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He
was educated in the scholastic philosophy, in the canons of the
church, and in the civil law, especially that of his own country. In
his after labors the value of this early training was apparent. ing
the ignorance or weakness of its supporter.A thorough acquaintance
with the speculative philosophy of his time enabled him to expose
its errors; and by his study of national and ecclesiastical law he
was prepared to engage in the great struggle for civil and religious
liberty. While he could wield the weapons drawn from the word of
God, he had acquired the intellectual discipline of the schools, and
he understood the tactics of the schoolmen. The power of his genius
and the extent and thoroughness of his knowledge commanded the
respect of both friends and foes. His adherents saw with
satisfaction that their champion stood foremost among the leading
minds of the nation; and his enemies were prevented from casting
contempt upon the cause of reform by expos
While Wycliffe was still at college,
he entered upon the study of the Scriptures. In those early times,
when the Bible existed only in the ancient languages, scholars were
enabled to find their way to the fountain of truth, which was closed
to the uneducated classes. Thus already the way had been prepared
for Wycliffe's future work as a Reformer. Men of learning had
studied the word of God and had found the great truth of His free
grace there revealed. In their teachings, they had spread knowledge
of this truth, and had led others to turn to the living oracles.
When Wycliffe's attention was
directed to the Scriptures, he entered upon their investigation with
the same meticulousness that had enabled him to master the learning
of the schools. Heretofore he had felt a great want, which neither
his scholastic studies nor the teaching of the church could satisfy.
In the word of God he found that which he had before sought in vain.
Here he saw the plan of salvation revealed and Christ set forth as
the only advocate for man. He gave himself to the service of Christ
and determined to proclaim the truths he had discovered.
Like after Reformers, Wycliffe did
not, at the opening of his work, foresee where it would lead him. He
did not set himself deliberately in opposition to Rome. But devotion
to truth could not but bring him in conflict with falsehood. The
more clearly he discerned the errors of the papacy, the more
earnestly he presented the teaching of the Bible. He saw that Rome
had forsaken the word of God for human tradition; he fearlessly
accused the priesthood of having banished the Scriptures, and
demanded that the Bible be restored to the people and that its
authority be again established in the church. He was an able and
earnest teacher and an eloquent preacher, and his daily life was a
demonstration of the truths he preached. His knowledge of the
Scriptures, the force of his reasoning, the purity of his life, and
his unbending courage and integrity won for him general esteem and
confidence. Many of the people had become dissatisfied with their
former faith as they saw the iniquity that prevailed in the Roman
Church, and they hailed with unconcealed joy the truths brought to
view by Wycliffe; but the papal leaders were filled with rage when
they perceived that this Reformer was gaining an influence greater
than their own.
Wycliffe was a keen detector of
error, and he struck fearlessly against many of the abuses
sanctioned by the authority of Rome. While acting as chaplain for
the king, he took a bold stand against the payment of tribute
claimed by the Pope from the English monarch and showed that the
papal assumption of authority over secular rulers was contrary to
both reason and revelation. The demands of the Pope had excited
great indignation, and Wycliffe's teachings exerted an influence
upon the leading minds of the nation. The King and the nobles united
in denying the pontiff's claim to temporal authority and in refusing
the payment of the tribute. Thus an effectual blow was struck
against the papal supremacy in England.
Another evil against which the
Reformer waged long and resolute battle was the institution of the
orders of mendicant friars. These friars swarmed in England, casting
a blight upon the greatness and prosperity of the nation. Industry,
education and morals all felt the withering influence. The monk's
life of idleness and beggary was not only a heavy drain upon the
resources of the people, but it brought useful labor into contempt.
The youth were demoralized and corrupted. By the influence of the
friars many were induced to enter a cloister and devote themselves
to a monastic life, and this not only without the consent of their
parents, but even without their knowledge and contrary to their
commands. One of the early Fathers of the Roman Church, urging the
claims of monasticism above the obligations of filial love and duty,
had declared: "Though thy father
should lie before thy door weeping and lamenting, and thy mother
should show the body that bore thee and the breasts that nursed
thee, see that thou trample them underfoot, and go onward
straightway to Christ." By this "monstrous inhumanity," as
Luther afterward styled it, "savoring
more of the wolf and the tyrant than of the Christian and the man,"
were the hearts of children steeled against their parents (Barnas
Sears, The Life of Luther, pages 70, 69).
