The Unity of the Brethren () is the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Due to a schism in the province in 2000, eight of its original congregations comprise the so-called Herrnhut Seniorate of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. It is located in the lands (

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

) of the origins of the

Bohemian Reformation The Bohemian Reformation (also known as the Czech Reformation or Hussite Reformation), preceding the Reformation of the 16th century, was a Christian movement in the late medieval and early modern Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom and Lands of the Bo ...

, a movement that later created the Moravian Church.

Origins

The movement was originally started by a Catholic priest named

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

in approximately 1405 as part of the

, making it one of the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

denominations in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Hus is considered by some to be the first Church reformer, although some believe this to be

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

. Hus opposed many aspects of the Catholic Church in Bohemia, including the Bohemian view of ecclesiology, simony and the Eucharist. He established a new group as a reaction to these practices and attempted to return the Church in

and

to the practices of early Christianity. The movement gained royal support for a time but was eventually forced to be subject to Rome. Some of his followers publicly recognised Rome’s authority; however, the remaining

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

continued to operate outside Roman Catholicism and, within fifty years of Hus's death, had become independently organized as the 'Bohemian Brethren' or Unity of the Brethren. This group maintained Hussite theology (which later leaned towards

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

teachings). The first Brethren's congregation was founded in Kunvald, Bohemia, in 1457. After the expulsions of the Protestants from Czech lands during the 17th and 18th centuries, some families from Moravia, specifically from Fulnek and adjacent area, who preserved the traditions of the old Bohemian brethren, found refuge in Saxony. They established a new village called Herrnhut between 1722 and 1727. This was the beginning of the Moravian church as it is known today.

History

Since 1781, Protestantism was tolerated again in the Czech and Austrian lands and most of the secret Protestants and Bohemian brethren entered the newly established Evangelical churches of either the Augsburg or the Helvetic confessions (the modern Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession). The Moravian church as it was established in Herrnhut in the early 18th century could establish its congregation in the Czech lands first after the imperial Protestant patent in 1861. The first congregation of the "renewed Unity of the Brethren" was established in 1870 in Potštejn. Until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a third of the congregations were German-speaking. In 1957, the independent Czech province of the Moravian church was officially established during the general synod of Unitas Fratrum. In 1998 and 1999, a conflict escalated in the province concerning many theological and ecclesiological questions and it was not possible to maintain the unity of the province any further. Part of the congregations that wanted to retain the traditional forms of liturgy left the independent Czech province (''Jednota bratrská'') and formed a newly-established Herrnhut Seniorate (''Ochranovský seniorát'') of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren which remained part of the world-wide Moravian Church. In 2023, the Moravian Church consists of 19 provinces and several mission fields on four continents. The Unity is bound by the Church Order of the ‘’Unitas Fratrum’’, a document written by the Unity Synod (the highest legislative body within the Moravian Church). The province also runs a number of schools and vocational training centres.

Beliefs

The church follows the beliefs of the

Apostles’ Creed The Apostles' Creed (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christianity, Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is ...

, the

Athanasian Creed The Athanasian Creed—also called the ''Quicunque Vult'' (or ''Quicumque Vult''), which is both its Latin name and its opening words, meaning "Whosoever wishes"—is a Christian statement of belief focused on Trinitarian doctrine and Christolo ...

, the

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

and

Luther's Small Catechism Luther's Small Catechism () is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Bapti ...

.JBCR website
/ref>

References

External links

*
Jednota Bratrska official website
{{Authority control Protestantism in the Czech Republic Provinces of the Moravian Church

Origins

History

Beliefs

See also

References

Further reading

External links