Return to Table of Contents

History Is His Story

John Wyclif¹—The Morning Star of the Reformation

By William P. Farley

When a world-renowned historian was asked to identify the most influential Christian of the 20th century, he responded: "We will need a 200-year distance before we can answer that question." We rarely perceive the greatness of epoch makers during their lifetimes.

With this thought in mind, Barbara Tuchman wrote of John Wyclif (1330–84): "Seen through the telescope of history, he was the most significant Englishman of his time."² Tuchman said this because of Wyclif’s immense influence over future generations, an influence that no one foresaw during his life. According to Tuchman he was the first "modern" man.

His Influence

Wyclif’s power over the 14th century was that of a conscience captured by the Word of God. Unlike his peers, he denied that men must go through a priest to get to God. Instead, 150 years before the Reformation, he proclaimed the priesthood of every believer and encouraged each man to go directly to God by faith. He denied transubstantiation, the doctrine that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. He taught the idea, radical for his time, that the value of Communion depended on the spiritual condition of the communicant. He was the first man of his century to revive the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Each of these doctrines proceeded from his conviction that the Bible was the final authority to which men’s consciences must give an accounting.

"He declared the right of every Christian to know the Bible, and that the Bible emphasized the need of every Christian to see the importance of Christ alone as the sufficient way of salvation, without the aid of pilgrimages, works, and the Mass."³

A 16th-century Bohemian Psalter pictures Wyclif’s influence on the Reformation. Wyclif is striking the spark, Jan Hus is kindling it into a coal, and Martin Luther is blowing it into a great flame.

Tuchman sums up Wyclif’s importance: "In a culminating heresy, he transferred salvation from the agency of the Church to the individual: ‘For each man that shall be damned shall be damned by his own guilt, and each man that is saved shall be saved by his own merit.’ Unperceived, here was the start of the modern world."⁴

To really understand the magnitude of Wyclif’s life and work, one must know the times in which our hero lived, a time very unlike our own.

Wyclif’s Times

The historian, de Sismondi, called the 14th century "a bad time for humanity." He did not exaggerate. Most Englishmen were illiterate, and those who could read did so in Latin, the language of the intelligentsia and the church. The Bible was also in Latin. But since the printing press did not yet exist (all Bibles were hand copied), the cost made them inaccessible to all but the wealthy. Almost no one had considered the heretical idea of an English translation. For those who did, the thought of burning at the stake quickly cooled their fervor.

Although there were some conscientious clergy in Wyclif’s England, most were lazy and immoral. Drunkenness was a significant problem for many churchmen. Few could read. They learned Bible stories from their superiors, tried to memorize them, and the few that were faithful repeated them to their flocks on Sunday. The priest could even buy a license from the bishop to keep a concubine—an easy way for the prelate to make a little extra money.

Superstition ruled Wyclif’s generation. Relic worship, prayer to saints, and the purchase of God’s forgiveness with indulgences and pilgrimages were normative. The people believed the pope could excommunicate individuals, or even whole cities, sending them to hell without hope. Long lost, under centuries of encrusted tradition, was the crucial doctrine of justification by faith alone.

In Wyclif’s later years, selfish ambition and carnality divided the Roman church. Two popes vied for supremacy. One ruled in France while another claimed supremacy from Rome. This greatly confusing the people; they didn’t know which one could forgive sins or excommunicate the wicked.

Last, it was a barbarous, brutal age. The bubonic plague first scourged Europe in Wyclif’s early twenties, killing two-thirds of the population in some areas. For 100 years England plundered, raped, and pillaged France, turning it into a virtual wasteland—until Joan of Arc finally rallied the French in the 1400s. Torture and brutality were widespread, and the common man had almost no political rights.

Wyclif’s Life

Into this milieu—about 1330—Wyclif was born. We know little of his upbringing. We do know that he entered Oxford in 1346, at about age 16, to begin 12 arduous years of study toward his doctorate in theology.

He was a man of industry and academic ability, admired by friend and foe alike. In 1371, Oxford acknowledged him their leading theologian.

In 1374, the Crown awarded him the "living" of the church at Lutterworth. This meant that the tithes from this church would support him while away teaching at Oxford. The customary practice was to use part of the proceeds to hire a pastor to tend the flock in one’s absence, which Wyclif probably did.

