resentment
against Church hierarchy. The attack on
Hus by the Pope & other Archbishops caused riots in Bohemia. Good King Wenceslaus (which is a great Xmas
song & children’s book BTW) took Hus’ side & his adherents grew &
grew.
Archbishop
of Prague tired of both the growing popularity & polarizing effect of Hus
wrote to the Pope who said to Root out the Heresy, so after Hus finished his
great work “On the Church” (de Ecclesia) he was urged to attend the Council of
Constance where he thought he’d be granted safety to present his views but was
trapped an Inquisition. Inquisition was simple if enough witnesses testified to
your guilt then you had to recant or be burnt alive. Reward for confession was
life imprisonment instead of the burning stake.
He
was judged a heretic, as he would not recant of various teaching he adamantly
stated he had never taught. At Devil’s Place he was burnt alive always standing
faithful to the truth & his desire to draw men from their sin & to the
Gospel.
End: Jan Hus quote –
|
Quote: An Address to His
Persecutors and a Prayer to God:
|
“Alas, drag my poor
carcass to death, so that you cannot sin any longer against an innocent
victim!" "Leave the mercy or punishment of my soul to Him who is a
just judge and not like you unfortunate blind ones. My trust is in the Almighty
God and in my Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed me and has called me to
preach His Gospel to the last breath of life. I fervently hope that he may have
mercy upon me and receive me in grace and that he will hand to me the cup of
eternal salvation and will never take it from me. I also truly believe that he
will hand me this cup today, out of which I shall drink bliss and my salvation
in eternity. His blessed name be praised by all!" - John Hus
READ OR LISTEN ONLINE: Hus the Heretic or The Infallibility of the Pope
at the Council of Constance by Poggius the Papist
John Hus
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