THE NET OF FAITH
by Peter Chelčický
translated by Rev. Enrico Molnár
A HISTORICAL STUDY OF PETER CHELČICKÝ:
HIS LIFE, WORK, AND PHILOSOPHY
Peter Chelčický – A Symbolical Pen Drawing
There is an oriental story that tells of a ruler who summoned wise men to his palace and asked them the question, “What thing, in the whole world, gives the most light?” The wise men answered, “The sun.” Then the ruler asked, “What gives the most light when the sun is down?” The wise men replied, “The moon.” – “And what if the moon is down and the sun not yet up; what is, then, the brightest thing in the world?” – “The stars.”
And the ruler pressed on and on with his questions, eliminating the sun, the moon, the stars, the Taj‑Mahal, and Aladdin’s lamp, until the wise men got together and gave their final answer to the ruler: “Know thou, O most illustrious King, that there is no thing in the whole universe that gives more light than the soul of man.”
If the Slavs were asked who their most illustrious men are, past and present, they would with one accord give a galaxy of names that would certainly include such immortals as Copernicus, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Hus, Mickiewicz, Dvořák, Strosmayer, Comenius, Soloviev, Masaryk, Kosciuszko, Šafařík, Tchaikovsky…
If they were asked to name their profoundest philosopher, the answer would be Dostoyevsky.
If they were asked to name their best theologians, they would point to Berdyaev, Soloviev, and Comenius.
And if the question were, “Who is, among all Slavs, the most original thinker and the most radical Christian?” the consensus of opinion would certainly say, “Peter Chelčický!”
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Peter Chelčický, born sometime toward the close of the fourteenth century in Southern Bohemia, during the days of John Hus’ fame, became the most critical opponent of Romanism as well as of the Hussite Revolution. Relentlessly, he sought the Christian way of life and the Christian answer to the historical, social, and economic problems of his time. He did not find it in the Church of Rome or in the bloody protest against it, Hussitism.
It is customary to speak of two types of Continental Reformation: Calvinist and Lutheran. Yet there was still a third type, waiting for more scientific exploration: the Slav or, specifically, the Czech Reformation. It bears the deep imprint of three prophetic personalities: of John Hus, its protagonist, hero, and martyr; of John Amos Comenius, its philosopher, educator, and theologian; and of Peter Chelčický, its stern prophet, conscience, and climax. Hus appeals to our heart and imagination, Comenius appeals to our mind and thought, and Chelčický appeals to our soul and conscience. Hus is colorful and dramatic, Comenius is majestic and profound, and Chelčický is rugged and disturbing.
Both Hus and Comenius were highly educated men; they wrote in Czech as well as in Latin; their work was known abroad. Chelčický was born and remained the rest of his life a peasant, a yeoman. He did not possess an academic education and knew only the rudiments of Latin. He wrote only in Czech, and so it happens that his work is well nigh unknown in the West.
That Chelčický ranks among the most precious manifestations of the Czech mind is not only the exalted opinion of the writer of this thesis; all those who are conversant with Czech and Slav culture and literature concur. “Some Czech historians call Chelčický – and perhaps not without foundation – the greatest philosophic genius of his age in all coeval Europe.”[7] One of the first foreigners who became acquainted with the work of Chelčický, Leo N. Tolstoy, declared:
Apart from its interest, concerning which there may be differences of opinion, it is one of the most remarkable results of human thought, both on account of its profundity and the wonderful power and beauty of its language, not to mention its antiquity. And yet, this book has remained unprinted for centuries, and continues to be unknown except to a few specialists… This book is among the few that have been saved from the flames into which books denouncing official Christianity were commonly cast…
The Net of Faith is the doctrine of Christ, wherewith man is to be raised from the gloomy depths of the social sea of iniquity. True faith is to believe the word of God, but we are living in a time when men call the true faith heresy. Hence, it is upon our own reason that we must rely to discover truth if we possess it not. Darkness has concealed it from men and they no longer recognize the true law of Christ.[8]
The first president of Czechoslovakia, Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, held a very high esteem for Chelčický, even though he did not agree with the radical implications of this philosopher’s ethics:
