Paths of modern society, the state and Christianity

1914-1939 A.D.

The bloody conflict of the First World War (1914-18) in Europe accelerated the development of many historical trends. The demise of or the evolution of the old state services, the creation of national States, greater freedom and human rights, the end of all restrictions in religion are the cornerstones of modern society, which is today’s Europe. The cruel progress of trench warfare was a society-wide shock. That brings new impulses and pathways for culture and religion. For the Czech country - a new Republic, for the Czech Christians - the emergence of new churches.

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which became the defeated power of the First World War, brought on October 28th, 1918, the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic. The leading figures in the long-term endeavor for the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia became the top officials of the new country: the former imperial member - Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the French army general - Milan Rastislav Štefánik and diplomat - Edvard Beneš. Symbolic jubilees are significant in the search for the identity of the newly formed country and society - 500th anniversary of the burning of Jan Hus, upcoming jubilees of the Hussite era and a millennial anniversary of the death of St. Wenceslas. All of the jubilees became an opportunity to interpret the most important periods in the history of the Czech nation, either from the position of Catholicism, or Reformation. A dispute between historians was named the “Dispute about the meaning of the Czech history” and everyone at that time was interested in that. The search for identity of the nation is reflected in the search for the roots and identity of Czech non-Catholic Christians, as indicated by the names of the emerging churches. New Churches of the new country The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren was founded in 1918 by merging the Protestant congregations of the Reformed and Lutheran religions. This was not possible before since the time of the Patent of Toleration, although voices calling for the merger were heard repeatedly, for example during the revolutionary storms in 1848. The name of the church (The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren) alludes to the Czech Reformation and the Unity of the Brethren Church. The combining of two of the main currents of the European Reformation allowed most of all a more liberal atmosphere between the evangelists, in which the differences between the two churches faded away. Subsequently, the Huss Evangelical Theological Faculty is founded as well as many charitable associations headed by the Czech charter. The German evangelists founded the German Evangelical Church with the main focus being in the Northwest part of the Czech Republic.

The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in its inception offered to unite with other non-Catholic Christian groups. This effort was, however, refused by various parties, for example – Lutheran congregations in North Moravia have continued their activities independently as the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. Also, the newly founded Czechoslovak Hussite Church opted for separate existence. Its founding in 1920 is mainly due to the original Unity of the Catholic clergy, from which the Club of Reformed Priests arose with efforts to reform the church (many changes were later allowed by the Second Vatican Council). The head of the Unity and the Club formed writers (Jindřich Šimon Baar) and priests, especially Dr. Karel Farský. However, when reformists had failed with their proposals to the Pope, they began to work on the creation of a new Church, which was the driving force behind the so-called Away from Rome Movement. Their slogan was “Away from Rome” and over time, through its establishment, became close to Protestantism. This church, which has profiled itself as a national church, in 1971 added the word “Hussite” to its name. Matěj Pavlík separated from it right after the initial formation with the focus on pure orthodoxy. He became the first bishop of the Eparchy of Prague and adopted the name Gorazd of Prague II. He deliberately continued in the tradition of Cyril and Methodius.

The Czech Reformation tradition espoused the Unity of Czech Brethren (formerly the Free Reformed Church and later renamed the Church of Brethren), the renewed Unity of the Brethren (Unitas fratrum) and Brethren Baptist Union. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and the United Methodist Church come from the United States (The USA is the place where other new Protestant directions come from). Roman Catholicism is trying to find a new space in the Czech environment after the fall of the Austrian monarchy. Many writers and intellectuals help this process: historian Josef Pekař, writers Jaroslav Durych, Otokar Březina, Josef Florian and so on. Significant personalities among the bishops were František Kordač and Leopold Prečan. There is an increasing interest in the heritage of Cyril and Methodius ever since the mid-19th century. The pilgrimage center Velehrad becomes its center and an important spiritual center visited by the leaders of Christian Europe.

Churches arising during the first Republic mainly have a functionalist form - austerity, purity of geometric shapes, spaciousness, airiness, efficiency. They are rapidly growing in new neighborhoods of large cities (Prague, Brno, Pilsen, and Zlín) and smaller Czech and Moravian towns (Louny, Jablonec nad Nisou). Cubist pattern buildings are rarely built (The Bethlehem Chapel of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Žižkov and the Congregational church and house of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Pečky).