Wyclif was a godly man. The avarice and venality of the clergy provoked him. Catholic clerics, comprising only 2 percent of the population, controlled 50 percent of the national wealth. To counter clerical abuse, Wyclif taught that the state had the right and obligation to discipline the church, even confiscating its wealth if necessary. This endeared him to the head of state, John of Gaunt, who coveted the vast treasures of the national church.

Wyclif continued to teach theology at Oxford until 1378. He was 48—by medieval standards, an old man. He retired to Lutterworth to preach and write. His last years were his most productive.

With the help of Oxford friends, Wyclif translated the Bible, all 750,000 words, from Latin into English—an immense undertaking. His revolutionary conviction that the average Englishman should be able to read the Bible in the common language threatened the power of the English state-church. It meant that the Bible, rather than the counsel of a state-controlled priest, would mediate Christ to the believer’s conscience. Therefore, his translation threatened the glue that held medieval civilization together, the church’s power to bind men’s consciences. This was his great sin.

Wyclif also trained and sent out preachers, encouraging them to preach expository sermons from hand-copied Bible fragments. The people called them "poor priests." Some were well-educated disciples of Wyclif from Oxford. Others were unlettered, but sincere men, dedicated to the dissemination of the gospel.

The humility and selflessness of these preachers were in direct contrast to the self-seeking laziness of the established clergy. The simplicity and power of their biblical message were the antithesis of the fables, superstitions, and myths taught by the parish priests. Although their enemies called them "Lollards," meaning mumblers, God crowned their efforts with success.

About this time Wyclif lost favor with John of Gaunt. Without Gaunt’s protection, he was exposed to the wrath of the established clergy. But before he could be arrested, tried, and burnt at the stake, he died of a stroke while saying Mass in 1384.⁵

Lollardy continued until crushed by bitter persecution from the English state-church in the 1420s, 35 years after Wyclif’s death. The State hung most of the Lollard leaders or burnt them at the stake. Forced underground, the survivors continued in small groups for several generations. When the Reformation shook England in the 1530s, they emerged from hiding.

Lessons from Wyclif

What can we learn from Wyclif and his times? First, we should be thankful that God birthed us into the 20th century rather than the 14th. Today we enjoy religious liberty, the light of the gospel, the rule of law, mass literacy, multiple English Bibles in our homes, and modern medical care. We must ask ourselves: Have we been good stewards of these immense privileges?

Second, we should emulate Wyclif’s courage. In an age when heretics were burnt at the stake or slowly tortured to death, he stood valiantly, and almost alone, against the monolithic medieval church. He condemned its abuses and corruptions, and denied its right to speak solely for God. He attacked the sale of indulgences, transubstantiation, Masses for the dead, and prayer to the saints. Most important, he was the first medieval man to elevate the authority of the Bible over the authority of the church. This required vast courage and conviction.

Third, we should seek, like Wyclif, to be ahead of our times. He was misunderstood by those comfortable with their times, and we will fail to recognize God’s men if we also are too comfortable with our times. Do we have Wyclif’s prophetic mantle and courage? We will not be effective servants of Christ without it. His perspective was beyond his time. It was eternal, and ours must be also.

Fourth, we must never underestimate the power of the Bible to change lives and shake nations. All effective Christian leaders live and breathe the Bible. Because they feel its power, they preach it. Stories and anecdotes have their place, but they never replace clear, pungent, biblical exposition. The latter alone has the power to uproot nations and cast down strongholds.

John Wyclif understood this power, and used it courageously. In later centuries God shook the British Isles, but it all began with Wyclif and his work. He was the morning star of the Reformation. Like the heroes of old, Wyclif was a man of whom the world was not worthy (Hebrews 11:38). May we walk in his footsteps today.

William P. Farley is pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship in Spokane Washington. His book, For His Glory, Pinnacle Press, can be ordered by calling him at 1-509 448 3979, or bfarley@cet.com.

Endnotes

For further reading:

1. Workman, Herbert B. 2001.John Wyclif: A Study of the English Medieval Church, 2 Volumes. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock Publishers.

2. Caughey, Ellen W. 2001. John Wycliffe: Herald of the Reformation. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishers.