John Wycliffe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

John Wycliffe (c. 1328 – December 31, 1384) was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

preacher, translator

Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...

, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centred reforms. The Lollard movement, was a precursor to the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

(for this reason, Wycliffe is sometimes called "The Morning Star of the Reformation").

Unanswered Questions

WHAT WAS THE MAIN REASON FOR THE PAPACY TO BRAND WYCLIFFE AS A HERETIC?

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Quotations

I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.

Statement to the Duke of Lancaster (1381), as quoted in Champions of the Right (1885) by Edward Gilliat, p. 135

This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.

General Prologue to the Bible translation of 1384, as quoted in Lincoln at Gettysburg : An Address (1906) by Clark Ezra Carr, p. 75; also in The Collected works of Eric Voegelin, Vol. II Published Essays, 1953-1965 (2000), edited by Ellis Sandoz, p. 61

Crown and cloth maken no priest, nor emperor's bishop with his words, but power that crist giveth; and thus by life have been priests known.

As quoted in Typical English Churchmen (1909) by John Neville Figgis, p. 15

There was good reason for the silence of the Holy Spirit as to how, when, in what form Christ ordained the apostles, the reason being to show the indifferency of all forms of words.

Latin statement in De Quattuor Sectis Novellis, as translated in Typical English Churchmen (1909) by John Neville Figgis, p. 16

I acknowledge that the sacrament of the altar is very God's body in form of bread, but it is in another manner God's body than it is in heaven.

As quoted in Wyclif, by Anthony Kenny, p. 90. (1985) published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287646-5

Already a third and more of England is in the hands of the Pope. There cannot be two temporal sovereigns in one country; either Edward is King or Urban is king. We make our choice. We accept Edward of England and refute Urban of Rome.

Quoted in William Tyndale: If God Spare My Life — Martyrdom, Betrayal and the English Bible (2003) by Brian Moynahan, p. xvii

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