What scholars say about Dcerka:
“A profession of faith…that is existential, warm, and communicative, from a man who is transmitting to his chosen audience his deep conviction regarding the meaning of life.”
“Hus wrote to these pious women because of his conviction that women were sometimes more ardent proponents of religious truth than the theologians of Prague in the early fifteenth century.”
“Hus was writing exclusively to a female audience…a spiritual instructional manual to equip them for an active public role, alongside their male counterparts.”
Who was Jan Hus?
Jan Hus was a Roman Catholic priest and reformer who challenged the abuses of the Catholic church a century before Martin Luther. Preaching in the common language at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, Hus demanded that church leaders keep to their vows of poverty and chastity. He was excommunicated in 1412, and during a period of exile, wrote a spiritual guide for the women of the Beguine movement. In 1415, he was declared an arch-heretic at the Council of Constance and was burned at the stake. His followers defied the Church and the Hussite wars led to the establishment of the Unitas Fratrum in 1457, setting the stage for the later Lutheran Reformation.
Who Were the Beguines?
The Beguines were a Christian lay religious order that were active in Western Europe in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows. Although they promised not to marry "as long as they lived as Beguines", they were free to leave at any time. Beguines were part of a larger spiritual revival movement of the 13th century that stressed imitation of Jesus' life through voluntary poverty, care of the poor and sick, and religious devotion. They generally lived in intentional communities. Many of the women served the poor and worked as midwives. There was apparently a large and actvie group of Beguines in Prague who participated in worship at Bethlehem Chapel. This is the group that Hus wrote Dcerka for.
About Comenius Foundation
Comenius Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to using film and television to promote faith, learning, and love. We seek to help restore a moral balance to television programming through advocacy, education, and the creation of fine television productions and movies. A particular focus is Christian history and how our history inspires the future. We have been producing award-winning, positive film and television programs and websites since 1999.
Scholarly Views on Dcerka
“It was common for preachers and theology instructors to teach that God had not created the female body in his image...and therefore only men had the power to govern. Hus departed from tradition in rejecting these views, particularly the belief that God had not made woman in his own image. Instead, he taught that men and women were equal, and that, as worthy members of God's economy, women were fully competent to contribute to the life of society or to any religious community.”
Recovering A Women's Spirituality For Mission In Jan Hus's Dcerka [The Daughter]
by Dr. Michèle Miller Sigg (2021)
“Jan Hus' The Daughter teaches the duty of eschatological disobedience.... Disobedience was not defiance but an integral part of spirituality. Hus (and the Taborites after him) refused to be complicit; therefore, they became disobedient both to church and civil authority.”
Jan Hus: Between Time and Eternity
by Dr. Thomas Fudge (2015)
“Hus encouraged women to study the Scriptures, to speak to others about Christ, to participate in church singing, and to admonish those who needed correction, including priests. 'Listen, daughter, and incline your ears and know that you are a person and that you have a body and a soul,' he wrote in 1412. 'Therefore remember, that God created you in his likeness.'”
John Hus’s Company of Women
by Simonetta Carr (2021)
Other Projects from Comenius Foundation
Comenius Foundation creates top-quality feature films, documentaries, websites, and publications to illuminate the darkness.
Subscribe
Subscribe to be first to know about news from Comenius Foundation!