Jan Hus

Well, today is Thursday, July the 6th. I'm John Galantis. I'm here yet again with Dr. Abbadon Shah. Dr. Shah, good to see you again. Yes, sir. Good to have you again on the show.

Amen. You guys are listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything that you'd like to write in and suggest we talk about, any topics you'd suggest for us, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. You can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from. We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast, so you can do just that. Today's verse of the day is coming to us from John 1, verses 40 and 42.

It's a little bit long, but I thought this was really, really cool. It says, One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which is translated the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Now, when Jesus looked at him, he said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone.

Really powerful. And I think that's one of the things that we see in the Bible is God giving us a new name. That's right. That's right. Now I want to say something about Andrew. You know, Andrew is the one who brought Peter to Jesus and Peter took on center stage and Andrew sort of receded in the background. That's true. Sometimes that can happen when we think I'm the one who did this and somebody else that we bring to the Lord ends up taking the center stage ends up having more limelight. But keep in mind for every credit that Peter would get for reaching the lost or preaching to the 3000 on the day of Pentecost, I've got saved. Andrew also had a part in that. That's right. In that crown. That's exactly right. So if you're a Peter, praise God for you.

If you're an Andrew, praise God for you as well. Yeah. That's one of the things that we see, especially here at Clearview is that no part is small. You may have a more behind the scenes role, but that part contributes and the roles that we play in the Christian life contribute to the whole. And I think it's in that that we find our satisfaction. It's something that has helped inspire me because you and I, we are on the stage a lot more often than normal people.

And yet seeing the people who probably will never take the stage contribute week after week, come listen, serve, bring their families, raise their families here. It does something for me and it encourages me. Absolutely.

Absolutely. It's, it's the people who don't get recognized and don't care to get recognized. I'm grateful for them. I'm grateful for all people, to be honest, those who get recognized, praise God for them.

But even those who don't, their contribution is still very valuable for the kingdom of God. Thank you. Thank you for those who are working in the nursery. I know you're grateful for that. Oh yeah. Very grateful.

Anybody who would put up with my two little youngins. Yeah, they are. They're an answer to prayer for sure. How has your summer been going? Summer has been going very well. We went on our annual staff retreat, you know, a few weeks ago.

That was great. We really connected and really prayed and planned out the year coming up. And then we went to see our daughter in Boston. Yes, that was fun.

She just started law school. So that was exciting. What is very exciting is while we're walking through the law school building, we had to reuse restrooms or whatever.

So I'm kind of looking at this gallery, this like a gallery of pictures from time past history of the school. I see a name and it was like, Whoa, wait, what is that name doing here? And the name was Gleason Archer. Now you may know that or not, but Gleason Archer Jr. was a very famous Old Testament scholar and an ardent defender of Christian faith, Christian values, very conservative, great, great, great scholar. There's a story about him. He's walking through this museum and the guide is there. Other professors are there and he walks by this inscription. I think it was in Hittite or whatever. I don't know. And he looks at it.

He stops. That's upside down. Now I'm telling you, I know Greek, but when I'm walking through those ruins or the museum, because I got so much in my mind, I'm trying to take pictures and film and this. I'm not reading. You're not like reading the inscription. It looks like Greek to me at that point. But he saw it and just from a side glance, like that's upside down.

And they're like, Oh no. Was it carved in stone? It was carved in stone.

So there's no flipping it around. They had to. Really? They did it? Yeah. They turned that whole thing. It was in a museum, so it was a piece. They were able to flip it back and they were like, Oh, is this right? Yeah, of course. Because now you can read it.

This is what it said. But anyways, going back to the story, this school, Suffolk Law School, was founded by Gleason Archer's father in Boston in the early, late 1800s, early 1900s, I think. I think early 1900s. And Gleason Archer, I knew he was a lawyer too. He went to Harvard, I think. He went to several other big time places back in the thirties, forties, but he went to Suffolk Law School. Really?

