IN the year 1365 the pope (Urban V) came into collision with England, by arrogantly demanding the annual rental of one thousand marks promised by King John with the arrears of many years then due. The English failing to pay this, the pope claimed possession of England as his kingdom, and ordered King Edward III to repair to Rome.
No little consternation was caused in England by this demand. The papal party were in high hopes. England had already enacted, some statutes denying the right of the pope to appoint foreigners to high offices in the English church; and prohibiting any one from bringing to England, or from receiving and publishing, any bulls or excommunications from the pope: but now the pope was only asking for that which had been promised from England by their own sovereign, how could it be refused?
Wiclif by this time was about forty years old. He was a Christian. He had passed through soul trouble on account of sin and the judgment of God, and had found peace in studying the scriptures. He resolved to make known the treasure he had found.
In 1361 he had been chosen warden of Balliol College, and in 1365 warden of Canterbury Hall, at Oxford. In these offices he made known and expounded the scriptures to the students in the week, and on the Sunday he preached in simple language the same truths to the people.
Wiclif heard of this demand of the pope, and he strenuously opposed it. He may have been appealed to by the king, and if so, it would have been his duty to reply; but otherwise how much better it would have been had Wiclif left the matters of the state to those whom God had placed over the nation, and kept to the work God had given him to do for the souls of his hearers.
Parliament was summoned amid great excitement, and proceeded to discuss the question. The friends of the pope were of course in favor of the money being granted; but many could not see what the pope had to do with demands on their country. "England belongs not to the pope," said one; "the pope is but a man, subject to sin; but Christ is the Lord of lords, and this kingdom is held directly and solely of Christ alone." It would have been more to the purpose had they quoted the passage in Rom. 13:11Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1): "The powers that be are ordained of God." God had ordained Edward III and not Urban V as King of England. After much discussion the demand was refused.
The friends of the pope declared that by the canon law England belonged to the pope, and the pope could now lay claim to the country. But who had made the canon law? The popes themselves and their councils. What authority then had the canon law? "The canon law has no force," said Wiclif, "when it is opposed to the word of God.”
This demand made on England and its refusal brings out one of the reasons why the Reformation was needed. The popes laid claim to authority from God over the kings in Christendom, and when they chose they not only excommunicated a king from the church, but they also declared that he was no longer king, and all his subjects were justified in refusing obedience to their sovereign.
The pope found it was of no use to try and enforce his demand on the English, yet he was loth to lose both his spiritual and his temporal power over England, so he brought about a conference at Bruges in 1374, to which Wiclif repaired with other commissioners. The chief points before them were the statutes which related to the pope's ecclesiastical powers in England. The conference ended by a compromise. The king was to repeal the penalties against the agents of the pope; and the pope agreed to confirm the appointments of the king. The people however were displeased. "The clerks sent from Rome," said the House of Commons, "are more dangerous for the kingdom than Jews or Saracens." The pope had asked too much: the people begrudged him anything.
But the sojourn of Wiclif abroad was of great use to him. Like Luther's visit to Rome it opened Wiclif's eyes to the wickedness of the papal system, and confirmed him all the more in his judgment against it. On his return he was made Rector of Lutterworth. Here he preached the gospel to the people. "The gospel," said he, "is the only source of religion. The Roman pontiff is a mere cut-purse, and, far from having the right to reprimand the whole world, he may be lawfully reproved by his inferiors and even by laymen.”
Such language however could not be allowed. The pope had many friends in England, and many in power. They beheld with alarm the spread of Wiclif's doctrine, and set to work to crush him.
On February 19, 1377, Wiclif was summoned to St. Paul's, London. It awoke great interest, and a large concourse of people flocked into the Cathedral. All were more or less excited, and many were holding animated conversation. But the hum was hushed on the approach of the man for whom all had been looking. But he came not alone. First came Lord Percy, marshal of England, then Wiclif and the Duke of Lancaster, followed by four monks, bachelors of divinity. All eyes are turned on Wiclif, who had been charged with heresy. The church was thronged with friends of the pope, and it was with great difficulty that Lord Percy and those following could make their way to the place where the bishops had assembled. As they pushed their way they encountered the scowls and frowns of the crowd, who would gladly have laid hands on Wiclif had he been alone, but they restrained themselves before his noble protectors.
