John Wycliffe and the Protestant Reformation

What has a man done now? Why, Father, haven't you heard? This book is Wycliffe's attack on the church doctrine, on transubstantiation. Against the mass. This time this priest has gone too far. I don't care, you say I don't care. How many times have I spoken for your cause? Pleaded on your behalf for mercy? That your wrongs might be righted? I've appealed to the church, begged them to look to the needs of the poor! And now my... The Church censures me. I'm spurned for my efforts by the civil authorities. The royal court distrusts me. And you say I do not care? Welcome to this, the first of six programs on the Protestant Reformation. The people we will meet and the events we will witness may have happened hundreds of years ago, but they were foundational in shaping our world. Their effects are still clearly present with us today. We begin with John Wycliffe, commonly called the morning star of the Reformation, the first light. It is often supposed that the Reformation began with Martin Luther, but here at Oxford in England, Over 130 years before Luther, John Wycliffe released early shockwaves of the cataclysmic upheavals that were to come. Wycliffe was a professor here at Oxford. He was recognized as the greatest philosopher of the 14th century. His teachings and his recovery of the Bible for the ordinary people unleashed a movement that simply could not be stopped. Wycliffe lived during one of those times in history. When you could almost smell in the air the momentous changes that were brewing. If you think we have big problems today, and of course we do, then consider what it must have felt like to live in Wycliffe's time. The Black Death raged across Europe. This terrible plague wiped out as much as one-third of the population. The 100 years war between France and England drained the vitality and resources of generation after generation. Great economic distress provoked unrest and revolt. Wage and price controls locked the starving peasants into a marginal existence. The Roman Catholic Church had provided strength and stability for the Middle Ages. It had brought civilization to the barbarous tribes of Europe. But now even the Church was in disarray and crisis. At the height of Wycliffe's career in 1378, the Great Schism occurred. Two opposing popes, and then even three, contested each other for a title to the papal throne. In the midst of such chaotic times, Wycliffe turned increasingly to the Bible. From his studies, he concluded that the church had corrupted the gospel with superstition, and that the church was more interested in wealth and power than the teachings of Jesus. Here's an example of the kinds of ideas and practices Wycliffe would have found all too common. God save you, Dr. Wycliffe, gentlemen. Good day to you, Sheriff. You part your duties? That's right, sir. These fine fellows are high women. Been robbing travelers around this part for some time past. But is the hangman's rope from now all right? These young gentlemen your students, Doctor? Yes, Sheriff. Look well on this wretch, young sirs, and remember the fate of men who fall from the grace of God. You can save your insults, Sheriff. I am not fallen from God's grace. My sins are as surely forgiven as the sins of any man in England. Silence, you dog! Shall this good doctor hear your blasphemy? Please, Sheriff. Please let him speak. I'm interested to hear what he has to say. God bless you, Father. I have been a soldier of the king, and I do not deserve this ill treatment. Then why have you taken to this dishonorable life of stealing? Well, you know as well as I do, Father. You know the law. It's almost 25 years now since they fixed labourers' wages. Said they couldn't go up no more. But the cost of food goes up all the time. The man just... I can't afford to earn an honest living no more. My son, I know you believe you have good cause to be bitter, but nothing can excuse the breaking of God's law. But what did you mean that you are assured the forgiveness of your sins? Oh, well, I went to my priest and I bought an indulgence. Paid good money for it, too. My priest promised me that I had the stored graces of the Holy Church for my forgiveness. I may be a thief, Father, but I've always been a good Christian. Well, tell me this good Christian. Did Jesus sell indulgences like yours? Well, my indulgence is good, I'll tell you. Ma'am, the forgiveness of God is not to be purchased by a few coin. Yeah, but I paid good money. My priest promised the indulgence was good. What are you saying? It's worthless? Please, please. Believe me, my son. God's forgiveness and grace will give you true assurance. No indulgence can do that. I will ask the sheriff to send for my vicar at Lutterworth Church. And he will hear your confession and help you find true repentance. It is never too late. The repentant thief who died next to Christ upon the cross got the best assurance of all. Today, Christ told him, thou shalt be with me in paradise. That thief needed no indulgence. He needed only to turn to Christ. I almost begin to believe you, Father. It wasn't only the faith of the peasants that had become distorted. The clergy was often even more corrupt. Leaders in the church typically advanced not because of their faith and devotion, but through political influence. Some were just plain by their office. Wycliffe was angered at the corruption in the church. He questioned the Pope's authority in political matters, and he put the teachings of Scripture above the Pope. He taught that if the church would not clean itself up, then the state could and should rebuke