Thus did the papal leaders, like the Pharisees of old, make the
commandment of God of none effect by their tradition. Thus homes
were made desolate and parents were deprived of the society of their
sons and daughters.
Even the students in the universities
were deceived by the false representations of the monks and induced
to join their orders. Many afterward repented this step, seeing that
they had blighted their own lives and had brought sorrow upon their
parents; but once fast in the snare it was impossible for them to
obtain their freedom. Many parents, fearing the influence of the
monks, refused to send their sons to the universities. There was a
marked falling off in the number of students in attendance at the
great centers of learning. The schools languished, and ignorance
prevailed.
The Pope had bestowed on these monks
the power to hear confessions and to grant pardon. This became a
source of great evil. Bent on enhancing their gains, the friars were
so ready to grant absolution that criminals of all descriptions
resorted to them, and, as a result, the worst vices rapidly
increased. The sick and the poor were left to suffer, while the
gifts that should have relieved their wants went to the monks, who
with threats demanded the alms of the people, denouncing the impiety
of those who should withhold gifts from their orders.
Notwithstanding their profession of poverty, the wealth of the
friars was constantly increasing, and their magnificent edifices and
luxurious tables made more apparent the growing poverty of the
nation. And while spending their time in luxury and pleasure, they
sent out in their stead ignorant men, who could only recount
marvelous tales, legends, and jests to amuse the people and make
them still more completely the dupes of the monks. Yet the friars
continued to maintain their hold on the superstitious multitudes and
led them to believe that all religious duty was comprised in
acknowledging the supremacy of the pope, adoring the saints, and
making gifts to the monks, and that this was sufficient to secure
them a place in heaven.
Men of learning and piety had labored
in vain to bring about a reform in these monastic orders; but
Wycliffe, with clearer insight, struck at the root of the evil,
declaring that the system itself was false and that it should be
abolished. Discussion and inquiry were awakening. As the monks
traversed the country, vending the pope's pardons, many were led to
doubt the possibility of purchasing forgiveness with money, and they
questioned whether they should not seek pardon from God rather than
from the pontiff of Rome. Not a few were alarmed at the rapacity of
the friars, whose greed seemed never to be satisfied.
"The monks and priests of Rome,"
said they, "are eating us away like a cancer. God must deliver us,
or the people will perish."(D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch. 7). To cover
their avarice, these begging monks claimed that they were following
the Savior's example, declaring that Jesus and His disciples had
been supported by the charities of the people. This claim resulted
in injury to their cause, for it led many to the Bible to learn the
truth for themselves--a result which of all others was least desired
by Rome. The minds of men were directed to the source of truth,
which it was her object to conceal.
Wycliffe began to write and publish
tracts against the friars, not, however, seeking so much to enter
into dispute with them as to call the minds of the people to the
teachings of the Bible and its Author. He declared that the power of
pardon or of excommunication is possessed by the pope in no greater
degree than by common priests, and that no man can be truly
excommunicated unless he has first brought upon himself the
condemnation of God. In no more effectual way could he have
undertaken the overthrow of that mammoth fabric of spiritual and
temporal dominion, which the pope had erected and in which the souls
and bodies of millions were held captive.
Again Wycliffe was called to defend
the rights of the English crown against the encroachments of Rome;
and being appointed a royal ambassador, he spent two years in the
Netherlands, in conference with the commissioners of the pope. Here
he was brought into communication with ecclesiastics from France,
Italy, and Spain, and he had an opportunity to look behind the
scenes and gain knowledge of many things, which would have remained
hidden from him in England. He learned much that was to give point
to his after labors. In these representatives from the papal court
he read the true character and aims of the hierarchy. He returned to
England to repeat his former teachings more openly and with greater
zeal, declaring that covetousness, pride, and deception, were the
gods of Rome.
In one of his tracts he said,
speaking of the pope and his collectors: "They
draw out of our land poor men's livelihood, and many thousand marks,
by the year, of the king's money, for sacraments and spiritual
things, that is cursed heresy of simony, and maketh all Christendom
assent and maintain this heresy. And certes though our realm had a
huge hill of gold, and never other man took thereof but only this
proud worldly priest's collector, by process of time this hill must
be spended; for he taketh ever money out of our land, and sendeth
nought again but God's curse for his simony." --John Lewis,
History of the Life and Sufferings of J. Wiclif, page 37.
