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The Great Controversy 1888
“The mind of Huss, at this stage of his career, would seem to have
been the scene of a painful conflict. Although the church was seeking
to overwhelm him by her thunder-bolts, he had not renounced her
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authority. The Roman Church was still to him the spouse of Christ,
and the pope was the representative and vicar of God. What Huss
was warring against was the abuse of authority, not the principle itself.
This brought on a terrible conflict between the convictions of his
understanding and the claims of his conscience. If the authority was
just and infallible, as he believed it to be, how came it that he felt
compelled to disobey it? To obey, he saw, was to sin; but why should
obedience to an infallible church lead to such an issue? This was
the problem he could not solve; this was the doubt that tortured him
from hour to hour. The nearest approximation to a solution, which
he was able to make, was that it had happened again, as once before
in the days of the Saviour, that the priests of the church had become
wicked persons, and were using their lawful authority for unlawful
ends. This led him to adopt for his own guidance, and to preach to
others for theirs, the maxim that the precepts of Scripture, conveyed
through the understanding, are to rule the conscience; in other words,
that God speaking in the Bible, and not the church speaking through
the priesthood, is the one infallible guide.”
When after a time the excitement in Prague subsided, Huss returned
to his chapel of Bethlehem, to continue with greater zeal and courage
the preaching of the Word of God. His enemies were active and
powerful, but the queen and many of the nobles were his friends, and
the people in great numbers sided with him. Comparing his pure and
elevating teachings and holy life with the degrading dogmas which
the Romanists preached, and the avarice and debauchery which they
practiced, many regarded it an honor to be on his side.
Hitherto Huss had stood alone in his labors; but now Jerome, who
while in England had accepted the teachings of Wycliffe, joined in the
work of reform. The two were hereafter united in their lives, and in
death they were not to be divided.
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Brilliancy of genius, eloquence and learning—gifts that win popu-
lar favor—were possessed in a pre-eminent degree by Jerome; but in
those qualities which constitute real strength of character, Huss was
the greater. His calm judgment served as a restraint upon the impulsive
spirit of Jerome, who, with true humility, perceived his worth, and