Chelčický … is a clear, absolutely consistent, and intrepid thinker and pioneer, an enemy of violence; he is Hus and Žižka in one soul, a man thoroughly Czech… Hus – Žižka – Chelčický – Comenius: what name can the Hapsburg Counter-Reformation muster against these names, sacred to the whole nation? Against a great idea it is able to muster only bare violence.[9]
Ernest Denis, the French historian, writes in his history of the Hussite wars:
(Chelčický) était une âme tender et pieuse, pleine de foi, d’enthousiasme et de charité. On ne pouvait le connaître sans l’aimer… L’adoration de Dieu, cette charité qui ouvrent le ciel, on ne les impose pas, on ne commande pas l’amour; aussi Chelčický condamne-t-il de la maničre la plus formelle toute violence et toute tyrannice .[10]
Peu d’hommes ont donné lieu a autant de travaux et de controverses que Kheltchitsky (sic). Épreuve redoutable que ces examens répétés et ces polemiques: il en est sorti plus grand. A mesure qu’on le connaît mieux, on se prend pour lui d’une sorte de vénération attendrie. Chez lui, tout parle au coeur, parce que tout vient du coeur, la doctrine comme l’éloquence.[11]
And speaking of the followers and disciples of Chelčický he writes:
L’histoire ne connaît peut-ętre pas de spectacle plus touchant que celui de ses communautés qui marchent pendant les sičcles la main dans la main sans une pensée de révolte ou une parole de colčre…[12]
And on the American side, Dr. Matthew Spinka of Hartford Theological Seminary recently wrote a detailed evaluation of Peter Chelčický. He prefaced it with these words:
Among the outstanding figures of the period of the “flowering of the Czech Reformation,” Peter Chelčický occupies a prominent, and in some respects a unique, position. Although not as well known as John Hus, from certain points of view Peter is more important, and certainly more original, than the great Czech Reformer, insofar as in his radical Biblicism he went far beyond the latter.[13]
These estimates must suffice to show the eminent place reserved for Chelčický in all studies of the Czech Reformation. We shall deal with the life of Chelčický elsewhere; this thesis centers on his largest and most celebrated work, The Net of Faith. Chelčický was, however, a prolific writer[14] reacting to all major issues of the day. The subjects of his books and treatises show the universality of his keen mind: they range from discussing theft and civil law to interpretations of the Lord’s Prayer, St. Matthew’s Gospel, and the Sacraments, and from a condemnation of the caste system to Sunday meditations.
Still, The Net of Faith remains his most mature work. This magnum opus has become, in many respects, the most important work of the Czech Reformation. Its language makes no easy reading and, so far, it has been translated only into two other languages, Russian[15] and German.[16]
The writer of this thesis has felt that this work should be made available to the English speaking public, especially to the student of Church history and religious thought. It is with a sense of great humility that he responded to the challenge of faith and assumed the task of translation.
[7] A. N. Pypin, quoted on the jacket of Síť víry by Petr Chelčický, edited by Emil Smetánka, rev. ed. of 1929.
[8] The Kingdom of God is Within You, (in the series of “The Novels and Other Works of L N. Tolstoi”), New York: Scribner’s, 1900, pp.19-22.
[9] T. G. Masaryk, Světová Revoluce, Praha: Orbis, 1925, p.602.
[10] “Chelčický was a sensitive and pious soul, full of faith, enthusiasm and love. One could not have known him without loving him… The adoration of God, that quality which opens the heavens, cannot be imposed; love cannot be commanded. And so Chelčický condemns in the most emphatic way all violence and all tyranny.” Ernest Denis, Huss et la Guerre des Hussites, Paris: Leroux, 1930, p.463.
[11] “Few men have caused so many studies and controversies as Chelčický. From all these trials, investigations, and polemics, he has emerged greater. As one knows him better, one is bound to feel for him a sort of tender veneration. In him everything speaks to the heart, because everything comes from the heart, both knowledge and eloquence.” Ernest Denis, Fin de l’indépendance bohęme, I, “Georges de Podiebrad,” Paris: Leroux, 1930, p.303.
[12] “History knows perhaps no more touching spectacles than that of the communities marching together through the centuries, without a thought of rebellion or a word of anger.” Ernest Denis, Huss et la Guerre des Hussites, p. 464.
[13] Matthew Spinka, “Peter Chelčický, Spiritual Father of the Unitas Fratrum,” Church History, XII (December, 1943), p.271.
[14] See the list of Chelčický’s works in the bibliography at the end of the thesis.
[15] Siet Viery. Translated into Russian by J. S. Annenkov. Moscow: Posrednik, 1907.
[16] Das Netz des Glaubens. Translated into German by Carl Vogel. Dachau, 1924.