Under his dad's tutelage. That's amazing. So I had a great time.

Yeah. That sounds like a good summer. That sounds like a good trip. When you say Gleason Archer, the first thing I thought of was like the honeymooners with a bow and arrow. Jackie Gleason.

Straight to the moon. No, that's really awesome. We've got a great show for you guys today. If you have any questions or anything that you want to, again, write in, let us know what we should talk about.

Text us, 252-582-5028, or you can always visit us online at cleerviewtodayshow.com. We'll be right back after this. Hey there, listeners. I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, daily devotions to help you move forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start, but a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner, like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 Days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's Word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text, 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show? Let's do it.

All right. Hey, everyone, my name is Ellie and I'm David. We want to take a minute and let you know how we can actually serve you as you're listening to Clearview today. The Bible paints an extraordinary picture of who we are as a church body. The mission of Clearview Church is to lead all people into a life changing, ever growing relationship with Jesus Christ. A huge part of leading people is praying for them. A big reason that Christians have unanswered prayers in their life is because they're not praying.

You know, 1 John 5 15 says, and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. If you're listening to the Clearview today show, we want to know how we can pray for you as well. There's a number of ways that you can get in touch with us at Clearview and share your prayer requests. But the best way is by texting us at 252-582-5028. You can also send us an email at prayer at Clearviewbc.org or you can download the Clearview app on iTunes or Google Play. You know, on the app, there's a dedicated prayer wall that helps us to get to know what's going on in your life, how we can pray for you and how we can take any necessary steps to get you moving in the right direction. Thanks for listening.

Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at Clearviewtodayshow.com or if you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything you'd like to write in and suggest that we talk about, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also email us at contact at Clearviewtodayshow.com. If this is your first time ever tuning into the show, we want to let you know that you are welcome. Let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full time pastor and the host of today's show.

You can find all of his work on his website at abbadanshah.com. You know, we were planning out this episode, and we were kind of looking at the calendar, looking at significant dates in Christian history. We came upon this name, and you were like, oh, yes, he's a really great church reformer.

I was like, oh, okay. I was looking at it, and I was like, he's kind of learned from Martin Luther? Oh, no, no, pre-Luther. Yeah, Martin Luther learned from him. I was like, but he's a reformer. You were like, oh, yes, great reformer. I was like, but he's before Luther. He was like, yeah. I was like, so there was reformers before Luther.

I remember you were like, yes, yes, there were. Absolutely. So, just to give you a timeline for our listeners, we're talking about Jan Hus. He was Czech. It's spelled Jan Hus, but that's absolutely not how you say it. Well, I guess you can say it. I've heard some of my professors say, just go along with John Hus.

So, I don't know what's the best way to say that. Martin Luther, in the library at his monastic center, when he was just rummaging through the stuff, he came across Hus's sermons, his writings, and he was so moved. How has this guy been forgotten? Because he was kind of a forerunner to the Reformation. I believe the Anabaptists were the real forerunners.

They were for a long, long time fighting against the scandal of the church or the falling away of the church. But John Hus was one of the key forerunners coming from Bohemia. So, we heard of the Bohemian Rhapsody. This is a good Bohemia.

So, this is where he came from. Freddie Mercury had nothing to do with this Reformation. Nothing at all. So, just for the listeners, if anybody's coming to the show and is like, I have no clue what the Reformation is, I think, if I can put it in layman's terms, and correct me if I get any part of this wrong, but the Catholic Church is sort of the authority under the pope. They kind of set the grounds for what worship is going to be. They're like the church authority.

They're either misdealing with money or they're doing stuff that's not good. Well, the thing is, they were making salvation by grace through faith and something else. And indulgences at that point were a big problem. What are indulgences? It means you're paying for your salvation, in a sense.

