The long contests of the Bohemians for
liberty of conscience, and their final destruction, present one of the
most heart-rending tragedies to be found in human history. Not less
ready to maintain their convictions with the pen than with the sword,
the theological literature of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and the first
twenty years of the seventeenth centuries, is of an extent with which
that of no other Slavic language can be compared. It is true, however,
that most of these productions bear decidedly the stamp of the period
in which they were written. Dictated by the polemical spirit of the
age, and for the most part directed by one protestant party against
another, there is very little to be found in them to gratify the
Christian, or from which the theological student of the present day
could derive any other than historical instruction. On the other hand,
while the theological literature of all the other Slavic nations is
almost exclusively limited to sermons, catechisms, prayer-books, and
other devotional exercises, among the Bohemians alone do we meet with
cxegetical researches and interpretations, founded on a scientific
examination of the original text of the Scriptures.
There are few branches of science or art in which the Bohemians have
not to boast of some eminent name.
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