At length they forced their way to where the ecclesiastics were assembled. Bishop Courtenay presided, who was not a little disconcerted to find that Wiclif was protected by two of the most powerful men in England, and a few angry words passed between them.
Lancaster foolishly whispered to one near him that he should like to pull the bishop out of the church by his hair. Some standing by heard this, and they at once made such an uproar, in defense of the bishop that Lancaster and Percy had to defend themselves, and make their escape from the church as best they could. After cautioning Wiclif the meeting broke up, nothing being really done.
Wiclif again went on with his preaching, but the pope concerted measures to have him effectually stopped. For this purpose later in 1377 he was brought before the Archbishop. Men now expected he would be condemned; he was before the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in the land, and the King (Richard II) being but a child could not interfere. But Wiclif had a friend in the Queen mother; and scarcely had the Archbishop commenced proceedings against Wiclif when Sir Louis Clifford entered the chapel and forbade the court to proceed. The bishops were confounded; but felt they had no power to resist, and gave way. Wiclif handed in a protest and retired. The protest said, "I do mind and intend with my whole heart (by the grace of God) to be a true Christian, and as long as breath shall remain in me to profess and defend the law of Christ." If any things he held could be shown to be wrong by scripture he was ready to revoke and renounce them.
Wiclif was now left to go on with his work. That work increased in value in his own eyes. He greatly desired to have the gospel preached in all the dark places of England. To his disciples he said, "Go and preach, it is the sublimest work; but imitate not the priests whom we see after the sermon sitting in the ale-houses or at the gaming-table or wasting their time in hunting. After your sermon is ended, visit the sick, the aged, the poor, the blind, and the lame, and succor them according to your ability.”
Alas, what a picture of the practice of the priests in those days! They too often went from the pulpit to the tavern or the gaming-table! What fruit could be expected from such labors and such laborers?
Wiclif's evangelists scattered themselves abroad. With staff in hand they went forth, living on alms, as was the custom, and preaching the gospel by the wayside, in churchyards, or wherever they could find hearers. Wiclif had taught them that salvation was not in angels or saints, but in Jesus Christ. "An angel," said he, “could have made no propitiation for man; for the nature which has sinned is not that of the angels. The mediator must needs be a man; but every man being indebted to God for everything that he is able to do, this man must needs have infinite merit, and be at the same time God.”
The regular clergy were alarmed, and obtained a law to forbid the evangelists; and then from their retreats they would watch for them, and running out fall upon them. But the people often took their part, and forming a strong ring round the preachers would not allow them to be hurt.
Thus by the means of these devoted evangelists the gospel reached many a dark corner of our country, and a yet future day alone will reveal the result of the good seed sown.
Wiclif, besides this work of evangelization, still discharged his duties as professor at Oxford, when in 1379 he was taken dangerously ill, and all thought he would die. The papal party were in joy, but to make their triumph complete they hastened to his bedside to induce him to retract before he died. "You have death on your lips," said they; "be touched by your faults, and retract in our presence all that you have said to our injury." Wiclif was calm and serene, and for a time held his peace. The priests were full of hope, and waited, expecting to hear his recantation. They had brought with them four Aldermen, so that their report of it should not be called in question.
Wiclif begged his attendant to raise him up. Then summoning his strength, though he was dreadfully weak, with piercing gaze he said, "I shall not die, but live, and again declare the evil deeds of the friars." Disappointed and confounded they retired from his room. The Reformer began to recover, and lived to accomplish a yet greater work than he had hitherto done.
The Translation of the Bible.
That greater work was to give to the English the Bible in their own tongue. England had been professedly a Christian country for years, and yet, except the clergy, and perhaps a few who could read Latin, no one possessed a Bible, or knew anything of its contents except what the priests told them! How grateful we should be to God that our lot is cast in days when everyone can have his Bible, and read it as he pleases! Yet how great our responsibility to know what it teaches, and to obey it!
Wiclif did not understand either Greek or Hebrew, and so he could translate the Bible only from the Latin Vulgate; but this was infinitely better than not having any Bible at all. He had labored patiently at his work of translating for more than ten years, assisted a little by others; but in 1380, the next year after his dangerous illness, his work was completed-the Bible was published in the English language.
Portions of the scriptures had been translated before-the gospels by one; the Acts and Epistles by another; the Psalms and a portion of the Old Testament by others: but these could never be said to be published. They were kept more as curiosities by their possessors-mostly in the convents-and were not intended for the people.
