The Morning Star of the Reformation
As we saw earlier, from 1378-1417 the powerful Roman Church had not one, not two, but eventually three popes. Each one damning the other and all who followed them. For forty years a whole generation was under a curse. In the midst of this dark time, a glimmer of light in England arose named John Wycliffe (1320-1384). Wycliffe was a priest, a theologian and a scholar at Oxford University. Wycliffe had the audacity to question church authorities and, like the reformers after him, was willing to die for his beliefs, saying “I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death.” He exalted preaching, defined the church as the congregation of the elect, denounced the doctrine of transubstantiation, questioned the usefulness of monasteries, and held that the Scriptures should be written in the common English language and read by all, not just priests.
Wycliffe upheld salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, saying, “Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on His sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by His righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation.”
And “It is not good for us to trust in our merits, in our virtues or our righteousness; but only in God's free pardon, as given us through faith in Jesus Christ.”
Wycliffe held that the Scriptures were the final authority over the Church.
“The true Christian was intended by Christ to prove all things by the Word of God: all churches, all ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices," he said. "These are his marching orders. Prove all by the Word of God; measure all by the measure of the Bible; compare all with the standard of the Bible; weigh all in the balances of the Bible; examine all by the light of the Bible; test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away. This is the flag which he nailed to the mast. May it never be lowered!”
John Wycliffe felt every Englishman should have the Bible in their native tongue. He translated the first English translation of the Scriptures 150 years before William Tyndale. "Englishmen learn Christ's law best in English. Moses heard God's law in his own tongue; so did Christ's apostles," he declared.
The Wycliffe Bible was very influential—it impacted the English language and it set the stage for the Reformation in England. One historian wrote: “In all simplicity he thought to give the word of God to his own age, but in fact he laid the foundation for the Reformation in England, and for the permanence and excellence of the English language.”
His efforts were not well-received by the Roman Church. In 1414 it was ruled that reading the English Scripture was forbidden upon pain of forfeiture “of land, cattle, life and goods from their heirs forever.”
Wycliffe died peacefully in 1384. Forty-four years after his death, however, the Roman Church had Wycliffe's body dug up and burned and his ashes thrown into the River Swift. It is said that as his ashes spread down the River Swift into the sea it touched the banks of countries all over the world, and everywhere his ashes touched so did his teachings.