Abstract
Zuzana Svobodová's article Motives of the Witness of Christ (II. - Johann Amos Comenius) is a follow-up contribution of an article published in the journal Studia Comeniana et historica (cf. SCetH 93-94, pp. 5-24, Motives of the Witness of Christ: I. - John Huss).
By way of analysis of Comenius' works, his motivation is sought for the service of a witness of Christ, i.e. specific values, which Comenius lists to be vital and determining for human life. It is shown - especially on the basis of a work by Comenius, which addressed Christian preachers - what he considered to be crucial for Christ's servants.
Firstly, it involves an invitation to use the Word of God - the Scriptures - for encouragement, correction, and reflections. Without perseverance, diligence and faithfulness to God's Word a Christian cannot withstand in times of trials and tribulations.
Such trials are considered an instrument of God's earthly School of the Cross. It is God Himself, who is the school's originator.
If, according to Comenius, a person holds out in the School of the Cross, he/she will advance to Celestial Academy, where there is the fullness of knowledge and love; he/she will be saved. To achieve this, however, it is necessary to experience a transformation in the highest earthly school, i.e. in the School of the Heart, in which the Holy Spirit effects a change of one's heart and people respond with their humble faith.
Without humility, it is impossible to be a good witness of Christ; humility is the fruit of the School of the Cross. As witnesses of Christ and priests, both Johannes Hus, and Jan Amos Comenius are motivated to achieve their own salvation and that of others.
In the minds of the two thinkers, however, the cross plays a different role in one's journey of life. While, with Hus, the cross is seen as the ultimate sacrifice at the end of a life for the truth, Comenius sees the cross as an immanent part of the whole journey of life: The whole life is a way of the cross, the whole life can be compared to a school, in which one learns to take up the cross and follow Christ, becoming a child of God.