Wiclif's, on the other hand, was intended for the people; but when we say it was published we mean it was allowed to be copied and sold. As yet printing had not been invented, and there was only the long, tedious, and expensive process of copying by the pen. Still the copyists diligently went to work, and soon portions of the translation were offered for sale.
These portions were gladly bought, as well as were the complete copies. Wiclif's expectations were surpassed by the joy and eagerness with which men purchased the word of God. Many who had never seen this fountain of truth could now for themselves, and in their mother tongue, read the wonders of God's revelation to man. The book was above all price, and one told another of the treasure he had found. Men were now in what has been called the Dark Ages on account of the general darkness both spiritual and intellectual that was over the whole earth; but now a great light—God's light—had pierced that darkness, and shone along the Christian's path. A light too that has through the mercy of God shone on these lands ever since, notwithstanding all the efforts of Satan and all his agents to extinguish or stamp it out.
This publishing of the word of God brought out a second need that existed for the Reformation. It was a part of the policy of Rome to keep the Bible from the people: the Reformation restored it. It was God's gift to man, and man must have it.
Accordingly no sooner was Wiclif's Bible published than he was assailed on all hands by the friends of the pope. "It is heresy, to speak of holy scripture in English," said some; others seemed envious: "Master Wiclif, by translating the gospel into English," said they, "has rendered it more acceptable and more intelligible to laymen and even to women than it hath hitherto been to learned and intelligent clerks." Others affected a pious dread that by all having the gospel it would be trodden under foot as of swine. Others took higher ground, and said, "Since the church has approved of the four gospels, she would have been just as able to reject them and admit others! The church sanctions and condemns what she pleases.... Learn to believe in the church rather than the gospel!" This was really the point at issue. The church had not given the scriptures, it was God who gave them: the Church of Rome had withheld them. Men ought not to believe in the church but in the gospel—the gospel of God. Wiclif was sure he was right, and cared not for the clamor. "Though the pope and all his clerks," said he, "should disappear from the face of the earth, our faith would not fail, for it is founded on Jesus alone, our Master and our God.”
*(“Clerks" is only an old-fashioned name for clergy.)
In some places Wiclif met with encouragement. A copy of the gospels afterward found its way to the palace, and Anne of Luxemburg, wife of Richard II began to read them diligently. She also brought them under the notice of Arundel, Archbishop of York, who was struck by a woman and a foreigner reading "such virtuous books," and began to read them himself, and rebuked some of the clergy for neglecting such studies.
In the House of Lords a motion was made to crush the work by seizing all the copies, when the Duke of Lancaster exclaimed, "Are we then the very dregs of humanity, that we cannot possess the law of our religion in our own tongue?”
We give a specimen of Wiclif's New Testament.
In language it came between the pure Anglo-Saxon and our present English; Tyndale's coming between Wiclif's and the Authorized Version.
ANGLO-SAXON (7th Century) Swaswa Moyses tha næddran up-ahof of tham westene, swa gebyrath thæt mannes Sunu beo up-ahafen: thæt nan thæra ne forweorthe the on hyne gelyfth, ac hæbbe thæt ece lif. God Iufode middaneard, swa thæt he sealde his ancennedan Sunu, thæt nan ne forweorthe the on hine gelyfth, ac hæbbe thæt ece lif. Ne sende God his Sunu on middan-eard, thæt he demde middan-earde; ac thæt middan-eard sy gehæled thurh hine.
WICLIF, 1380 As moises arerid a serpent in desert, So it behoueth mannes sone to be reisid, that eche man that beleueth in hym perisch not but haue euerlastynge liif. For God loued so the world, that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that eche man that bileueth in him perisch not: but have euerlastynge liif, for God sente not his sone in to the world, that he juge the world, but that the world be saued bi him.
TYNDALE, 1534 As Moses lifte vp the serpent in the wyldernes, even so must the sonne of man be lifte vp, that none that beleveth in him perisshe: but have eternall lyfe. For God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only sonne, that none that believe in him should perisshe: but shuld have everlasting lyfe. For God sent not his sonne into the worlde, to condempne the worlde: but that the worlde through him, might be saved. John 3:14-1714And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:14‑17).