Soon after his return to England,
Wycliffe received from the king the appointment to the rectory of
Lutterworth. This was an assurance that the monarch at least had not
been displeased by his plain speaking. Wycliffe's influence was felt
in shaping the action of the court, as well as in molding the belief
of the nation.
The papal thunders were soon hurled
against him. Three bulls were dispatched to England,--to the
university, to the king, and to the prelates,--all commanding
immediate and decisive measures to silence the teacher of heresy.
Before the arrival of the bulls, however, the bishops, in their
zeal, had summoned Wycliffe before them for trial. But two of the
most powerful princes in the kingdom accompanied him to the
tribunal; and the people, surrounding the building and rushing in,
so intimidated the judges that the proceedings were for the time
suspended, and he was allowed to go his way in peace. A little
later, Edward III, whom in his old age the prelates were seeking to
influence against the Reformer, died, and Wycliffe's former
protector became regent of the kingdom.
But the arrival of the papal bulls
laid upon all England a peremptory command for the arrest and
imprisonment of the heretic. These measures pointed directly to the
stake. It appeared certain that Wycliffe must soon fall prey to the
vengeance of Rome. But He who declared to one of old, "Fear not: . .
I am thy shield" (Genesis 15:1), again stretched out His hand to
protect His servant. Death came, not to the Reformer, but to the
pontiff who had decreed his destruction. Gregory XI died, and the
ecclesiastics who had assembled for Wycliffe's trial, dispersed.
God's providence still further
overruled events to give opportunity for the growth of the
Reformation. The death of Gregory was followed by the election of
two rival popes. Two conflicting powers, each professedly
infallible, now claimed obedience. Each called upon the faithful to
assist him in making war upon the other, enforcing his demands by
terrible anathemas against his adversaries, and promises of rewards
in heaven to his supporters. This occurrence greatly weakened the
power of the papacy. The rival factions had all they could do to
attack each other, and Wycliffe for a time had rest. Anathemas and
recriminations were flying from pope to pope, and torrents of blood
were poured out to support their conflicting claims. Crimes and
scandals flooded the church.
Meanwhile the Reformer, in the quiet
retirement of his parish of Lutterworth, was laboring diligently to
point men from the contending popes to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
The schism, with all the strife and
corruption, which it caused, prepared the way for the Reformation by
enabling the people to see what the papacy really was. In a tract,
which he published, “On the Schism
of the Popes”, Wycliffe called upon the people to consider
whether these two priests were not speaking the truth in condemning
each other as the anti-christ.
"God," said he, "would no longer
suffer the fiend to reign in only one such priest, but . . . made
division among two, so that men, in Christ's name, may the more
easily overcome them both."--R. Vaughan, Life and Opinions of John
de Wycliffe, vol. 2, p. 6.
Wycliffe, like his Master, preached
the gospel to the poor. Not content with spreading the light in
their humble homes in his own parish of Lutterworth, he determined
that it should be carried to every part of England. To accomplish
this he organized a body of preachers, simple, devout men, who loved
the truth and desired nothing so much as to extend it. These men
went everywhere, teaching in the market places, in the streets of
the great cities, and in the country lanes. They sought out the
aged, the sick, and the poor, and opened to them the glad tidings of
the grace of God.
As a professor of theology at Oxford,
Wycliffe preached the word of God in the halls of the university. So
faithfully did he present the truth to the students under his
instruction, that he received the title of "the gospel doctor." But
the greatest work of his life was to be the translation of the
Scriptures into the English language. In a work, “On
the Truth and Meaning of Scripture”, he expressed his intention
to translate the Bible, so that every man in England might read, in
the language in which he was born, the wonderful works of God.
But suddenly his labors were stopped.
