John Hus In The Pulpit. Between Practicism And Faith

Abstract

In the history of medieval Bohemia, the figure of Jan Hus has its own unique dimension, and his life and work reach far beyond the Czech context. The Hussite theme has grown into a separate specialization in international medieval studies. Jan Hus has had several biographies so far, and the latest work by Pavel Soukup will probably not be the last. What distinguishes the book from its predecessors is the particular emphasis on the role of the pulpit and Hus's preaching activity, which is also reflected in its title. For Hus, the pulpit became the basic tool for promoting the ideas of the Reformation. The main issue, therefore, is the question of the grounds for his choice of the pulpit, which determined the life of the Czech reformer. The turning point was Hus’s activity in the pulpit of the Bethlehem Chapel. P. Soukup emphasizes the practicality of the pulpit, the only mass medium capable of propagating ideological content, and he rightly calls the Bethlehem Chapel “a unique center of reform”. Let us add, however, to the author’s arguments that Hus chose the pulpit not only for practical but equally ideological reasons. The choice of the pulpit by Hus is a belief in the effectiveness of sermons, the power of words, and the performative function of speech. In his sermons, Hus quoted the main metaphor from the sermon that we know from the foundation document of the Bethlehem Chapel, namely the word of God compared to a seed (semen, semeno, sieme). According to one of his sermons, unlike the Mass, only a worthy sermon makes the souls of some unite in love with Christ. The adopted framework of the biography did not encourage detailed comments. It is, however, to the author’s merit that he traces the life of Hus through the prism of preaching activity.