Petr Chelčický
Petr Chelčický | |
|---|---|
Chelčický talking with masters of the University of Prague | |
| Born | c. 1390 AD Chelčice, Bohemian Kingdom (present-day Czech Republic) |
| Died | c. 1460 AD Chelčice |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Medieval philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Christian pacifism |
| Main interests | Social philosophy Moravian Church, Baptist Union in the Czech Republic, Leo Tolstoy |
| Notable ideas | Non-violence |
Petr Chelčický (Czech: [ˈpɛtr̩ ˈxɛltʃɪtskiː]; c. 1390 – c. 1460) was a Czech Christian spiritual leader and author in 15th-century Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. He was one of the most influential thinkers of the Bohemian Reformation. Chelčický inspired the Unitas Fratrum, who opposed transubstantiation and monasticism, insisting on pacifism and the primacy of scripture. There are multiple parallels with the teachings of the Anabaptists and Chelčický. Czech Baptists have also expressed continuity with the Bohemian reformation by identifying with Chelčický.
His published works critiqued the immorality and violence of the contemporary church and state. He proposed a number of Bible-based improvements for human society, including nonresistance, which influenced humanitarians Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Paradoxically, the main part of the Hussite movement rejected his teachings of nonviolence, which eventually led to much violence among the Hussite movement. Chelčický's teachings laid the foundation of the Unity of the Brethren.