"Englishmen learn Christ's law best in English. Moses heard God's law in his own tongue; so did Christ's apostles.” (John Wycliffe)
About John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (c. early 1320’s, possibly 1324 – December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and a professor (university teacher) at Oxford in England. He was born in Ipreswell (modern Hipswell), Yorkshire, England about 200 years before the Protestant Reformation movement began, but his beliefs and teachings influenced if not mirrored Luther and Calvin and other reformers during the 16th century.
John Wycliffe (c. early 1320’s, possibly 1324 – December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and a professor (university teacher) at Oxford in England. He was born in Ipreswell (modern Hipswell), Yorkshire, England about 200 years before the Protestant Reformation movement began, but his beliefs and teachings influenced if not mirrored Luther and Calvin and other reformers during the 16th century.
He is widely known for his zeal to make the Vulgate available in vernacular English so that commoners could read it. Known as the Latin translation of the Septuagint, the Greek Bible of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Vulgate was completed largely by St. Jerome and commissioned by Pope Damascus I in 382 AD, and it could only be read and understood by the clergy and people educated in the university. Wycliffe advocated making the Bible available in the common English so that people could read it for themselves, and he completed translating the Vulgate into English in 1382 (it is now known as Wycliffe’s Bible). This work was opposed by the Roman Catholic Church, but it was not until after his death when Wycliffe was declared a heretic and his remains exhumed and burnt at stake (more about it later on).
John Wycliffe was an early opponent of the papal authority’s (Pope and the Roman Curia’s) involvement in temporal (secular government’s) powers and affairs. He also sent out itinerant preachers known as Lollards throughout England, and the Lollardy movement opposed the clergy establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and emphasized Biblically-centered reforms. But the Lollardy movement was short-lived because the Roman Catholic Church expelled Wycliffe from his teaching position at Oxford.
Wycliffe died at Lutterworth (near Leicester) on December 28, 1384, which was the Holy Innocents’ Day, from a stroke. After he has been dead for 44 years, the Council of Constance declared him a heretic on May 4, 1415, banned his works, ordered his remains exhumed and burned at stake, and gathered his works to be destroyed. The Roman Curia also actively persecuted Wycliffe’s followers, especially John Hus and his followers known as the Hussites.
Many considered Wycliffe “a man ahead of his time” as the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. Historians sometimes label him as the “Morning Star of the Reformation.”[1]
Wycliffe’s impact in the modern-day world
The roots of Wycliffe’s zeal for translating the Bible in the vernacular can be traced to William Cameron Townsend (July 9, 1896 – April 23, 1982), an American Protestant Christian missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians in Guatemala. His vision to translate the Bible into the vernacular was born when the Cakchiquel-speaking Indians expressed concern that the Bible was not available to them in a language that was clearly and easily understood. Townsend resolved from that moment forward that every man, woman, and child should be able to read God’s Word in their own language. As a result, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL International) was founded in 1934 and Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1942. To date, Wycliffe Bible Translators have played a major part in completing the translation work of the Protestant Bible in 700 different languages.[2]
Fun Links to Explore
1) Wycliffe's Bible translation from Northwest Nazarene University
2) Wycliffe Bible Translators
3) Website on John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an early opponent of the papal authority’s (Pope and the Roman Curia’s) involvement in temporal (secular government’s) powers and affairs. He also sent out itinerant preachers known as Lollards throughout England, and the Lollardy movement opposed the clergy establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and emphasized Biblically-centered reforms. But the Lollardy movement was short-lived because the Roman Catholic Church expelled Wycliffe from his teaching position at Oxford.
Wycliffe died at Lutterworth (near Leicester) on December 28, 1384, which was the Holy Innocents’ Day, from a stroke. After he has been dead for 44 years, the Council of Constance declared him a heretic on May 4, 1415, banned his works, ordered his remains exhumed and burned at stake, and gathered his works to be destroyed. The Roman Curia also actively persecuted Wycliffe’s followers, especially John Hus and his followers known as the Hussites.
Many considered Wycliffe “a man ahead of his time” as the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. Historians sometimes label him as the “Morning Star of the Reformation.”[1]
Wycliffe’s impact in the modern-day world
The roots of Wycliffe’s zeal for translating the Bible in the vernacular can be traced to William Cameron Townsend (July 9, 1896 – April 23, 1982), an American Protestant Christian missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians in Guatemala. His vision to translate the Bible into the vernacular was born when the Cakchiquel-speaking Indians expressed concern that the Bible was not available to them in a language that was clearly and easily understood. Townsend resolved from that moment forward that every man, woman, and child should be able to read God’s Word in their own language. As a result, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL International) was founded in 1934 and Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1942. To date, Wycliffe Bible Translators have played a major part in completing the translation work of the Protestant Bible in 700 different languages.[2]
Fun Links to Explore
1) Wycliffe's Bible translation from Northwest Nazarene University
2) Wycliffe Bible Translators
3) Website on John Wycliffe
[1] Information found in this section were derived and adapted from the following sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe; http://www.wycliffe.org/About/OurHistory/JohnWycliffe.aspx; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgate.
[2] Sources: http://www.wycliffe.org/About.aspx; http://www.wycliffe.org/About/OurHistory/CameronTownsend.aspx; and http://www.sil.org/about.
[2] Sources: http://www.wycliffe.org/About.aspx; http://www.wycliffe.org/About/OurHistory/CameronTownsend.aspx; and http://www.sil.org/about.
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