and correct it. Because he held such views, Wycliffe was condemned by Rome and brought before his superiors in England. Dr. Wycliffe. You have heard the charges against you. You have heard the accusers. You are satisfied that your teachings have been accurately presented to this court? I deny only that they are unorthodox. We would have you question... by Bishop Courtney, who has studied minutely the merits of your theses. Bishop Courtney? Thank you, my Lord Archbishop. Dr. Wigley, we rejoice that you have condescended to obey our sons. And I rejoice that you have studied minutely my thesis, Bishop Gordney. You profess, Doctor, that the authority of human government can be higher than that of God's church. I have taught that all dominion comes equally from God and can only be rightfully exercised in obedience to God. Should the church corruptly or evilly misuse its powers, then the civil authorities would have the right and the duty to correct that abuse. And who will be judge of this? That same civil authority? authority. Indeed, Dr. Wycliffe, is not this famous theory of dominion a mere justification for the crown to usurp the property and prerogative of the church? No, my lord, it is not. But in the matter of property, seeing that you refer to it, I see no basis in the word of God. For the church to possess extreme material wealth. Ah, can it be that Dr. Wycliffe is jealous that he has not received the share that his great talents deserve? One third of the land of England is owned by the church, my lord bishop. Such ownership is not the business of the church. Christ and his apostles lived in poverty. Might we not do well to imitate their example? And while do you suggest that we should dispose of the church's goods by presenting them perhaps to the English nobility, I'm sure the Duke of Lancaster and his party could put them to good use. No, my Lord Bishop, but I do have a stitch. Rather than pay fat stipends, To the large number of foreign churchmen whom the Pope has appointed to absentee English benefices, the Church might better use its wealth to feed the poor and starving common people of this realm. Let us begin there. Your own mouth condemns you, Wycliffe. First, you seek to undermine the authority of the Church, of the bishops, and even of the Pope. And now you instruct us how best to bring about our own doubtful. You leave little room for doubt what the verdict of this court must be. One last question, Dr. Wycliffe. What spiritual authority would replace the one that you have just so effectively demolished? Your own fevered brain. No, Bishop Gordney, the only true authority, the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. On that particular occasion, Wycliffe was protected by the intercession of the Queen, but Wycliffe kept praying. and thinking and writing. His positions became even more radical. He began to question the doctrine of transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic teaching that in the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. Such basic theological challenges began to cost Wycliffe the political protection that he had enjoyed, particularly from his old friend, the Duke of Lancaster, the fiery John... Say you wretched peasant! You stand there in your bearded innocence and simply say, yes my lord! Transubstantiation is an attack on the mass. An attack on the mass is an attack on the foundation of the Holy Church. Retract, retract it at once! My Lord, the Holy Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Church. Don't quibble, Doctor. You are attacking Jesus' sacrifice. I think not, my Lord. Transubstantiation is a modern doctrine, unknown to the Fathers of the Church. Pope Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council first proclaimed it less than 200 years ago. I cannot, when it was proclaimed, it is believed, believed throughout the whole of Christendom. My noble Duke, the fact that something is believed by the multitudes does not necessarily make it true. Wicked! Wycliffe's world continued to crumble. He had lost his political support, and the church hierarchy looked on him as a deadly poison. Then the peasants staged a violent revolt. It was quickly put down, but... Because Wycliffe was known to be sympathetic to their grievances, his opponents tried to blame Wycliffe for the uprising. In that revolt, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, was killed by the peasants. Wycliffe's old opponent, Bishop Courtney, was appointed the new Archbishop, and he wasted no time going after Wycliffe. His plan was to cut him off right at Oxford, the base for Wycliffe's research and teaching. To Chancellor Rigg at Oxford, without delay. So, John Wycliffe, let's see who's master now. It had to come, John. Since my appointment I've fought for your liberty to teach what you would within these walls. Doctrines condemned by the people court, teaching forbidden by the Lambeth Council, but it couldn't last. We both knew that. Courtney has appointed a council of 12 to oversee the university. My authority is by license of that council. They have issued their first orders. See for yourself. I am to be deprived of all academic privileges. I do not wish to submit. God knows. You have no choice, Chancellor. While the university remains an arm of the church, you have no choice. If you resist... If I resist, Pope Urban will place an interdict to the university. The university will lose all its hard-won privileges. I do not lose mine. Precisely. I fear that would be the end of the matter. Other heads will roll. I'm sure of that. Probably mine too. They have no regard for this