Elder Ko Swee Chay

A Glimpse of Reformation History in Europe (Part 2)

John Huss (1370 – 1415) – Constance (Day 7)
From Strasbourg south east to Constance located at the western end of Lake Constance, on the edge of the border between Germany and Switzerland. The Council of Constance was held here in 1415 where John Huss was sentenced to death for his so-called "heresy". We visited the Hussenstein – a large stone memorial engraved with the words "Johannes Hus + 6 (14) Juli 1415" which marked the spot where Huss was burned at the stake.

John Huss, one of the forerunners of the Reformation, was born in around 1370 at Hussinetz (he took his name from his birthplace), a market place on the edge of the Bohemia (present day Czechoslovakia) Forest. He studied in the University of Prague, and he did well in his studies. After obtaining his B.A. in 1393, his B. of Theology in 1394 and his M.A. in 1396, in 1398 he started lecturing in the University. Soon he was ordained as a priest and went to the court of King of Bohemia where he was selected as the queen’s confessor. He learnt the truth partly through John Wycliffe’s writings brought in from England. He was thirty years old when the writings of the great Reformer in England came into his hands. The writings of Wycliffe opened his eyes to the truth. He was able to spread these teachings among the students and lecturers. The Lord was working in Bohemia as He had worked in England. His true work as a Reformer dates from 1402 when he was appointed preacher at the Chapel of Bethlehem in Prague. He founded all he said on the Scriptures. He preached to the common people in their own tongue and translated the New Testament into Czech language. He placed the Bible above the authority of the Pope or any Council of the Church. He wrote his first work entitled "On the Church". In this he laid it down that the Church was not the visible Church, but the assembly of elect. His next work listed out "The Six Errors": 1) Transubstantiation; 2) the confession, "I believe in the Pope and the saints", instead of believing in God only; 3) the priestly pretension of forgiving sins and remitting the punishment for sin; 4) the implicit obedience demanded by the Church dignitaries; 5) the lack of distinction between a valid excommunication and a non-valid one; and 6) the practice of buying and selling livings in the Church, called simony. He went on to criticise the use of indulgences by the various Popes (at that time there was divisions in the Papacy with three Popes) who were each promising immediate entrance to heaven to men who took up arms in their cause. He also pointed out that many of the Church ceremonies were foolish – abstinence, venerating relics, bowing to images, worshipping the dead were all things he condemned. While in exile from Prague, in one of the letters he said "If the goose (his name in Bohemian meant ‘a goose’) which is but a timid bird which cannot fly very high has been able to burst its bonds, there will come afterwards an eagle, which will soar high into the air and draw to it all the other birds….". This saying he reiterated at the stake and which had a prophetic significance. For all that he has done, Huss was summoned to appear before the Council. The trial on him began on 5th June 1415. The members of the Council refused to give him a fair hearing. He was condemned as a heretic by the Council. Attempts were made to get him recant, but as he wrote to a friend "I write this letter in prison and with my fettered hand, expecting my sentence of death tomorrow…. When with the assistance of Jesus Christ, we shall meet again in the delicious peace of the future life, you will learn how merciful God has shown Himself towards me, how effectually He has supported me in the midst of temptations and trials." On 6th July 1415 he was brought before the Council and the sentence of condemnation was passed. After stripping off his priesthood vestments, he was handed over to the magistrates of the city of Constance for burning and led in procession to the stake. A chain was put around his neck at which he commented, "It is thus you silence the goose? A hundred years hence there will arise a swan whose singing you shall not be able to silence" (a prophetic reference to Martin Luther).

Ulric Zwingli (1484 – 1531) – Zurich (Day 7/8)

From Constance we continued our journey to Zurich, an important Swiss city which embraced the Reformation in the 16th Century because of Zwingli’s preaching from the Grossmunster, the city’s great cathedral. From Zurich, the Reformation spread to other Swiss cities such as Basle and Berne. The Reformation did away with images and icons inside the church; for the focus of the Church was on the preaching of God’s Word. In line with this ideal, the Church was stripped of its furnishings and decoration.

In Zurich we visited a number of key Reformation sites, namely: Zwingli’s church the Grossmunster, the statue of Zwingli, the Helferi where Zwingli lived, and the memorial stone at Kappel where Zwingli was killed during a battle in October 1531 at a young age of 47 years old.

Zwingli was born into a shepherd’s family in southeast Switzerland on New Year’s Day 1484, about seven weeks after Luther. He spent his early years in the mountain valley, the Swiss Alps, where he enjoyed the beauty of nature created by God. He showed signs of brilliance in his early years. He studied Latin and Greek at Berne and then Classics and Philosophy at Vienna. At the age of 18, he went to Basle to teach in a school and study at the University where he received his Master of Art degree which he never made use of in his life. The seed of the Gospel was first sown in Zwingli’s heart in 1505 by Thomas Wittenbach, who was skilled in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, had studied the Scriptures in their original languages and had come to knowledge of the glorious Gospel. Wittenbach showed to Zwingli and others that besides the scholastic theology of the Roman Catholic Church, there was an older Biblical doctrine – the death of Jesus Christ as the only ransom for our souls. He was influenced by the writings of the early reformers such as Wycliffe and Huss.

