THE name of Bohemia has a prominent place in church history. Its capital, Prague or Praha, will ever be associated in the minds of Protestants with its early and noble martyrs, Jerome of Prague and John Huss. Jerome had visited England and brought back with him the new teaching of Wyclif. This teaching found a warm sympathiser and advocate in John Huss, a son of Czech parents. Jerome soon got into trouble with the authorities owing to his advocacy of Wyclif’s teaching and his sympathy with the Czechs. When Huss left for the Council of Constance, Jerome assured him, if need be, he would come to his assistance. He faithfully kept his promise but as he had no safe-conduct like his friend, Huss, he was persuaded to return. On his way back he was arrested and sent to Constance. His imprisonment was so rigorous that his health broke down and in his weakness he was induced to recant. This, however, did not set him free and in May, 1416, he was again put on trial when he nobly withdrew his recantation and was condemned to be burned at the stake. He died heroically. His friend Huss with every ignominy, was burnt before this at the stake in 1415. While paying tribute to these martyrs it is not to be forgotten that they had got rid of some only of the grave-clothes of Rome. The story of Protestantism in Bohemia is a noble one; it met with powerful opposition. Divisions arose among the Protestants; the Calixtines or Utraquists* and the Taborites represented opposing parties. The latter resorted to the use of the sword to destroy the enemies of God’s law. On the death of King Wenceslaus a revolution broke out. The Pope issued a call to all Christians to take up arms against the Hussites. This war lasted for twelve years. The Hussites not only fought for Protestantism but also for the national interests of the Czechs.
*They were called Calixtines because they advocated the use of the cup (calix) or chalice in the Lord’s Supper and Utraquists because they advocated the communion in both kinds (utergue, both). The Taborites were so called from a city which they founded on a hill to which they had given the name Tabor.
In 1433 a Bohemian-Moravian state accepted the Prague Compactata in which communion in both kinds was granted, while it was to be understood Christ was entirely present in each kind, that is, the bread and the wine. The Taborites refused to accept the Compactata and the Calixtines and the Roman Catholics met them in battle at Lipan, 1434, and destroyed them. In 1462 the Pope declared the Compactata null and void and prohibited communion in both kinds. Rome had now the upper hand and compromises were made between the Utraquists and the Roman Catholics. The appearance of Luther was hailed by the Utraquists; but another division took place as all the Utraquists did not favour the doctrines of the Reformer. Those favourable to the new doctrines became associates with the Unitas Fratrum or United Brethren. In 1620 the battle of White Hill destroyed Protestantism in Bohemia for a century and a half. During that time those agents of the devil, the Jesuits, were actively engaged in furthering the interests of the Church of Rome. The Rev. Jusus E. Szalatnay, Velim Bohemia, in a paper read to the Pan Presbyterian Council in 1880 quotes the words of John Amos Comenius one of the most distinguished of the United Brethren: “When the tempest of the wrath of God shall have passed away, the management of thine own affairs will return to thee again, people of Bohemia.” Mr. Szalatnay adds: “The tempest of God’s wrath lasted for a long time, during which the desolate ruins of Zion in Bohemia presented a melancholy aspect to the eye of every friend of God’s truth; it seemed to indicate that in Bohemia the city of God will never be raised again, nor the light of the gospel once more be put on the candlestick.” Better days were, however, soon to dawn. During the reign of Joseph II., Emperor of Austria, a decree of toleration was issued. The organisation of the Protestant Church in Bohemia is a mixture of Presbyterianism, Consistorialism, and Episcopalianism. There are kirk-sessions, presbyteries (the moderator of which is called, Senior), a Synod and General Assembly. Since Mr. Szalatnay’s paper was read in 1880 many things have happened. What remained of Austria after the Treaty of Versailles (1919) is now German territory and by the same treaty Bohemia and Moravia became part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, towards which the eyes of the whole civilized world were turned a month ago. We have not an up-to-date account of Protestantism in Czechoslovakia before us at present but one cannot help thinking about a church which has been swept with such devastating storms since it came into existence.