The letters of John Hus/Letter 5, To the People of Laun
V. To the People of Laun[1]
(Undated: about 1410)
Master John Hus, an unworthy servant of God, to the faithful citizens of Laun, grace unto you and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ!
Although, my beloved, I have not seen you with my outward eye, but with that of the spirit, yet I hear of your steadfast faith and love towards God and His gospel, and how our Saviour Himself hath made you as one man in faith, peace, love and the hearing of God’s word. Thus your unity and concord above all the other towns of Bohemia hath sunk deeply into my heart. I adjure you, beloved, although unknown to you by face, yet as one devoted in God to your salvation, love one another, stand fast in unity, and suffer no dissensions among yourselves. For it is the unity that comes of a true faith which will preserve you safe unto God. May God in His turn mercifully grant unto you a successful issue that you may overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil!
To this end, beloved, allow no schisms, treacheries, envies, angers, etc.,[2] to arise in your midst. If any one among you is incorrigible and a sower of discord, reprove him in private as a brother. Take no dispute to a public court, because to both parties it brings hurt in soul, body, and resources. Study to avenge rather the wrongs done to God than those done to yourselves. It is herein, alas! that the whole world goes wrong, because mortals desire rather to avenge their own wrongs than God’s. Antichrist above all prepares this way and lays it out broad and fair, chiefly for us priests, who desire the statutes of men to be more carefully kept than the word of God. Why, when a priest, monk, or prelate is guilty of debauchery or adultery, he gets off scot-free! But let him teach anything that is due to individual judgment, and this will be looked into under threat of anathema. In like manner, the secular priests punish no one for disgracing God. But let a man say to them, “Conscript fathers,[3] you are condemning an innocent man” (which frequently happens), then they punish him with the sword for charging his judges with injustice.
However, I trust God that He will deliver you from these evils, so that you may keep His law more jealously than the statutes of men. When you observe that law, no one can harm you. Therefore, beloved, look to these things that are eternal and imperishable. For there are two alternatives, condemnation and life eternal. Condemnation means perpetual fire, darkness, terrible torture and everlasting burning in company with devils. In life eternal there is perfect joy and light, without pain or torture, and there is communion with God Himself and His angels. As St. Paul saith: Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man (mark here in its full meaning “of man”) what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.[4] We shall be blessed when we enjoy that bliss, in which there is perfect love. For there we shall see who is accursed, damned, and reprobate; there will the sins that lie hidden in men’s hearts be open to view; there shall we experience such joy and comfort as will never be taken from us. If here we have to suffer for Christ’s sake, there we shall be blessed. It is through a cross and through afflictions that we are tried, like gold in the fire, by the Builder who formed the world out of nothing. Blessed then shall we be, if we persevere in that which is good, even to the end.
Beloved, knowing that the world is passing to its doom (death is at the door and we shall soon remove hence), make it your chief concern to live righteous and holy lives and renounce your sins. Next, give earnest heed to the things that are heavenly; and, finally, love God with all your heart and put your trust in Him; for He will honour you in His glory for the merits of Jesus Christ and will make you partakers of His kingdom. Amen.