place as the greatest centre of learning in the Christian world. They care only for conformity and proper obedience. So I'm to be forbidden to teach. And am I also to be denied access to the libraries for my studies? That is undoubtedly what the council has in view. John, its intention is simply to cut you off from everything you stood for. How can I continue my work? Ask my old friend. I don't know. But as so often happens, a great loss can provide great opportunity. to assess one's life, and to discover a new direction. Yes. Yes, I see. I give thee thanks, Lord. Yes. Oh, yes. Now I understand. Lotto. Oh Lord, it shall be. Thy will be done. My entire career has slowly led me to see that our ultimate authority is not to be found in traditions or in councils, in the church or even in the Pope. The word of God alone. Over the centuries, that authority has been eroded, usurped, and now our nation, our whole people, our civilization, starves for lack of the word of God. How can men live under the authority of God's word if they do not know God's word? The clergy, most of them, do not even know their Latin. They know still less of God's word. My task now... Our task, if you will, Nicholas, John, if you will, is to use this exile to translate the Holy Scriptures, all of them, into English. Our native English tongues, that they can be heard and understood by all our people. So Wycliffe and his closest associates moved here to the small English village of Lutterworth. Wycliffe was pastor of this church. and portions of the building date back to his time. Here his team pursued the monumental task of translating the entire Bible into English for the first time. They translated from Jerome's Vulgate, the authoritative Latin translation of the Bible, dating back to the 4th century, a thousand years earlier. Month after month, they fervently worked. Every word, every detail, meticulously checked. Then came the equally important... important and difficult job of making copies of their translation to circulate among the people. Every copy had to be done by hand. Just one additional copy could take a skilled copyist almost a year to complete. But they persisted. Then they sent the word out. It did not take long for Wycliffe's opponents to find out and to react. He has been condemned for a heretic. Forbidden to canvass his pernicious doctrines in pulpit or school, Oxford has been cleansed of his influence so that it is no longer a center of heresy. And yet this learned doctor... still remains a thorn in the flesh of the Mother Church. For now what do we learn? That he and his acolytes have been engaged from the moment he went to Lutterworth in translating the Holy Scriptures into the common English tongue. Shall God's law, which has come down to us in the language of learning, be so debased, so stripped of majesty, so enfeebled of meaning? How shall the vulgar tongue of common men adequately convey its wisdom? Do we really dare to give the word of God in the common tongue into the hands of the common people? Do we fully understand what we are doing? Will some not? Abuse, misuse and misinterpret the scriptures. My brethren, of course some will. But has keeping the scriptures, has the property of the hierarchy and the clergy, prevented misuse? No, indeed. It has furthered its abuse. We will give God's word to God's children and his spirit will guide them. It will take time for growth and understanding. But I fear what judgment may befall us if we dare not give out this word. It is reported, Your Grace, that Wycliffe's intention is to release another band of ragged preachers upon the countryside, this time armed with copies of the new translation. Then they must be stopped! It shall be ordered that under King Richard's seal, and upon certification from a bishop, that henceforth all itinerant priests shall be arrested and imprisoned. Furthermore, it is the mandate of this synod that a condemnation of John Wycliffe be set forth with all speed. He shall at last be delivered into our hands for the judgment and condemnation he deserves. But Wycliffe was never delivered into their hands. Three years after coming to Letterworth, he suffered a stroke while attending Mass in this church. He died on New Year's Eve in 1384. They carried his body out this door. Wycliffe left a movement in England known as his Poor Preachers. They were vigorously hunted down, suppressed, and driven underground. But Wycliffe's writings had been taken to Bohemia in Central Europe. There they were carried forward by a priest named John Huss. We will meet him in the next program. But there's still another quite bizarre chapter in Wycliffe's story. For that... we go to Constance in southern Germany. This is the cathedral in Constance. Here, the leading religious and political figures from all over Europe gathered for the biggest event in Christendom in the 15th century. They came to deal with problems in the church, particularly the competing popes, each claiming to be the true pope, and... They dealt with the still-living influence of John Wycliffe. In the year 1415, 31 years after his death, they condemned the teachings of Wycliffe, and then the council ordered that his bones be dug up and burned. They thought somehow this would destroy his influence and erase his memory. But it did not. About Wycliffe, the chronicler Fuller would write these words. They burnt his bones to ashes, and cast them into Swift, a neighbouring brook running hard by. Thus this brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Seven, Seven into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed the world over.