Though not yet sixty years of age, unceasing toil, study, and the
assaults of his enemies had told upon his strength and made him
prematurely old. He was attacked by a dangerous illness. The tidings
brought great joy to the friars. Now they thought he would bitterly
repent the evil he had done the church, and they hurried to his
chamber to listen to his confession. Representatives from the four
religious orders, with four civil officers, gathered about the
supposed dying man. "You have death
on your lips," they said; "be touched by your faults, and retract in
our presence all that you have said to our injury." The
Reformer listened in silence; then he bade his attendant raise him
in his bed, and, gazing steadily upon them as they stood waiting for
his recantation, he said, in the firm, strong voice which had so
often caused them to tremble: "I shall
not die, but live; and again declare the evil deeds of the
friars."--D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch. 7.
Astonished and abashed, the monks hurried from the room.
Wycliffe's words were fulfilled. He
lived to place in the hands of his countrymen the most powerful of
all weapons against Rome--to give them the Bible, the
Heaven-appointed agent to liberate, enlighten, and evangelize the
people. There were many and great obstacles to surmount in the
accomplishment of this work. Wycliffe was weighed down with
infirmities; he knew that only a few years for labor remained for
him; he saw the opposition which he must meet; but, encouraged by
the promises of God's word, he went forward undaunted. In the full
vigor of his intellectual powers, rich in experience, he had been
preserved and prepared by God's special providence for this, the
greatest of his labors. While all Christendom was filled with
tumult, the Reformer in his rectory at Lutterworth, unheeding the
storm that raged without, applied himself to his chosen task.
At last the work was completed--the
first English translation of the Bible ever made. The word of God
was opened to England. The Reformer feared not the prison or the
stake. He had placed in the hands of the English people a light,
which should never be extinguished. In giving the Bible to his
countrymen, he had done more to break the fetters of ignorance and
vice, more to liberate and elevate his country, than was ever
achieved by the most brilliant victories on fields of battle.
The art of printing being still
unknown, it was only by slow and wearisome labor that copies of the
Bible could be multiplied. So great was the interest to obtain the
book, that many willingly engaged in the work of transcribing it,
but it was with difficulty that the copyists could supply the
demand. Some of the more wealthy purchasers desired the whole Bible.
Others bought only a portion. In many cases, several families united
to purchase a copy. Thus Wycliffe's Bible soon found its way to the
homes of the people.
The appeal to men's reason aroused
them from their passive submission to papal dogmas. Wycliffe now
taught the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism--salvation through
faith in Christ, and the sole infallibility of the Scriptures. The
preachers whom he had sent out circulated the Bible, together with
the Reformer's writings, and with such success that the new faith
was accepted by nearly one half of the people of England.
The appearance of the Scriptures
brought dismay to the authorities of the church. They had now to
meet an agency more powerful than Wycliffe--an agency against which
their weapons would avail little. There was at this time no law in
England prohibiting the Bible, for it had never before been
published in the language of the people. Such laws were afterward
enacted and rigorously enforced. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the
efforts of the priests, there was for a season opportunity for the
circulation of the word of God.
Again the papal leaders plotted to
silence the Reformer's voice. Before three tribunals he was
successively summoned for trial, but without avail. First a synod of
bishops declared his writings heretical, and, winning the young
king, Richard II, to their side, they obtained a royal decree
consigning to prison all who should hold the condemned doctrines.
Wycliffe appealed from the synod to
Parliament; he fearlessly arraigned the hierarchy before the
national council and demanded a reform of the enormous abuses
sanctioned by the church. With convincing power he portrayed the
usurpation and corruptions of the papal see. His enemies were
brought to confusion. The friends and supporters of Wycliffe had
been forced to yield, and it had been confidently expected that the
Reformer himself, in his old age, alone and friendless, would bow to
the combined authority of the crown and the miter. But instead of
this the papists saw themselves defeated. Parliament, roused by the
stirring appeals of Wycliffe, repealed the persecuting edict, and
the Reformer was again at liberty.
A third time he was brought to trial,
and now before the highest ecclesiastical tribunal in the kingdom.
Here no favor would be shown to heresy. Here at last Rome would
triumph, and the Reformer's work would be stopped. So thought the
papists. If they could but accomplish their purpose, Wycliffe would
be forced to abjure his doctrines, or would leave the court only for
the flames.
