This week we visited Bethleham Chapel in Prague, where Jan Hus pastored and preached. Sasa Flek gave us a great historical overview of the Reformation from the Czech perspective.
Normally, when theologians tell the story, they focus on the doctrinal changes of the Reformation and honor the theologians like Wyclif, Hus, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc. But the story would not be the same without the businessmen and philanthropists who made it happen.
For example,
- The businessman who sponsored a few Czech students to go to Oxford and hear John Wyclif. These students returned to Prague with the documents and writings that would inspire Jan Hus.
- The businessman who paid for a "preaching station" in Prague where preachers, including Jan Hus in 1402, could articulate their thoughts on the Bible. It was here, at Bethlehem Chapel, that thousands of people came to hear and respond and ignite the Czech Reformation that would influence the rest of Europe.
- As a result of the Czech Reformation, and the negative Catholic reaction to it, the gospel was spread globally through the Moravian missionaries who would not have had a place to live or study or work had it not been for the wealthy philanthropic aristocrat Count Zinzendorf.
The reformation that followed Hus was massive and a hundred years later, Luther's admission that Hus might not be as heretical as previously thought would be a turning point for the Lutheran Reformation. And from Germany to the world.
Now thats a HUGE return on investment, no matter how you measure it. Thanks to God and thanks to some nameless businessmen, who had the foresight to see what could be, and the faith to put their money into it.
