Who is Wycliffe and Hus?

[junostarlighter]

Heard a Protestant say something about these two. Who are they?

 

[FCEGM]

Heard a Protestant say something about these two. Who are they?

Here are two links for you re these two Protestants (there was an earlier discussion regarding Hus, but that seems to have been lost during the forum’s downtime):

catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0212fea3.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9709qq.asp

 

[Contarini]

Here are two links for you re these two Protestants (there was an earlier discussion regarding Hus, but that seems to have been lost during the forum’s downtime):

catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0212fea3.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1997/9709qq.asp

They weren’t Protestants. They were late medieval reformers some of whose views (mostly on ecclesiology and the sacraments–not so much on soteriology) foreshadowed some Protestant ideas.

Basically they took the idea of predestination as the starting point for their ecclesiology–in a sense they took their stand on the anti-Pelagian Augustine and downplayed the anti-Donatist Augustine. They questioned the authority of church leaders whose lives did not appear to indicate that they were among the elect. They taught that the true Church was the invisible Church of the elect rather than the hierarchical church. Wycliffe denied transubstantiation, though he affirmed the Real Presence (his vew seems to have been something like Luther’s–maybe a bit more “Protestant”). Hus doesn’t seem to have gone as far (he was generally more orthodox–from a Catholic point of view–than Wycliffe). His main sacramental “heresy” was demaning the restoration of communion in both kinds for the laity.

They also tended to favor the authority of the state over that of the Church. Wycliffe won some political support early on by championing the English monarchy’s claims of authority over the Church of England (over against the Pope). Hus was I believe somewhat of a Czech nationalist (the University of Prague in his day, and Bohemian culture generally, was largely dominated by Germans, and his followers tried to change that).

Edwin

Edwin

 

[allischalmers]

I believe they were dispatched by the Catholic Church

allischalmers

 

[Contarini]

I believe they were dispatched by the Catholic Church

allischalmers

Hus was executed by imperial authorities after being condemned by the Council of Constance, yes. Wycliffe died a natural death, but his bones were dug up and burned by the orders of the same Council.

Edwin

 

[Loy]

Some more internet reading material:

Jan Hus

John Wyclif

Note: a lot of amateur Protestant apologists confuse Wycliffe with Tyndale. Tyndale was executed, but Wycliffe was not. Wycliffe was a contemporary of Hus (prior to the Reformation); Tyndale was a contemporary of Luther.

It’s easy to understand why this mistake is often made. The previously linked article on Tyndale explains the historical connection between Tyndale and Wycliffe:

catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0212fea3.asp