Church History 2/17/20

Biography of Polycarp of Smyrna

By: Mesmis Lucky Angelo

Biography of John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe is one of the greatest theologians from

the Medieval Church. Labelled the “Morning Star of the

Reformation” by the famous biographer John Foxe, Wycliffe was an

intelligent scholar who brought divisive opinions about his

teachings. While considered a hero of many Protestants for being

a type of proto-Reformer and advocating reforms before the

Protestant Reformation, he was condemned and considered a

heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. The impact of John

Wycliffe on both the history of the church as well as the

developments in theology made by later reformers has been

profound. The many reforms he pushed for in his time were a

foreshadowing of what was to come in the Protestant Reformation.1

1 John Foxe, Foxes Book of Martyrs Or A History of the

Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive
Protestant Martyrs [book on-line] (Project Gutenberg, 2007
Accessed 13 February 2020), available from
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22400/22400-h/22400-h.htm ,
Internet.

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 Life of John Wyciffe

John Wycliffe was born around 1324 A.D. during the rule

of King Edward II. He was born into a relatively wealthy middle

class noble family in Yorkshire. Being from a wealthy family

that could afford the fees for a child to attend university,

John was sent to Oxford University. Wycliffe arrived in Oxford

to begin his studies in the late 1340’s. He studied in residence

at three of the constituent colleges of Oxford,. During his

first stay in Oxford, he received both his Bachelor of Arts and

Master of Arts.2 In his time after finishing his Master of Arts

he spent some time as a Regent Master, a title given to younger

scholars who produced published writing. In this time, he began

writing treatises based on the lectures that he had given in

philosophy.

After some time as a Regent Master, he was invited to

become a fellow at Merton College in. Here he met many of his

great influences, among them Thomas Bradwardine who would

influence the soteriology of Wycliffe.3 Wycliffe became a fellow

2 Joseph Henry Dahmus, The Persecution of John

Wyclyf(Binghamton:Yale University Press, 1952), 1

3“Dissidents in an Age of Faith? WYCLIF AND THE LOLLARDS”

History Today, November 1987 [journal on-line] available from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.yosemite.wbu.edu, Internet, accessed
13 February 2020

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at Merton in 1356 and around one to two years after this he

surfaced as the Master of Baliol College. It was considered a

great honor for Wycliffe to be so young and not only be a Master

of Arts, but also to become the Master of one of Oxford’s

constituent colleges. This time as the Master of Baliol would

not last as he would take another path in broadening his career

as a scholar. This was the kind of academic position that would

have gone to one of more seniority in their career. This

elevation to such a prestigious positiongave evidence of the

strong aptitude for study and academia that Wycliffe possessed.

Wycliffe spent a time as a priest in an interval during

his scholarly career. This life was much different than what his

life would look like later in life. However, it did follow the

normal progression for students at university, since many were

maintained to train more priests for parish life. He clearly was

not planning to stay in the parish role for long since rather

than joining a religious order, like the Franciscans, to remain

a secular. These seculars were who primarily made up the

theologians of Oxford and other universities of this time. While

he may have planned ahead for a life outside of the parish life

he seemed to have a high view of the role of a priest. He wrote

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two books later in his life about both his experience of the

parish ministry as well as the responsibilities of a priest.4

After some time as a priest, Wycliffe decided to return

to Oxford to begin his theological studies. He received his

Bachelor of Divinity in 1369 and his Doctor of Divinity in 1372

while in residence at Queen’s College.5A doctorate in theology

would be the pinnacle of academic success for Wycliffe and would

open many doors for him in his quest as an academic theologian.6

Wycliffe’s profession as a scholar is what drove his success in

teaching his views of theology. Many of Oxfords colleges were

built in a way that almost invited controversy. Some of the

colleges that had a mix of secular students and those pledged to

the orders tended to have feuds between the students, with

rancorous feelings being almost given.7 Being a Don of Oxford, he

was perceived by many laymen as being part of the established

church and holding power to pronounce doctrines. This gave him

leverage to speak out against teachings he thought were

4 G.R. Evan, John Wyclif: Myth and Reality. (Grove:IVP

Academic, 2005), 93,94
5John Stacey, John Wyclif and Reform (Philadelphia:
Westminister Press, 1964),

6 G.R. Evan., 106

7K.B. McFarlane, John Wycliffe and the Beginnings of

English Nonconfromity(London: Macmillan, 1953),27,28

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unscriptural and hold an audience who would listen. Wycliffe

truly used this position to his advantage in spreading his

doctrines to the laity.