What has a man done now? Why, Father, haven't you heard? This book is Wycliffe's attack on the church doctrine, on transubstantiation.

Against the mass. This time this priest has gone too far. I don't care, you say I don't care. How many times have I spoken for your cause?

Pleaded on your behalf for mercy? That your wrongs might be righted? I've appealed to the church, begged them to look to the needs of the poor!

And now my... The Church censures me. I'm spurned for my efforts by the civil authorities. The royal court distrusts me.

And you say I do not care? Welcome to this, the first of six programs on the Protestant Reformation. The people we will meet and the events we will witness may have happened hundreds of years ago, but they were foundational in shaping our world. Their effects are still clearly present with us today.

We begin with John Wycliffe, commonly called the morning star of the Reformation, the first light. It is often supposed that the Reformation began with Martin Luther, but here at Oxford in England, Over 130 years before Luther, John Wycliffe released early shockwaves of the cataclysmic upheavals that were to come. Wycliffe was a professor here at Oxford. He was recognized as the greatest philosopher of the 14th century.

His teachings and his recovery of the Bible for the ordinary people unleashed a movement that simply could not be stopped. Wycliffe lived during one of those times in history. When you could almost smell in the air the momentous changes that were brewing.

If you think we have big problems today, and of course we do, then consider what it must have felt like to live in Wycliffe's time. The Black Death raged across Europe. This terrible plague wiped out as much as one-third of the population.

The 100 years war between France and England drained the vitality and resources of generation after generation. Great economic distress provoked unrest and revolt. Wage and price controls locked the starving peasants into a marginal existence. The Roman Catholic Church had provided strength and stability for the Middle Ages. It had brought civilization to the barbarous tribes of Europe.

But now even the Church was in disarray and crisis. At the height of Wycliffe's career in 1378, the Great Schism occurred. Two opposing popes, and then even three, contested each other for a title to the papal throne.

In the midst of such chaotic times, Wycliffe turned increasingly to the Bible. From his studies, he concluded that the church had corrupted the gospel with superstition, and that the church was more interested in wealth and power than the teachings of Jesus. Here's an example of the kinds of ideas and practices Wycliffe would have found all too common. God save you, Dr. Wycliffe, gentlemen.