AUTHORIZED, 1611 As Moses lifted vp the serpent in the wildernesse: euen so must the Sonne of man be lifted vp: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue eternall life. For God so loued the world, that he gave his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life. For God sent not his Sonne into the world to condemne the world: but that the world through him might be saued.*
From 550 to 1150 Anglian or Anglo-Saxon.
From 1150 to 1250 Semi-Anglian or Semi-Saxon.
From 1250 to 1550 Old English.
From 1550 to 1650 Middle English.
From 1650 to Now Modem English.)
The Work Progresses
Wiclif proceeded to study the scriptures he had given to the people. The doctrine of the Mass—being said and sung every day—naturally received his attention. "The consecrated wafer," said he, "which we see on the altar, is not Christ, nor any part of Him, but His efficient sign." The Church of Rome taught that when the priest consecrated the bread it at once became the actual body of Christ, by a change called transubstantiation. "How canst thou, O priest, who art but a man, make thy Maker?" said Wiclif. "What the thing that groweth in the fields—that ear which thou pluckest to-day—shall be God to-morrow!.... As you cannot make the works which He made, how shall you make Him who made the works?”
The Duke of Lancaster who had hitherto defended Wiclif, could not support him in his new doctrine. He exhorted, yea, even commanded Wiclif to remain silent; but Wiclif could not agree to smother the light God had given him.
About this time (1381) occurred the well-known insurrection of Wat Tyler, and there were many who were ready enough to ascribe these disorders as the fruit of Wiclif s doctrines. A more unfounded accusation had never been made.
Courtenay was promoted to the See of Canterbury and he hastened to call a synod to condemn Wiclif. They met in May (1382), in the afternoon, and were proceeding to draw up their sentence of condemnation, when a dreadful earthquake shook London and a great part of England, and this so alarmed the bishops that they hesitated to complete their work, looking on this as a rebuke from God. But the Archbishop endeavored to turn the event into his favor. "Know you not," said he, "that the noxious vapors which catch fire in the bosom of the earth, and give rise to these phenomena which alarm you, lose all their force when they burst forth? Well, in like manner, by rejecting the wicked from the community we shall put an end to the convulsions of the church." The courage of the bishops revived and they condemned Wiclif—quoting some articles against him of which he was not guilty.
The Archbishop pressed the king to enforce their decision. "If we permit this heretic to appeal continually to the passions of the people," said he to the king, "our destruction is inevitable. We must silence these Lollards*—these psalm-singers." The king gave orders to confine in the prisons of the state any who should maintain the condemned propositions.
(* Most probably the term comes from lollen, to sing.)
Wiclif was not frightened, though he saw his friends one by one forsake him. He consoled himself with the thought that the doctrine of the gospel could never perish. Here he might have rested, and have gone on with his work as he could find opportunity; but he thought it right to appeal to the House of Commons. "Since Jesus Christ,” said he, "shed His blood to free His church, I demand its freedom ... I demand that the poor inhabitants of our towns and villages be not constrained to furnish a worldly priest, often a vicious man and a heretic, with the means of satisfying his ostentation, his gluttony, and his licentiousness—of buying a showy horse, costly saddles, bridles with tinkling bells, rich garments and soft furs, while they see their wives, children, and neighbors dying of hunger." The House of Commons felt their authority had been infringed upon by the king's order being issued without their concurrence. They called for its repeal.
Courtenay was disconcerted; but determined that his victim should not escape. So he hastened to Oxford, and gathering together the heads of the church he summoned Wiclif before him, taking care to open the doors to the students and laymen that the humiliation of the professor should be complete. Wiclif was infirm, and might have pleaded his weakness but he did not.
He obeyed the summons. But it ended in a way they little expected. Fixing his piercing gaze upon Courtenay he read him such a lecture that the archbishop did not soon forget it. He charged the Roman Catholic clergy with being like the priests of Baal, and with selling their Masses in a way that winked at evil to fill their purses. Then exclaiming, "The truth shall prevail," he left the court, none daring to stop him; and "like his divine Master at Nazareth," as D'Aubigne says, "he passed through the midst of them, and no man ventured to stop him." He retired to Lutterworth.
He was not, however, to escape molestation. He was quietly living among his parishioners and his books when he received a papal brief summoning him to Rome. He would doubtless have received this earlier but there were then two rival popes, and they were too busy abusing and cursing one another to think much of such a despised personage as Wiclif. Now while Scotland acknowledged one pope (Clement VII), England held to the other (Urban VI), who had plenty of friends in England, and these would not fail to press upon him the damage that was being done to the papal cause by this man's doctrine.
