blasphemies, sins and follies were the offspring of that adulterous
union between the Church and the State, which began in the days of
Constantine the Great. For of all the evils under Heaven, the
greatest, said Peter, was that contradiction in terms--a State
Church.

He attacked the great theologians and scholars. Instead of using
their mental powers in the search for truth, these college men, said
Peter, had done their best to suppress the truth; and at the two
great Councils of Constance and Basle, they had actually obtained
the help of the temporal power to crush all who dared to hold
different views from theirs. What use, asked Peter, were these
learned pundits? They were no use at all. They never instructed
anybody. "I do not know," he said, "a single person whom they have
helped with their learning." Had they instructed Hus? No. Hus had
the faith in himself; Hus was instructed by God; and all that these
ravens did for Hus was to flock together against him.

Again, Peter denounced the Bohemian nobles. As we read his biting,
satirical phrases we can see that he was no respecter of persons and
no believer in artificial distinctions of rank. For him the only
distinction worth anything was the moral distinction between those
who followed the crucified Jesus and those who rioted in selfish
pleasures.

He had no belief in blue blood and noble birth. He was almost,
though not quite, a Socialist. He had no definite, constructive
social policy. He was rather a champion of the rights of the poor,
and an apostle of the simple life. "The whole value of noble birth,"
he said, "is founded on a wicked invention of the heathen, who