Good day to you, Sheriff. You part your duties? That's right, sir.

These fine fellows are high women. Been robbing travelers around this part for some time past. But is the hangman's rope from now all right?

These young gentlemen your students, Doctor? Yes, Sheriff. Look well on this wretch, young sirs, and remember the fate of men who fall from the grace of God. You can save your insults, Sheriff.

I am not fallen from God's grace. My sins are as surely forgiven as the sins of any man in England. Silence, you dog!

Shall this good doctor hear your blasphemy? Please, Sheriff. Please let him speak.

I'm interested to hear what he has to say. God bless you, Father. I have been a soldier of the king, and I do not deserve this ill treatment.

Then why have you taken to this dishonorable life of stealing? Well, you know as well as I do, Father. You know the law.

It's almost 25 years now since they fixed labourers' wages. Said they couldn't go up no more. But the cost of food goes up all the time. The man just...

I can't afford to earn an honest living no more. My son, I know you believe you have good cause to be bitter, but nothing can excuse the breaking of God's law. But what did you mean that you are assured the forgiveness of your sins? Oh, well, I went to my priest and I bought an indulgence. Paid good money for it, too.

My priest promised me that I had the stored graces of the Holy Church for my forgiveness. I may be a thief, Father, but I've always been a good Christian. Well, tell me this good Christian. Did Jesus sell indulgences like yours?

Well, my indulgence is good, I'll tell you. Ma'am, the forgiveness of God is not to be purchased by a few coin. Yeah, but I paid good money. My priest promised the indulgence was good. What are you saying?

It's worthless? Please, please. Believe me, my son. God's forgiveness and grace will give you true assurance. No indulgence can do that.

I will ask the sheriff to send for my vicar at Lutterworth Church. And he will hear your confession and help you find true repentance. It is never too late.

The repentant thief who died next to Christ upon the cross got the best assurance of all. Today, Christ told him, thou shalt be with me in paradise. That thief needed no indulgence.

He needed only to turn to Christ. I almost begin to believe you, Father. It wasn't only the faith of the peasants that had become distorted.

The clergy was often even more corrupt. Leaders in the church typically advanced not because of their faith and devotion, but through political influence. Some were just plain by their office. Wycliffe was angered at the corruption in the church. He questioned the Pope's authority in political matters, and he put the teachings of Scripture above the Pope.

He taught that if the church would not clean itself up, then the state could and should rebuke and correct it. Because he held such views, Wycliffe was condemned by Rome and brought before his superiors in England. Dr. Wycliffe.

You have heard the charges against you. You have heard the accusers. You are satisfied that your teachings have been accurately presented to this court?

I deny only that they are unorthodox. We would have you question... by Bishop Courtney, who has studied minutely the merits of your theses. Bishop Courtney?

Thank you, my Lord Archbishop. Dr. Wigley, we rejoice that you have condescended to obey our sons. And I rejoice that you have studied minutely my thesis, Bishop Gordney. You profess, Doctor, that the authority of human government can be higher than that of God's church.

I have taught that all dominion comes equally from God and can only be rightfully exercised in obedience to God. Should the church corruptly or evilly misuse its powers, then the civil authorities would have the right and the duty to correct that abuse. And who will be judge of this? That same civil authority? authority.

Indeed, Dr. Wycliffe, is not this famous theory of dominion a mere justification for the crown to usurp the property and prerogative of the church? No, my lord, it is not. But in the matter of property, seeing that you refer to it, I see no basis in the word of God. For the church to possess extreme material wealth.

Ah, can it be that Dr. Wycliffe is jealous that he has not received the share that his great talents deserve? One third of the land of England is owned by the church, my lord bishop. Such ownership is not the business of the church.

