Does anyone know if John Huss was a universalist?
I’ve heard that the early Moravians were, and I think they were followers of his.
Does anyone know more?
I don’t know for certain that Jan Hus was a Universalist (but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t). This is what the Wiki article has to say of Jan Hus and the Moravian Church (which accords with my Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church)
*The movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus (English: John Huss) in the late 14th century. Hus objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to return the church in Bohemia and Moravia to what were the practices in these territories when it had been Eastern Orthodox: liturgy in the language of the people (i.e. Czech), having lay people receive communion in both kinds (bread and wine - that is, in Latin, communio sub utraque specie), married priests, and eliminating indulgences and the idea of Purgatory. Evidence of their roots in Eastern Orthodoxy can be seen today in their form of the Nicene Creed, which like Orthodox Churches, does not include the filioque clause. In rejecting indulgences, Jan Hus can be said to have adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone; in doing so, the Moravians arguably became the first Protestant church.
The movement gained royal support and a certain independence for a while, but was eventually forced to be subject to Rome. Hus was tried by the Council of Constance, declared a heretic, and burned at the stake on 6 July 1415.*
If Hus did have Universalist leanings it would have been due to the influence of Eastern Orthodoxy I guess.
Certainly the Moravain Church was the earliest organised Protestnat Church in Europe - much predating Luther.
But the Universalist Moravians I know of were part of the Moravian revival under Count Zinzendorf in the eighteenth century. Count Zinzendorf was greatly influenced by the European Pietist tradition which arose in the seventeenth century as a reaction against the dogmatic rationalism into which both Calvinism and Lutheranism had descended. Pietism taught a religion of the heart and stressed that holy Christian living was more important than creedal orthodoxy – and some braches of Pietism leaned towards universalism. Pietism was certainly a major influence on the original New England Universalism – Pietists found refugee from persecution on the continent in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania - and especially on Hosea Ballou and Dr. George de Benneville.
The famous Moravian revival Universalist was Peter Bohler – and here is the restrained and surprisingly cautious and scholarly article on him from Tentmakers -
*While Peter Bohler (1712 – 1775) was a beloved missionary in the Americas, he is perhaps most well-known for his ministry to the Wesley brothers on a ship sailing to America . It was Bohler who convinced John Wesley of the doctrine of justification by faith, thus freeing his troubled soul from trying to earn his salvation through righteousness. He was a longtime friend to both Wesleys.
Who was this man who was able to play such an important role in the history of the church?
Peter Bohler, a Pietist theology student from Frankfort, Germany, was the first man ordained by Count von Zinzendorf. Later he was appointed bishop in America where he founded many Moravian settlements in Pennsylvania. He was one of the first men in America to minister amongst the black slaves, teaching both theology and the basics of education that they would have otherwise been denied. He also served as a missionary among the Indians, and established a Moravian work in England.
Did Peter Bohler believe in ultimate reconciliation? Apparently so, since he said that “all the damned souls shall yet be brought out of hell.”
George Whitfield in a letter to John Wesley:
“Peter Bohler, one of the Moravian brethren, in order to make out universal redemption, lately frankly confessed in a letter that all the damned souls would hereafter be brought out of hell. I cannot think Mr. Wesley is thus minded. And yet unless this can be proved, universal redemption, taken in a literal sense, falls entirely to the ground. For how can all be universally redeemed, if all are not finally saved?”
History records that there were some Moravians who had universalist leanings, though Peter Bohler might be the most famous. Included in the “Sixteen Discourses” of Moravian literature is the statement, “By His (Christ’s) Name, all can and shall obtain life and salvation.” *
All the best
Dick 
I don’t know for certain that Jan Hus was a Universalist (but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t). This is what the Wiki article has to say of Jan Hus and the Moravian Church (which accords with my Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church)
*The movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus (English: John Huss) in the late 14th century. Hus objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to return the church in Bohemia and Moravia to what were the practices in these territories when it had been Eastern Orthodox: liturgy in the language of the people (i.e. Czech), having lay people receive communion in both kinds (bread and wine - that is, in Latin, communio sub utraque specie), married priests, and eliminating indulgences and the idea of Purgatory. Evidence of their roots in Eastern Orthodoxy can be seen today in their form of the Nicene Creed, which like Orthodox Churches, does not include the filioque clause. In rejecting indulgences, Jan Hus can be said to have adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone; in doing so, the Moravians arguably became the first Protestant church.
The movement gained royal support and a certain independence for a while, but was eventually forced to be subject to Rome. Hus was tried by the Council of Constance, declared a heretic, and burned at the stake on 6 July 1415.*
If Hus did have Universalist leanings it would have been due to the influence of Eastern Orthodoxy I guess.
Certainly the Moravain Church was the earliest organised Protestnat Church in Europe - much predating Luther.
But the Universalist Moravians I know of were part of the Moravian revival under Count Zinzendorf in the eighteenth century. Count Zinzendorf was greatly influenced by the European Pietist tradition which arose in the seventeenth century as a reaction against the dogmatic rationalism into which both Calvinism and Lutheranism had descended. Pietism taught a religion of the heart and stressed that holy Christian living was more important than creedal orthodoxy – and some braches of Pietism leaned towards universalism. Pietism was certainly a major influence on the original New England Universalism – Pietists found refugee from persecution on the continent in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania - and especially on Hosea Ballou and Dr. George de Benneville.
The famous Moravian revival Universalist was Peter Bohler – and here is the restrained and surprisingly cautious and scholarly article on him from Tentmakers -
*While Peter Bohler (1712 – 1775) was a beloved missionary in the Americas, he is perhaps most well-known for his ministry to the Wesley brothers on a ship sailing to America . It was Bohler who convinced John Wesley of the doctrine of justification by faith, thus freeing his troubled soul from trying to earn his salvation through righteousness. He was a longtime friend to both Wesleys.
Who was this man who was able to play such an important role in the history of the church?
Peter Bohler, a Pietist theology student from Frankfort, Germany, was the first man ordained by Count von Zinzendorf. Later he was appointed bishop in America where he founded many Moravian settlements in Pennsylvania. He was one of the first men in America to minister amongst the black slaves, teaching both theology and the basics of education that they would have otherwise been denied. He also served as a missionary among the Indians, and established a Moravian work in England.
Did Peter Bohler believe in ultimate reconciliation? Apparently so, since he said that “all the damned souls shall yet be brought out of hell.”
George Whitfield in a letter to John Wesley:
“Peter Bohler, one of the Moravian brethren, in order to make out universal redemption, lately frankly confessed in a letter that all the damned souls would hereafter be brought out of hell. I cannot think Mr. Wesley is thus minded. And yet unless this can be proved, universal redemption, taken in a literal sense, falls entirely to the ground. For how can all be universally redeemed, if all are not finally saved?”
History records that there were some Moravians who had universalist leanings, though Peter Bohler might be the most famous. Included in the “Sixteen Discourses” of Moravian literature is the statement, “By His (Christ’s) Name, all can and shall obtain life and salvation.” *
All the best
Dick