Wyclife’s teachings made its way to bohemia in two ways. The first was through Czech students who left the University of Paris for Oxford when the church fell into schism. The second was “the desire of Czech professors…to distinguish themselves, philosophically speaking, from their German counterparts” (Madigan, 395).

a.The Holy Spirit is, according to Hus, a gift given when a man is ordained as a priest or given some other position within the clergy. This occurs when the hands of church officials are placed on the person receiving the position in a ritual ceremony of ordination. Simony threatens the purity of the Holy Spirit and causes all things that the person in that role does to be sinful because they have committed heresy in paying for their job. Hus says that “simony comprises of both buying and selling of holy things” (Peters, 283). He then goes on to say that holy things may be bought and sold but when done with evil intention then this buying and selling is simony. Hus says that committing simony is the intention to “derange his good order,” and “also peace” (Peters, 283).

b. Hus uses the writings of Saint Gregory, who criticizes all people who take money before ordaining people into their benefices. He also uses the scene from the bible when Jesus goes to the temple in Jerusalem and turns over the tables of the money changers and criticizes those who are taking money and paying money for spiritual returns. Hus equates the tables of the money changers to the altars of priests “which are converted by the covetous of the priests into tables of money changers” (Peters, 286). And he also equates the doves to the Holy Spirit who is being sold. This selling is like “the laying on of hands” (286) that occurs during ordination.

a. The council links Hus with Wyclif in articles 1 and 4 because they assert that the church is a universal ruler as opposed to the view that Wyclif is greatly known for, that the church is full of sinful people and should be below secular rulers who have the right to rule over their own lands and to make decisions about the church in those lands. In articles 8 and 13, the church addresses the criticism Hus had of the priests and popes that they all lived in sin. The council stated that while certain people may live in sin the whole office that they fulfill is not inherently bad. They also state that while the pope and cardinals are not the real incarnations of the apostles although they may be if they live according to the ways of the apostles. On the pope the council refutes Hus’ criticisms that the pope lives in heresy and that he has not received revelation. They also say that the pope is the head of the church because God has predestined him to be the head of the church and that he may only be there because his actions are like those of the apostles, negating Hus’ claim that the pope is not worthy of his seat in the papacy. The church also negates this same claim by saying that if a man “is foreknown, then as Judas, the Apostle, he is of the devil, a thief, a son of perdition, and he is not head of the holy militant Church, since he is not a member of it.”(Peters, 288).

b. Hus’ supporters became more radicalized due to his execution. They fully rejected the medieval-roman practices regarding the Eucharist and all highly criticized the church. They began to conduct their mass services in Czech rather than Latin and priests went back to a more simple way of living. The “Four Articles of Prague” represent a challenge to church teachings because they call for all to partake in the sacrament of the Eucharist, require priests to live simple humble lives, and say that priests, regardless of status, should be punished for their sins. Hussites are said to “confess boldly before the Lord God and the entire world that with the help of God” (Rosenwein, 490) they6 will live as good Christians. Their opponents are called liars and heretics whom the Hussites must defend the “truth of God” (490) from them. This relates to their claim that they will use “secular weapons” (490) to defend against these evil enemies. Portraying the opposition as enemies who may tempt them from a good Christian path makes this threat of using weapons to defend the truth of God seem like a just solution because most devout Christians would defend their religion in just the same way.