Lukáš of Prague

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LUKÁŠ OF PRAGUE

Czech theologian, leader of bohemian brethren;b. Prague, c. 1460; d. Mladá Boleslav, Dec. 11, 1528. He was reared as an Utraquist; he graduated from Prague University in 1481 and soon afterward joined the Unity of Brethren. In the 1490s Lukáš was instrumental in persuading the Unity to abandon its antistate position. In 1494 he was elected to the Narrow Council; in 1500 he was chosen a bishop of the Unity, which he reorganized. He was a prolific writer of theological and liturgical works, hymns, and catechisms. Although he had contacts with Luther in the early 1520s, the two never reached any agreement.

Bibliography: p. brock, The Political and Social Doctrines of the Unity of Czech Brethren (The Hague 1957). j. weisskopf, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 195765) 6:1207. e. peschke, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (Tübingen 195765) 4:473.

[p. brock]