DiggingforTruth

Home Prophecy Spirit of Prophecy Section Selected Quotations - EGW ( 6,000 phrases )

Person - John Huss ( 36 )

Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the phrase . . .

John Huss

Born: 1369 Died: 1415 Biography

In the gloom of his dungeon, John Huss had foreseen the triumph of the true faith. Returning, in his dreams, to the humble parish where he had preached the gospel, he saw the pope and his bishops effacing the pictures of Christ which he had painted on the walls of his chapel. The sight caused him great distress; but the next day he was filled with joy as he beheld many artists busily engaged in replacing the figures in greater numbers and brighter colors. When their work was completed, the painters exclaimed to the immense crowd surrounding them, "Now let the popes and bishops come! They shall never efface them more!" Said the Reformer, as he related his dream, "I am certain that the image of Christ will never be effaced. They have wished to destroy it, but it shall be painted in all hearts by much better preachers than myself." {4SP 91.2}

The papists had not believed that Luther would really venture to appear at Worms, and his arrival filled them with consternation. The emperor immediately summoned his councilors to consider what course should be pursued. One of the bishops, a rigid papist, declared: "We have long consulted on this matter. Let your imperial majesty get rid of this man at once. Did not Sigismund cause John Huss to be burnt? We are not bound either to give or to observe the safe-conduct of a heretic." "No," said the emperor, "we must keep our promise."-- Ibid., b. 7, ch. 8. It was therefore decided that the Reformer should be heard. {GC 153.4}

The grand principle maintained by these Reformers -- the same that had been held by the Waldenses, by Wycliffe, by John Huss, by Luther, Zwingli, and those who united with them -- was the infallible authority of the Holy Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice. They denied the right of popes, councils, Fathers, and kings, to control the conscience in matters of religion. The Bible was their authority, and by its teaching they tested all doctrines and all claims. Faith in God and His word sustained these holy men as they yielded up their lives at the stake. "Be of good comfort," exclaimed Latimer to his fellow martyr as the flames were about to silence their voices, "we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." -- Works of Hugh Latimer, vol. 1, p. xiii. Great Controversy, page 249.1

It was through the writings of Wycliffe that John Huss, of Bohemia, was led to renounce many of the errors of Romanism and to enter upon the work of reform. Thus in these two countries, so widely separated, the seed of truth was sown. From Bohemia the work extended to other lands. The minds of men were directed to the long-forgotten word of God. A divine hand was preparing the way for the Great Reformation. Great Controversy, page 96.1

Charles had announced his decision in the case of Luther without previous consultation with the diet. This hasty and independent act of the youthful emperor excited the displeasure of that august body. Two opposite parties at once appeared. Several of the pope's adherents demanded that Luther's safe-conduct should not be respected. "The Rhine," they said, "should receive his ashes, as it had received those of John Huss a century ago." In after years it was a cause of regret to Charles that he did not act upon this base proposition. "I confess," he said toward the close of his life, "that I committed a great fault by permitting Luther to live. I was not obliged to keep my promise with him; that heretic had offended a Master greater than I,-- God himself. I might and I ought to have broken my word, and to have avenged the insult he had committed against God. It is because I did not put him to death, that heresy has not ceased to advance. His death would have stifled it in the cradle." So great was the darkness which came upon the mind that had willfully rejected the light of truth. {ST, September 6, 1883 par. 9}

Here in the experience of Huss was a witness, a monument erected, calling the attention of the world to the promise: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). Registered in the history of nations, John Huss lives. His godly works and steadfast faith, his pure life, and conscientious following of the truth that was unfolded to him, these he would not yield even to be saved a cruel death. That triumphant death was witnessed by all heaven, by the whole universe. Satan bruised the heel of the seed of the woman, but in the act of Huss his head was bruised. In contrast to deeds of that council, uprooting truth and righteousness, in contrast to their cruelty to Huss, the martyr's constancy, his faith, his example, has been reflecting its light down along the times for centuries. His example has been encouraging others to submit their souls and bodies to God alone, to exalt God alone and take the Scriptures as their guide. This will make them the light of the world. This will make them examples of faith and courage and steadfastness in truth. This will nerve them to suffer and to endure, gaining victories even in sorrow and in death. Those who follow John Huss' example may expect the same mercies from the same God who braced and fortified him. Huss' Christlike bearing under trials of suffering, contempt, abuse, and perjury caused joy among the angels and the friends of truth and righteousness. {9MR 276.1}

FOR JOHN HUSS SEE JOHN HUS, LETTERS, 1904; E. J. KITTS, POPE JOHN XXIII AND MASTER JOHN HUS (LONDON, 1910); D. S. SCHAFF, JOHN HUS (1915); SCHWARZE, JOHN HUS (1915); AND MATTHEW SPINKA, JOHN HUS AND THE CZECH REFORM (1941). Great Controversy, page 686.3 (Appendix)

Great Controversy, Chapter 6: Huss and Jerome

In self-reproach for his own denial of the truth, Jerome continued: "Of all the sins that I have committed since my youth, none weigh so heavily on my mind, and cause me such poignant remorse, as that which I committed in this fatal place, when I approved of the iniquitous sentence rendered against Wycliffe, and against the holy martyr, John Huss, my master and my friend. Yes! I confess it from my heart, and declare with horror that I disgracefully quailed when, through a dread of death, I condemned their doctrines. I therefore supplicate . . . Almighty God to deign to pardon me my sins, and this one in particular, the most heinous of all." Pointing to his judges, he said firmly: "You condemned Wycliffe and John Huss, not for having shaken the doctrine of the church, but simply because they branded with reprobation the scandals proceeding from the clergy -- their pomp, their pride, and all the vices of the prelates and priests. The things which they have affirmed, and which are irrefutable, I also think and declare, like them." Great Controversy, page 113.2

When he was thus arrayed, "the prelates said, 'Now we devote thy soul to the devil.' 'And I,' said John Huss, lifting up his eyes toward heaven, 'do commit my spirit into Thy hands, O Lord Jesus, for Thou hast redeemed me.'"-- Wylie, b. 3, ch. 7. Great Controversy, page 109.1

John Huss was of humble birth, and was early left an orphan by the death of his father. His pious mother, regarding education and the fear of God as the most valuable of possessions, sought to secure this heritage for her son. Huss studied at the provincial school, and then repaired to the university at Prague, receiving admission as a charity scholar. He was accompanied on the journey to Prague by his mother; widowed and poor, she had no gifts of worldly wealth to bestow upon her son, but as they drew near to the great city, she kneeled down beside the fatherless youth and invoked for him the blessing of their Father in heaven. Little did that mother realize how her prayer was to be answered. Great Controversy, page 98.1

The chief objects to be accomplished by the council were to heal the schism in the church and to root out heresy. Hence the two antipopes were summoned to appear before it, as well as the leading propagator of the new opinions, John Huss. The former, having regard to their own safety, did not attend in person, but were represented by their delegates. Pope John, while ostensibly the convoker of the council, came to it with many misgivings, suspecting the emperor's secret purpose to depose him, and fearing to be brought to account for the vices which had disgraced the tiara, as well as for the crimes which had secured it. Yet he made his entry into the city of Constance with great pomp, attended by ecclesiastics of the highest rank and followed by a train of courtiers. All the clergy and dignitaries of the city, with an immense crowd of citizens, went out to welcome him. Above his head was a golden canopy, borne by four of the chief magistrates. The host was carried before him, and the rich dresses of the cardinals and nobles made an imposing display. {GC 104.3}

Return to Selected Quotations by EGW page

Return to Phrases related to People page

diggingfortruth.org