You're doing this so you can get out of jail free card, but you're paying for that. So, the chapel has to be built or the cathedral has to be built, so you can buy indulgences. And a lot of people were totally against that, but they were afraid to speak up. But the Reformers were the ones who weren't afraid to speak up, who challenged the pope and the Catholic Church on these behaviors. And other things, like 95 Theses. So, that's 95 things that Martin Luther nailed on that Wittenberg door, which was like a notice board.

And he nailed them to say, these are the things that the church needs to fix or work on. So, July 6th, which is the day that you're listening to this right now, commemorates the execution of John Hus. Right. July 6th, 1415. This is when John Hus was executed, because he stood up against the pope.

Okay. How did he get involved in this reformation process? Is he the true father of the reformation or did he learn from even others before him?

Well, he learned from others before him. So, one was Wycliffe. John Wycliffe, we know about John Wycliffe. We did a show on John Wycliffe.

Right, that's right. Translated the Bible from Latin into English. So, John Hus was influenced by Wycliffe, Wycliffe's writings.

And there are some debates about that among scholars. Was John Hus just a kind of a little transitional character between Wycliffe and a Luther? Or was he really somebody who made a big difference for Christianity in the reformation? And I would say John Hus stands on his own feet.

By the grace of God, of course. But he himself was a remarkable person. So, if Luther's claim to fame is like bailing the theses to the door, and Wycliffe's claim to fame is maybe translating the Bible, what would you say is the thing that sets John Hus apart?

Or is there any one thing? I would say standing against the church. Standing against the pope. There was a point where there were two popes and there were some disagreements going on.

And there was some talk about building a chapel and things of that nature. And John Hus refused to... He was an archbishop. He was not just an ordinary guy. And he stood up against that. And they called him for questioning, and they promised him safe passage. And then they questioned him for like six to seven months.

And at the end of that, thinking, okay, seems like things are okay. No, they're not okay. All right, we're going to burn you. And they burned him. Wow. Took him out, defrocked him, removed all his titles and all his vestments, and they set him on fire. Wow.

The church did that. Yeah. That's insane. That is. It's crazy because you look back at things like that and say, well, that's just how it is.

And I wonder, what will... You know what I mean? How can the church do something like that and still be the Church of Jesus Christ and claim to be the Church of Jesus Christ just as we do today? But they do things like this. I mean, if the church were an authority today, do you think that there's any chance that that kind of thing could happen?

Like an authority that it used to be? Yeah, that can happen. Persecution can also come from within. It doesn't have to be the same things. It may not be for indulgences.

It may be for something else. It may be because you have convictions against same sex marriage or this transgenderism that is just rampant or whatever is pretending to be rampant. So when you're standing up against that, of course, you will be reprimanded. And some established churches are doing that already to pastors, to the level of taking away their insurance, taking away their retirement. Because they won't conform to the diatribe or the curriculum. Because they have the audacity to stand up against the established church and their denomination and say, this is wrong. This is unbiblical. This goes against our values. And for that, it's a whole different kind of punishment. It's not like they're going to burn you. We're just going to take away your retirement. Do we see this sort of thing today where there needs to be loyalty to Christ, first and foremost, but then also loyalty to our denomination and loyalty to our group within the church?

Yeah, yeah. And that's what's keeping some from saying anything, and they're kind of backing off. And I would strongly urge them to stand up for the truth. Because one day you'll have to stand before Christ. One day you'll have to stand before God and give an account. We're talking about persecution and seeing how...

I think in America, we have it pretty good. You did mention some things that some pastors who stand up and speak the truth have to go through. But did you see that growing up? Because when you were growing up, Christianity was not the minority. And so there wasn't really a standing up against an authoritative church.

And yet at the same time, there was persecution against Christians in India. But Christianity was a minority. Did I say minority? I meant majority.

I'm sorry. Christianity was a minority. We were less than 0.9%. I mean, that's where we were. Very, very small. And out of that, how many are truly born again Christians?

I don't know. So that's our numbers. So persecution came, but persecution also came from within. Like my dad had to deal with people in the denomination who were controlling, who were after money, who were after selling mission properties and trying to pocket the money. And my dad stood up to that or he refused to participate. So we had people one Sunday night.

I remember that very distinctly. We had word that this was going to happen. And like clockwork had happened, that five or six of them showed up outside our church and came over shaking hands.

Hello, how are you? All of that. And my dad had already instructed, because they wanted to have a business meeting right then. And the leadership of our church, they just left because if they're not there, there's no business meeting. And they brought a chain in their hand to lock the church gate. To stop your dad from leaving or to stop the church from functioning anymore?

Like, we're going to put a chain on this door. They don't have the authority to, but they tried to. And these are members of your father's church? No, these were outsiders.

These were denominational leaders. Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah.

I'm going back to the early eighties or maybe even late seventies. Wow. So they didn't attend the church. They were denominational leaders. Right.

They came because my dad would not side with one group or the other over selling church property and this and that. And he felt like, you know, we need to use this to reach the lost. We need to use this to further the gospel. What are we doing? Right. And we're doing this.

We're going to pocket this. So he refused to side with them. He didn't say, I'm going to now go to battle with you.

He just said, I'm here doing my thing. And that's that. So they felt like, oh no, no, no, no.

You're under our control. So they showed up that Sunday evening with chain and a lock to lock the door, lock the gate. I wonder in situations like this, because with the Roman Catholic church or with the Catholic church, this humongous global organization back in the day, like a world superpower where corruption comes in.

I see that. But then even then in India, they were a minority. Where does this mindset come from if it's not because they didn't have like global nationwide power.

These were denominational leaders. So I'm guessing, I'm wondering where does that mindset or that corruption, I don't even know if that's the right word, but where does that come from if it's not from widespread control? It's a control issue. It's control.

It's authority. There was nothing spiritual about that. John Hus was taking Wycliffe's side. Wycliffe had just died. I think he lived from 1329 to about 1384. John Hus was 1373 to 1415. So they sort of overlapped by 10 years. So Hus was a 10 year old when Wycliffe died. I hope that makes sense.

Maybe more than that. I'm not getting my information. Yeah. He was 10 year old. He was 10 year old when Wycliffe died. So he felt strong convictions that what Wycliffe was doing to bring the scriptures in the hands of the common people was a good thing. And Wycliffe was executed as well, wasn't he?

Yes, of course. So Hus was supporting somebody that the church hated because you're taking people away from our control. And so for that, Hus was already hated for that. Was the church loved at this point or do you think they were just feared?

I would say more fear. There are always going to be people who love it. There's a sense of piety and going and observing all the traditions and the rituals and the sacraments. So there's a sense of loyalty there. I'm not going to say everybody in the church hated them and just by fear stayed there.

Not necessarily. I think many were pretty satisfied with the way things were. But these kinds of people like Wycliffe or John Hus and the Czech tradition stood up against the established church. Yeah. I think that's true because I was thinking about it as you were saying it.

I guess my immediate response would be, okay, that you see this widespread corruption, you see things are happening, you see that your life is in danger, cut and run. At the same time, it's like you said, Wycliffe loved the text. He was so devoted to God because I think he believed, not I think, he certainly believed what the Bible was saying and the goal and the mission to get it into the hands of the common people was so strong that he was willing to accept the consequences of that. So, I mean, I guess they loved the church, maybe not the Catholic church and the institution that was going on, but the Church of Christ and the body of believers. Of course. And on the other hand, their sacrifice led to somebody else getting inspired.

True. Not inspired in the sense of inspired by the Holy Spirit, but inspired in the sense of being encouraged to stand up. So Wycliffe did what he did, gave his life. John Hus comes along, picks up that mantle and he also dies.

Okay. So now comes Martin Luther, who comes across the writings of John Hus and Luther 1483-1546. So 1483, John Hus is now 1415-1483. Do the math.

This is 50-60 years. He comes along, he reads, and his life is changed. How did Wesley get saved? Wesley got saved to reading Martin Luther's commentary. It's like a pay-it-forward chain. Yeah.

