I typed up this short biography about John Wycliffe, whom I read about in the book Reformation Heroes by Joel Beeke. John Wycliffe was an important part to the Reformation. He was born in 1324, and he lived until 1384. A terrible plague, the Black Death, was used by God to cause Wycliffe to search God’s word, and God saved him. Wycliffe was very intelligent and was also a great preacher. Many people loved listening to him, because he was so unlike most of the preachers at that time. At that time, there were many Catholic monks and “Begging Friars”. “Friars” means “brothers”. These friars do not work, but instead beg for food and necessities, so they can be “poor in spirit” and the “meek of the earth”, but they actually become very wealthy, and still refused to work or help the poor who really needed help. Wycliffe was grieved and angry at what the friars were doing, and he had harsh words for the friars, such as, “the pests of society, the enemies of religion, and the promoters of every crime.” Of course, you can imagine how upset this made the friars, and they sought to kill him. He was summoned to appear at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The Roman Catholic clergy accused Wycliffe falsely and threatened that if he continued to preach, he would be killed. There was much uproar about whether or not Wycliffe would be imprisoned or killed, but Wycliffe’s case was dismissed, although he was warned never to preach against the Catholics. But Wycliffe wasn’t afraid and stated that the pope was the antichrist. Later, they summoned him to another meeting, hoping to bring accusations so as to harm him. However, their plans went amiss, for a message from Joan, the queen-mother, (mother of Richard II and mother-in-law of Anne of Bohemia, a very godly queen) told them to stop the meeting and that Wycliffe was not a heretic. They were afraid to continue the meeting, and Wycliffe was free. Once, Wycliffe became deadly ill, and it was thought he might day. The clergy was glad, and some of the “Begging Friars” came to make him recant. They tried to frighten him by telling him God was going to punish him severely if he didn’t, and that he would go to Hell. But once again, Wycliffe was not afraid. He did not say anything for some time, then he motioned to his friends to help him sit up. He said, looking boldly at the friars, “I shall not die, but live and declare the errors and sins of you wicked men more than ever!” The friars were alarmed at his courage and fled from his room. In 1382, he was summoned before a council in Oxford. The same college he was educated in turned on him. Wycliffe may have been weak physically and ill, but he was bold till the end of his life. He spoke all about the errors of the church. Then, when he had finished, he said simply, “The truth shall prevail!” Then, he just turned and left. No one dared to stop him. Before Wycliffe was born, there wasn’t a complete English translation of the Bibles. Parts had been translated, but not the whole Bible. Wycliffe and his friends helped to translate the Bible, and finally, in 1380, he finished the last verse of the New Testament. Wycliffe had a stroke, and he was completely paralyzed. On December 31, 1384, Wycliffe died. But Wycliffe hasn’t been forgotten, and he was a very important forerunner of the Reformation. God used him to influence people like John Huss, and to make Wycliffe a great Reformation hero. Wycliffe teaches us to be bold and stand for the truth no matter what trials arise.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 05:53:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015