But Wycliffe did not retract; he
would not dissemble. He fearlessly maintained his teachings and
repelled the accusations of his persecutors. Losing sight of
himself, of his position, of the occasion, he summoned his hearers
before the divine tribunal, and weighed their sophistries and
deceptions in the balances of eternal truth. The power of the Holy
Spirit was felt in the council room. A spell from God was upon the
hearers. They seemed to have no power to leave the place. As arrows
from the Lord's quiver, the Reformer's words pierced their hearts.
The charge of heresy, which they had brought against him, he with
convincing power threw back upon them. Why, he demanded, did they
dare to spread their errors? For the sake of gain, to make
merchandise of the grace of God?
"With whom, think you," he finally said, "are ye contending? with an
old man on the brink of the grave? No! With Truth--Truth which is
stronger than you, and will overcome you."--Wylie, b. 2, ch. 13.
So saying, he withdrew from the assembly, and not one of his
adversaries attempted to prevent him.
Wycliffe's work was almost done; the
banner of truth, which he had so long borne was soon to fall from
his hand; but once more he was to bear witness for the gospel. The
truth was to be proclaimed from the very stronghold of the kingdom
of error. Wycliffe was summoned for trial before the papal tribunal
at Rome, which had so often shed the blood of the saints. He was not
blind to the danger that threatened him, yet he would have obeyed
the summons had not a shock of palsy made it impossible for him to
perform the journey. But though his voice was not to be heard at
Rome, he could speak by letter, and this he determined to do. From
his rectory the Reformer wrote the pope a letter, which, while
respectful in tone and Christian in spirit, was a keen rebuke to the
pomp and pride of the papal see.
"Verily I do rejoice," he said, "to open and declare unto every man
the faith which I do hold, and especially unto the bishop of Rome:
which, forasmuch as I do suppose to be sound and true, he will most
willingly confirm my said faith, or if it be erroneous, amend the
same. "First, I suppose that the gospel of Christ is the whole body
of God's law. . . . I do give and hold the bishop of Rome, forasmuch
as he is the vicar of Christ here on earth, to be most bound, of all
other men, unto that law of the gospel. For the greatness among
Christ's disciples, did not consist in worldly dignity or honors,
but in the near and exact following of Christ in His life and
manners.... Christ, for the time of His pilgrimage here, was a most
poor man, abjecting and casting off all worldly rule and honor. . .
."No faithful man ought to follow either the pope himself or any of
the holy men, but in such points as he hath followed the Lord Jesus
Christ; for Peter and the sons of Zebedee, by desiring worldly
honor, contrary to the following of Christ's steps, did offend, and
therefore in those errors they are not to be followed. . . ."The
pope ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal dominion and
rule, and thereunto effectually to move and exhort his whole clergy;
for so did Christ, and especially by His apostles. Wherefore, if I
have erred in any of these points, I will most humbly submit myself
unto correction, even by death, if necessity so require; and if I
could labor according to my will or desire in mine own person, I
would surely present myself before the bishop of Rome; but the Lord
hath otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me rather
to obey God than men." In closing he said:
"Let us pray unto our God, that He will so stir up our Pope Urban
VI, as he began, that he with his clergy may follow the Lord Jesus
Christ in life and manners; and that they may teach the people
effectually, and that they, likewise, may faithfully follow them in
the same."--John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. 3, pp. 49, 50.
Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope
and his cardinals the meekness and humility of Christ, exhibiting
not only to themselves but to all Christendom the contrast between
them and the Master whose representatives they professed to be.
Wycliffe fully expected that his life
would be the price of his fidelity. The king, the pope, and the
bishops were united to accomplish his ruin, and it seemed certain
that a few months at most would bring him to the stake. But his
courage was unshaken. "Why do you
talk of seeking the crown of martyrdom afar?" he said. "Preach the
gospel of Christ to haughty prelates, and martyrdom will not fail
you. What! I should live and be silent? . . . Never! Let the blow
fall, I await its coming."--D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch. 8.
But God's providence still shielded
His servant. The man, who for a whole lifetime had stood boldly in
defense of the truth, in daily peril of his life, was not to fall
victim to the hatred of its foes. Wycliffe had never sought to
shield himself, but the Lord had been his protector; and now, when
his enemies felt sure of their prey, God's hand removed him beyond
their reach. In his church at Lutterworth, as he was about to
dispense the communion, he fell, stricken with palsy, and in a short
time yielded up his life. |