I believe in the book of Romans, if I'm not wrong. He reads that and it radically changes his life. But there's more.

Here's something very interesting. After all this happened, the Bohemians were very angry because he was their man. John Hus was one of them.

One of them. And you burned them alive. I mean, it was so bad that they actually took his ashes and threw it in the river. They didn't want anybody to find any bit of John Hus. No trace. No trace. No trace at all. Wow.

So here's what happens. So after all this is done, those who repudiated this last compromise, talking about the refusal to submit to the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, they found what is known as the Unitas Fratrum, which is the union of brethren. Unitas Fratrum. Union of brethren, which became the foundation of the Moravian brethren. Moravian brethren more than cookies.

They were these people who were on the ship, just praising God in the midst of a storm. Wesley sees them and he is really touched by them. The Unitas Fratrum led to the foundation of the Moravian brethren who impacted Wesley. So Wesley was impacted in two ways by John Hus.

One is through Martin Luther's commentary, but then also to the Moravian brethren. So, I mean, it's crazy. Hundreds of years apart. It's crazy to see the chain reaction that God uses because we tend to think, and I tend to think this too, that if it didn't happen in the Bible, if it didn't happen in scripture, then it's apart from God's work.

You know what I mean? When does the Bible end chronologically? I guess after Acts, and then it goes to Paul's writings.

Argersinger, Jr. Paul's writings, but then if you want to be technical, Revelation is about 95 A.D. Lewis Buehler, Jr. True. So then it's like after 95 A.D., that's where God's hand sort of goes away. But you see God working and moving just like he did in the Bible throughout history if you care to look for it. That's right.

That's right. In a whole different way, but still touching lives, changing hearts. So here's Wycliffe. Here's John Hus. By the way, very interesting.

We used to joke about this back in seminary days. His name was not Hus. His name was Husinec. Husinec is the small Czech town known as Goose Town, Husinec Goose Town. He changed it to Hus. So it sounds like John the Goose. I see why he changed it.

It's a pun. So according to some tradition, even Luther joked about that. He joked about that and reminded his followers that he was the goose who got cooked for defying the pope. He didn't do it. This is Martin Luther.

I didn't say that. Martin Luther said he was the goose who got cooked for defying the pope. Don't at me.

It was Martin Luther. It wasn't me. Don't at Dr. Shaw on Twitter.

Don't at us at Clearview Today Show. We didn't say it. Listen, it's really great that this chain of events has led us to where we are now. I think one thing that inspires me, and I know that it inspires you because we talk about it, is that there's no reason that we can't be a John Hus. There's no reason that we can't be the next Martin Luther or whoever because God is still working.

Until he comes back, he's still working. Absolutely. There are books out there. I mean, of course, many of you all are familiar with the Fox's Book of Martyrs. Great, great work that you can read.

And there's a lot of good stuff in there. I think it also talks about John Hus on page 90 of at least my book right here. It's a whole section of what happened to him and how things went. For those who are watching on YouTube, there's a good chapter on John Hus. Martyr's Mirror. This is a heavy beauty book. Kind of put together kind of an Anabaptist type work by Thalem and J.

Van Brockt. And he doesn't talk about John Hus. They're interesting. They don't talk about John Hus. But he goes all the way to the early church to about 1660. That's a good one to have and read time to time, to see what people went through just for the gospel. A book of martyrs that huge.

I figured John Hus would be in it. How many martyrs could there have been? I'm guessing there was a ton.

Tons. That's a big, heavy book. And then there's also Torture for Christ, one of my favorite books. Very hard to read because it's very painful to see what people like Richard Wernbrandt went through for the sake of the gospel.

But anyways, those are some very, very good books to read. Amen. Amen. Well, if you guys enjoyed today's episode, I know I did. Make sure you let us know right in. Send us any suggestions that you may have for topics, future topics, any questions that you want to ask for Dr. Shah.

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