John Wycliffe Contribution to Reformation

During his time at Oxford, John Wycliffe began to speak

out against teachings of the Catholic Church that he found to be

against scripture. His first teachings like this were in debates

with others at Oxford over Canon Law. Among his initial

teachings was the thought that priests in sin were not worthy to

receive the tithe.8 Though one of his more minor positions, it

still showed his desire to not retain teachings and doctrines

that he found heretical. Many of these teachings that have had

a profound effect on his legacy can at first glance look to the

modern reader to be much like those of the Protestant

Reformation. Wycliffe had reason for all of his theses that had

been rejected and had not reached them arbitrarily. He did not

want people going against him merely to maintain the status quo.

He even challenged the Pope in his response to the Papal Bull by

saying “merciful intent excused not Peter, that Christ should

8 G.R. Evans., 132

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name him Satan; so blind intent and wicked counsel excuses not

the pope.”9 To Wycliffe even if the Pope was acting against his

teaching in good intention that he could still be condemned for

opposing righteous actions.

On the Eucharist
One of the biggest points of contention in Wycliffe’s

life was his teachings on certain doctrines that had been

central to the Roman Catholic Church. One of the doctrines that

Wycliffe rejected was the doctrine of transubstantiation, the

view that the elements in the Eucharist literally became the

Body and Blood of Christ. Another was on the right of priests

who were in mortal sin to administer the sacraments.Many of the

first conclusions of his that were condemned by Pope Gregory XI

were those against the doctrine of transubstantiation and the

right of priests to administer the sacraments when in sin. These

theses read 1.)That the material substance of bread and of wine

9John Wycliffe, Reply of John Wycliffe to his Summons by

the Pope to come to Romequoted in The Library of Original
Sources, ed. Oliver J. Thatcher[book on-line], transcribed and
edited by Jerome S Arkenberg( Milwaukee: University Research
Extension Co, accessed13 February 2020), available from
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1382wycliffe.asp,
Internet.

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remains after the consecration, in the sacrament of the

altar.2.) That the accidents do no remain without the subject,

after the consecration, in the same sacrament. 3.) That Christ

is not in the sacrament of the altar identically, truly and

really in his proper corporeal presence4.) That if a bishop or

priest lives in mortal sin he does not ordain, or consecrate, or

baptize.10

On Biblical Translation

Another one of John Wycliffe’s teachings was quite

different from the teaching of the time. While scripture written

in the common vernacular was considered heretical by those in

Wycliffe’s time he personally translated the Bible from the

Latin Vulgate into English in the 1390’s. This move by Wycliffe

was considered revolutionary for the time and is one of his

lasting legacies. The issue that arose from his translation of

10PopeGregory XI, Bull of Pope Gregory XI, Against

JohnWycliffe quoted in The Library of Original Sources, , ed.
Oliver J. Thatcher[book on-line], transcribed and edited by
Jerome S Arkenberg ( Milwaukee: University Research Extension
Co, accessed 13 February 2020), available from
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1382wycliffe.asp,
Internet.

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the Bible into a common language was the ability of the laity

now being able to interpret the Bible, making interpretation of

the texts no longer vested in the Church alone.11

On Predestination

One of the more peculiar views that Wycliffe espoused

was an Augustinian view of predestination. This view is

typically attributed to men in the Protestant Reformation, with

John Calvin of Geneva being the most prominent. His view on who

were predestined for salvation and punishment being foreknown

was prominent in the teachings of Wycliffe. He likely developed

this theology learning from his mentor Thomas Bradwardine whose

book The Case of God against the Pelagians developed a teaching

on predestination that seemed much like the writings of John

Calvin. His teachings on salvation were similar to those of the

Reformation churches. To Wycliffe the church was made

11Su Fang Ng, “Translation, Interpretation and Heresy:

The Wycliffite Bible, Tyndale’s Bible and the Contested Origin”
Stydies in Philology, 2001 [journal on-line] available from
http://ehis.ebscohost.com.yosemite.wbu.edu/, Internet, accessed
13 February 2020.

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exclusively of the predestined who were elect for salvation and

all others were destined to eternal damnation.12

12 John Wycliffe, De Blasphemia, quoted in John Wyclif

and Reform, ed. John Stacey (Philadelphia: Westminister Press,
1964), 104

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