Abstract
In this paper, the famous thesis of T. G.
Masaryk: "States are maintained by the ideas on which they were established," is evoked and associated with a history of particular churches. Analogically, it can be stated that churches "are maintained by the ideas on which they were established." The author reminds readers of the courageous attempt of the founders of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church (CSHC) and the unselfishness of the following generation which were crowned by the unprecedented consolidation of the CSHC in the European ecclesiastical context.
Christ's Spirit is seen as the formal as well as the material principal of the fundamental theology of the CSHC. The Spirit of the risen Lord is also considered to be the source of freedom of conscience, humanist ideals, and democracy.
These religious, political and social values became the spiritual cause of a new wave of social engagement as well as contributing to the cultivation of religious life in the new Czechoslovak Republic.