The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe by Steven Lawson. Ligonier Ministries. 212 pages. 2021
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This book is a part of the helpful A Long Line of Godly Men series, the purpose of which is to explore how these leaders used their gifts and ministries to further the work of Christ in their time.
Steven Lawson begins by giving us a brief biography of John Wycliffe. He tells us that the fourteenth century was an especially dark time for the church. The light of the gospel had been dimmed. Wycliffe was the most learned scholar of his day and a professor at Oxford University, the top school in Europe. He would become the premier figure of his generation who would illuminate the path to recovering the gospel and reforming the true church. He was known as the shining “Morning Star of the Reformation.”
In 1361, Wycliffe was ordained to the priesthood in 1361, and began preaching as the rector of the parish church in Fillingham. Wycliffe soon began his career as a professor at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he gained a reputation as its most brilliant and popular teacher in theology and philosophy. Wycliffe spent most of the rest of his life lecturing at this institution, where he became regarded as the top theologian and philosopher in England.
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Lawson tells us that Wycliffe developed a doctrine he called “dominion,” which emphasized God’s sovereignty as the highest authority over the earth. He taught that God has assigned His authority over earthly property and worldly possessions to the secular government. King Edward III supported Wycliffe’s position of dominion, as he was paying a heavy price to fund England’s war with France. Moreover, Pope Gregory XI in Rome had issued a burdensome tax upon the English government and church.
When Wycliffe returned from France in 1374, the king appointed Wycliffe to be the rector of the parish church at Lutterworth, a small town near Rugby. This appointment placed Wycliffe closer to Oxford and his professorial duties in the classroom. He served in this pastorate for the next ten years until his death.
Lawson tells us that so noteworthy was Wycliffe’s preaching that the King of England also made him a Royal Chaplain, granting him access to preach before the royal court. In this role, Wycliffe began publicly rebuking the pope’s abuse of power, asserting that the Bible is the sole criterion for establishing any doctrine. Wycliffe went as far as to call the pope the antichrist. This claim caused Pope Gregory XI to respond by condemning Wycliffe as a heretic. On May 22, 1377, the pope issued five papal bulls against Wycliffe, addressing nineteen theological errors from his writings. In the eyes of the monarchy and the university, Wycliffe had gone too far in his assault upon the teaching of Rome. He had become too much of a liability.
Wycliffe responded in the spring of 1381 by publishing a document known as “The Twelve Conclusions”, which targeted the Mass. Wycliffe, the most popular professor at Oxford, was disgracefully removed from his position, and left to withdraw to his quiet pastorate in Lutterworth. However, Lawson writes, it would be in this secluded place, out of the public eye, that his greatest work awaited him—translating the Bible into the English language (the version of Wycliffe’s Bible was produced during his lifetime, completed about 1382), and launching the Lollard movement (an army of itinerant preachers to proclaim the Word throughout England). Wycliffe would die on December 31, 1384.
Lawson tells us that the real genius of Wycliffe lay in his firm commitment to the Word of God. He preached, taught, and defended the authority of the Bible in a gloomy day when it was overshadowed by the pope in Rome. Given the dark times in which Wycliffe lived, the church desperately needed a bold defender of the Word of God—and Wycliffe proved to be that man. He believed that his calling from God was to provide an English Bible that was accessible to the common person of his day.
Wycliffe was staunchly Reformed in his theology. He is considered the spiritual grandfather of the Reformation and had the title of “The Evangelical Doctor.” Though it would be another one hundred and fifty years before the Reformation would come, Wycliffe was a forerunner who laid in place the key doctrines upon which the Reformers would build their history-altering movement.
In this book, Lawson goes over some of Wycliffe’s key writings, including “On Apostasy” and “The Seven Heresies.” However, because Wycliffe’s life preceded the printing press, the number of his surviving sermons is limited. An additional problem is that Wycliffe’s sermons were delivered in Middle English, making them difficult to read today.
Lawson writes of the long-term influence of Wycliffe – to the Lollards, Jon Hus and Luther and the Reformers. He goes into detail on the Lollard movement, a grassroots movement of preachers that prepared the way for the coming of the English Reformation over a century later. The Lollards would face severe opposition, including being burned at the stake for preaching the gospel or possessing a Wycliffe Bible.
In 1415, thirty-one years after Wycliffe died, the Council of Constance condemned him on 260 counts of heresy. The Council ordered that Wycliffe’s writings be burned and that his bones be exhumed and taken out of the churchyard where he was buried. In 1428, the pope ordered that Wycliffe’s remains should be dug up and burned, and his ashes scattered into the Swift River.
What began in England with Wycliffe and the Lollards soon spread to Bohemia with John Hus, and it eventually came to Germany with Martin Luther. Through Luther’s writings, this Bible movement would return back to England and capture the life of William Tyndale. The Wycliffe Bible was the only English Bible that a select few would possess until 1526 with the appearance of a new translation by William Tyndale.
The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe is a helpful introduction to the life and teaching of John Wycliffe.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.
- 12 Old(ish) Books to Read When You Are Young. Kevin DeYoung writes “One of the most important things we can do when we are young and our beliefs and opinions have not yet fully formed is to make sure we read good books.”
- Facing the Last Enemy. Tim Challies reviews Guy Waters’ excellent new book Facing the Last Enemy: Death and the Christian. He writes “Death is inevitable in this world. It is inevitable that we will need to endure the deaths of people we love and inevitable that we ourselves will die. For that reason alone we ought to familiarize ourselves with death—to know what it is, why it exists, how we can face it well, and how we can have great hope beyond it. This book is an excellent resource that will help accomplish all of that.”
- As Summer Ends – A Summer Booklist That Will Outlast Warm Weather. Albert Mohler shares his summer reading list, heavily weighted with history and nonfiction titles.
BOOK CLUB – Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at WCF 4: Of Creation. Here is a helpful quote from the chapter:
- We stand in awe that our Creator formed the entire vast universe out of nothing by the sheer command of His voice.
