Medieval · 1413

De Ecclesia

Jan Hus (c. 1369-1415)

Written in 1413 while Hus awaited trial by the Council of Constance, De Ecclesia argues that the true church is the body of the predestinate with Christ as its sole head, not the papal hierarchy. Drawing extensively on Augustine and Wyclif, Hus dismantles the medieval claim that the pope is the necessary head of the church, insisting instead that Scripture and Christ's law are the church's only infallible authorities. The treatise became one of the most consequential pre-Reformation documents in Western Christianity: Luther read it in 1519 and declared that Hus had taught what he himself believed.

8 hrs total · 23 chapters