In 1506, at the age of 22 Zwingli was ordained a clergyman at Constance and became Pastor of the parish of Glarus. He had a serious concern for the spiritual welfare of his flocks. In this period of his life he was forced to take part in a war which Pope Julius II was waging against France. This religious war and the scenes of the carnage added to his doubt about the Roman Catholic Church. He took up his Greek studies again and began to read the New Testament in its original language. He maintained that it is the Holy Spirit that reveals the meaning of Scriptures to every earnest and prayerful reader. Indeed, the Holy Spirit so clearly revealed in the hearts of Zwingli as well as other reformers these two great principles regarding the Word of God, namely: 1) its sole, infallible authority for all teaching, doctrine and practices in the Church; 2) its own self-interpreting nature, Scripture being expounded by Scripture.

In 1516 Zwingli was offered the post of Preacher at the monastery Einsiedeln. Initially he was not keen as he did not want to be shut away in this mountain retreat when his heart was set to spread the Gospel, but after consideration he realised in such a place he could spread the Gospel to the thousands who came every year on pilgrimages to obtain the indulgences secured by a visit to the statue of Virgin Mary, "Our Lady of Einsiedeln". He accepted the offer. He warned the pilgrims of the futility of coming to the status for indulgences and showed them the way of salvation through Christ and His crucifixion. Interestingly the shrine of "Our Lady of Einsiedeln" became a centre for the propagation of the Reformed Truth! As Zwingli’s work prospered, the number of pilgrims fell.

In 1518 December Zwingli was elected to the office of preacher at the College of Canons at Zurich. This prominent position gave him the right to preach from the pulpit of Zurich Cathedral and an audience throughout Switzerland. The two leading subjects of his ministry were the Word of God, the one infallible authority of the Church; and the death of Christ, a complete sacrifice for sin. He urged his countrymen to seek to free themselves from the shackles of the Papacy and told them "God only can forgive sins; none on earth can pardon sin. You may buy this man’s papers (referring to Bernadin Samson, an Italian monk offering his indulgences for sale authorised by the Pope) but you are not absolved."

Zwingli’s approach to the Reformation was by gradual means as he saw it was necessary to work slowly to open the peoples’ minds and hearts to the errors of the Church. In 1521, he attacked the abstention from eating meats on Fridays and fasting. In 1523 he printed 67 Articles of the Reformed Faith, the Swiss counterpart of Luther’s 95 Theses, though not identical in content. In these 67 Articles, among other things, Zwingli stated that Jesus Christ alone is the head of believers and the Church; that He is the one sovereign and eternal priest; that the Mass is not a sacrifice; that the Bible permits all men, including the ministers of the Gospel to marry; that God alone can pardon sins and that there is not such place as Purgatory after death. The next step was to abolish the Mass and to clear the Churches of images.

We concluded the pilgrimage on 23rd May and returned home on 24th May 2014. We thank God for a blessed pilgrimage.

Concluding Thoughts on the 16th Century Protestant Reformation

· The reformers believed the Scriptures come from God, not men. They based all of their beliefs, doctrines, and practices in the church, teaching, preaching and writings solely on the Word of God. They were deeply convinced that God’s Word is the supreme authority and not of the Church or the Pope.

· The reformers loved God’s Word. They learnt the truth simply through an in-depth and detailed study of the Scriptures, under the teaching and illumination of the Holy Spirit.

· The mighty hand of God in raising men of His own choosing in different countries at different times, working in individual hearts and bringing about the Protestant Reformation. Each Reformer had his own individual work to do. Each Reformer exposed and attacked different kind of errors as the Spirit laid upon their hearts; for example, Huss attacked the abuses of the Church and the use of indulgences, Zwingli attacked the Church claim’s that Scripture had no authority unless sanctioned by the Church, the observance of Mass and images in the Church; Luther exposed erroneous teachings concerning salvation through indulgences and by works.

· The Reformers were men of strong faith and of good courage, and with exceptional spiritual gifts specially chosen and equipped by God. They were not afraid of men in high positions and power, and were prepared to sacrifice even unto death for the truth and for their faith.

· By the providence of God, the sudden success of the Protestant Reformation movement is partly due to the timely appearance of a new media that disseminated God’s Word and information widely and quickly without distorting it, namely, the printing press in late 15th century.

· Although the Protestant Reformation began during the 16th century, the need for Reformation was already surfaced in the late Middles Ages. Several attempts to reform the Church did happen, one example is the one led by John Huss in Bohemia in late 14th /early 15th century.

By looking at the time frame (over hundreds of years), geographical spread (Bohemian, Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland etc.), the large number of Reformers involved and the manner in which it was developed and spread over the whole of Europe and subsequently to other parts of the world, in my mind, it is without doubt that this great 16th Century Protestant Reformation is ordered and orchestrated by none other than the great I AM. We thank and praise God for the Reformation which gave us the reformed Protestant church and the KJV Bible today, and we can learn many spiritual lessons. Let us at CPBPC continue to remember and uphold the spirit and work of the Reformation till Jesus returns. AMEN.

References:
1. Booklet published by FEBC for the Reformation Pilgrimage - Germany, France and Switzerland from 14-24 May 2014.
2. The Reformers MARTIN LUTHER by JOHN BROOME, Gospel Standard Trust Publications 1994
3. The Reformers WYCLIFFE & HUSS by JOHN BROOME, Gospel Standard Trust Publications 1994
4. The Reformers ZWINGLI & CALVIN by JOHN BROOME, Gospel Standard Trust Publications 1994