Christ and his apostles lived in poverty. Might we not do well to imitate their example? And while do you suggest that we should dispose of the church's goods by presenting them perhaps to the English nobility, I'm sure the Duke of Lancaster and his party could put them to good use.

No, my Lord Bishop, but I do have a stitch. Rather than pay fat stipends, To the large number of foreign churchmen whom the Pope has appointed to absentee English benefices, the Church might better use its wealth to feed the poor and starving common people of this realm. Let us begin there. Your own mouth condemns you, Wycliffe.

First, you seek to undermine the authority of the Church, of the bishops, and even of the Pope. And now you instruct us how best to bring about our own doubtful. You leave little room for doubt what the verdict of this court must be.

One last question, Dr. Wycliffe. What spiritual authority would replace the one that you have just so effectively demolished? Your own fevered brain. No, Bishop Gordney, the only true authority, the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. On that particular occasion, Wycliffe was protected by the intercession of the Queen, but Wycliffe kept praying.

and thinking and writing. His positions became even more radical. He began to question the doctrine of transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic teaching that in the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. Such basic theological challenges began to cost Wycliffe the political protection that he had enjoyed, particularly from his old friend, the Duke of Lancaster, the fiery John... Say you wretched peasant!

You stand there in your bearded innocence and simply say, yes my lord! Transubstantiation is an attack on the mass. An attack on the mass is an attack on the foundation of the Holy Church. Retract, retract it at once! My Lord, the Holy Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Church.

Don't quibble, Doctor. You are attacking Jesus' sacrifice. I think not, my Lord. Transubstantiation is a modern doctrine, unknown to the Fathers of the Church.

Pope Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council first proclaimed it less than 200 years ago. I cannot, when it was proclaimed, it is believed, believed throughout the whole of Christendom. My noble Duke, the fact that something is believed by the multitudes does not necessarily make it true. Wicked! Wycliffe's world continued to crumble.

He had lost his political support, and the church hierarchy looked on him as a deadly poison. Then the peasants staged a violent revolt. It was quickly put down, but... Because Wycliffe was known to be sympathetic to their grievances, his opponents tried to blame Wycliffe for the uprising. In that revolt, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, was killed by the peasants.

Wycliffe's old opponent, Bishop Courtney, was appointed the new Archbishop, and he wasted no time going after Wycliffe. His plan was to cut him off right at Oxford, the base for Wycliffe's research and teaching. To Chancellor Rigg at Oxford, without delay.

So, John Wycliffe, let's see who's master now. It had to come, John. Since my appointment I've fought for your liberty to teach what you would within these walls. Doctrines condemned by the people court, teaching forbidden by the Lambeth Council, but it couldn't last.

We both knew that. Courtney has appointed a council of 12 to oversee the university. My authority is by license of that council. They have issued their first orders. See for yourself.

I am to be deprived of all academic privileges. I do not wish to submit. God knows. You have no choice, Chancellor.

While the university remains an arm of the church, you have no choice. If you resist... If I resist, Pope Urban will place an interdict to the university.

The university will lose all its hard-won privileges. I do not lose mine. Precisely. I fear that would be the end of the matter. Other heads will roll.

I'm sure of that. Probably mine too. They have no regard for this place as the greatest centre of learning in the Christian world.

They care only for conformity and proper obedience. So I'm to be forbidden to teach. And am I also to be denied access to the libraries for my studies? That is undoubtedly what the council has in view. John, its intention is simply to cut you off from everything you stood for.

How can I continue my work? Ask my old friend. I don't know.

But as so often happens, a great loss can provide great opportunity. to assess one's life, and to discover a new direction. Yes.

Yes, I see. I give thee thanks, Lord. Yes. Oh, yes. Now I understand.

Lotto. Oh Lord, it shall be. Thy will be done.

My entire career has slowly led me to see that our ultimate authority is not to be found in traditions or in councils, in the church or even in the Pope. The word of God alone. Over the centuries, that authority has been eroded, usurped, and now our nation, our whole people, our civilization, starves for lack of the word of God.