Wiclif believed his increasing infirmities justified him in declining to visit Rome: but he would write to the pope. He first exalted the gospel, and then declared that the pope himself was bound by the gospel. "For the greatness amongst Christ's disciples did not consist in worldly dignity or honors, but in the near and exact following of Christ in His life and manners. Hereby I do fully gather that no faithful man ought to follow either the pope himself or any of the holy men, but in such points as he has followed the Lord Jesus Christ.”
But Urban was too busy with his war with Clement to trouble more about Wiclif, and so the Reformer continued his course unmolested. He was busy among his parishioners and also with his pen. During this time he wrote his Trialogues* between Truth, Falsehood, and Understanding. Let us listen to some of his conclusions.
(*Conversations between three, as dialogs are between two.)
“The scripture is the rule of truth, and should be the rule of the Reformation. We must reject every doctrine and every precept which does not rest on that foundation.
“To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome; and from that error has come the ruin of the church.
“Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism.
“Christ is everything in Christianity: whosoever abandons that fountain which is ever ready to impart life, and turns to muddy and stagnant waters, is a madman.
“Faith is the gift of God: it puts aside all merit, and should banish all fear from the mind.
“The one thing needful in the christian life and the Lord's supper is not a vain formalism and superstitious rites, but communion with Christ according to the power of the spiritual life.
“The true church is the assembly of the righteous for whom Christ shed His blood.
“It is possible for the pope to be condemned at the last day because of his sins.”
Thus did Wiclif gather truth from the scripture, taught by the Holy Spirit: he had no other teacher. He was highly favored to live thus in peace. He expected nothing but martyrdom. "What!" said he, "I should live and be silent ... . Never! Let the blow fall, I await its coming.”
But he was to die in peace. On the 29th of December, 1384, he was in the church at Lutterworth, engaged in the service, when he fell down upon the pavement stricken with paralysis. He was carried to his house and died peacefully on the last day of the year.
Thus passed away one whom God had raised up and used to do a great work for Him. His greatest work was to give to England the Bible in the English language. Besides this he sent forth many evangelists to preach the gospel. He had learned (though not clear on many points) a great portion of truth, by which he was enabled to see the errors of the Church of Rome, and he had faith to cry against its abominations. Thus began the Reformation in England. He was the first, as well as the greatest, of England's Reformers; and of the Reformation generally, as one has well said, If Luther and Calvin were the fathers of the Reformation, Wiclif was its grandfather, that is, as an instrument in God's hand.
That he manfully opposed the errors of the church of Rome is proved by the list of charges brought against him, amounting to forty-five; and his name became a sort of touchstone by which to condemn others. To be a follower of Wiclif or hold what he held, was an end of all controversy, and stamped the person as a thorough heretic.
It is important too to see that the light given by God to Wiclif never after went out in England.
There were always those who held and rejoiced in the light and truth. Every now and again it became visible, and some suffered martyrdom. They were often called Wiclifites, though he did not commence a sect, nor did he leave the Church of Rome except in spirit. At other times they were called Lollards. But they all saw the same abuses in the Church of Rome, and found relief and salvation in Christ and His gospel. Knighton, the historian, says that such was the success of Wiclif that "more than half of the people of England in a few years became Lollards.”
The Church of Rome saw such an attack upon itself in the work of Wiclif that in 1415 the Council of Constance ordered the bones of the Reformer to be burnt. This was carried out thirteen years after, in 1428. But the truth he had taught could not be burnt; it had been sown in men's hearts and brought forth fruit to life eternal.
His ashes were cast into a neighboring brook called the Swift. As a historian says, from the Swift they could be carried to the Avon, from the Avon to the Severn, from the Severn to the ocean, and become an emblem of his doctrine which is dispersed all the world over; as the poet has said:
“Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear,
And at her call is Wiclif disinhumed;
Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed
And flung into the brook that travels near;
Forthwith, that ancient Voice which streams can hear
Thus speaks (that Voice which walks upon the wind,
Though seldom heard by busy human kind)—
‘As thou these ashes, little brook! wilt bear
Into the won, won to the tide
Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas,
Into main ocean they, this deed accurst
An emblem yields to friends and enemies
How the bold teacher's doctrine, sanctified
By truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed.'”