How can men live under the authority of God's word if they do not know God's word? The clergy, most of them, do not even know their Latin. They know still less of God's word. My task now...

Our task, if you will, Nicholas, John, if you will, is to use this exile to translate the Holy Scriptures, all of them, into English. Our native English tongues, that they can be heard and understood by all our people. So Wycliffe and his closest associates moved here to the small English village of Lutterworth. Wycliffe was pastor of this church. and portions of the building date back to his time.

Here his team pursued the monumental task of translating the entire Bible into English for the first time. They translated from Jerome's Vulgate, the authoritative Latin translation of the Bible, dating back to the 4th century, a thousand years earlier. Month after month, they fervently worked. Every word, every detail, meticulously checked.

Then came the equally important... important and difficult job of making copies of their translation to circulate among the people. Every copy had to be done by hand. Just one additional copy could take a skilled copyist almost a year to complete.

But they persisted. Then they sent the word out. It did not take long for Wycliffe's opponents to find out and to react. He has been condemned for a heretic.

Forbidden to canvass his pernicious doctrines in pulpit or school, Oxford has been cleansed of his influence so that it is no longer a center of heresy. And yet this learned doctor... still remains a thorn in the flesh of the Mother Church.

For now what do we learn? That he and his acolytes have been engaged from the moment he went to Lutterworth in translating the Holy Scriptures into the common English tongue. Shall God's law, which has come down to us in the language of learning, be so debased, so stripped of majesty, so enfeebled of meaning?

How shall the vulgar tongue of common men adequately convey its wisdom? Do we really dare to give the word of God in the common tongue into the hands of the common people? Do we fully understand what we are doing? Will some not? Abuse, misuse and misinterpret the scriptures.

My brethren, of course some will. But has keeping the scriptures, has the property of the hierarchy and the clergy, prevented misuse? No, indeed. It has furthered its abuse. We will give God's word to God's children and his spirit will guide them.

It will take time for growth and understanding. But I fear what judgment may befall us if we dare not give out this word. It is reported, Your Grace, that Wycliffe's intention is to release another band of ragged preachers upon the countryside, this time armed with copies of the new translation. Then they must be stopped!

It shall be ordered that under King Richard's seal, and upon certification from a bishop, that henceforth all itinerant priests shall be arrested and imprisoned. Furthermore, it is the mandate of this synod that a condemnation of John Wycliffe be set forth with all speed. He shall at last be delivered into our hands for the judgment and condemnation he deserves. But Wycliffe was never delivered into their hands.

Three years after coming to Letterworth, he suffered a stroke while attending Mass in this church. He died on New Year's Eve in 1384. They carried his body out this door. Wycliffe left a movement in England known as his Poor Preachers. They were vigorously hunted down, suppressed, and driven underground. But Wycliffe's writings had been taken to Bohemia in Central Europe.

There they were carried forward by a priest named John Huss. We will meet him in the next program. But there's still another quite bizarre chapter in Wycliffe's story. For that... we go to Constance in southern Germany.

This is the cathedral in Constance. Here, the leading religious and political figures from all over Europe gathered for the biggest event in Christendom in the 15th century. They came to deal with problems in the church, particularly the competing popes, each claiming to be the true pope, and... They dealt with the still-living influence of John Wycliffe. In the year 1415, 31 years after his death, they condemned the teachings of Wycliffe, and then the council ordered that his bones be dug up and burned.

They thought somehow this would destroy his influence and erase his memory. But it did not. About Wycliffe, the chronicler Fuller would write these words. They burnt his bones to ashes, and cast them into Swift, a neighbouring brook running hard by.

Thus this brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Seven, Seven into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed the world over.

Transcript for:John Wycliffe and the Protestant Reformation

Transcript for:
John Wycliffe and the Protestant Reformation