OWES A DEBT OF GRATITUDE

“And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” Mk.12:24

     History shows the long centuries of the Bible’s suppression, the prevailing ignorance and corruption as a result, and the sacrifice of great men and women to secure its freedom in the press, thus making it available for us today. Without the spilled blood of tens of thousands who were murdered by authority of the pope, America would not exist today. Make no mistake! Tyrants always have to be forcibly removed. They never step down voluntarily.

     So, a Reformation had to begin. It began with an Englishman, John Wycliffe (c. 1320-December 1384). He is known, remembered and beloved as “The Morning Star.” He was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher at Oxford in England. Of keen intellect and devout faith in the Master of Salvation, Jesus Christ, his scholarship in the Scriptures far surpassed his colleagues in the church. The Roman church had stood belligerent for centuries against the fundamental doctrines of Christ. And so, John, having discovered these open conflicts between the church he loved and the Bible he revered, John Wycliffe became known as an early champion-dissident in the Roman Catholic Church.

     Interestingly, Wycliffe’s followers were known as Lollards. This was because the great Bible scholar, Lollard was a Waldensian Missionary and seventh day Sabbath Keeping Christian who came to John to encourage basic reforms, citing the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Col.2:8. The meetings of Wycliffe and Lollard were truly a divine appointment, for they sparked the call for reform in the Roman church. The Reformation scholar Beza (Calvin’s associate) said that the Waldenses took up the banner of the Judean model of Christianity in 120 A.D.

     The religion of Roman Catholicism was reprehensible for it stood against the fundamental teachings of the Gospel. But the pinnacle of the Dark Ages came when Rome had denied the Holy Bible to the common man back in 1229 when pope Gregory IX decreed the Bible to be forever banned from the common man. Fact: This doctrine would be still held today had it not been for the Reformation. It was this suppression of the Scriptures that sparked the heart of John Wycliffe to translate the Bible into the English language, and thus the common man could read the words of Christ for himself.

     Intellectually, Rome had stifled the mind for so long, even among the priests that it is said that few could even recite one passage from the Bible. This bondage to ignorance and superstition sparked an intellectual/moral revolution among those with reason, among whom was John Wycliffe. With the thirst for knowledge increasing, soon the Renaissance followed, restoring Greek culture to the west (that had been likewise suppressed for centuries as was the Bible): bringing with it, science, medicine, education and law. And along with this restoration of ancient knowledge came the Greek New Testament, dating back to Lucian of Antioch (3rd century) through the labors of the Dutch scholar, Erasmus (16th century).

     As a result of John Wycliffe’s honest relationship with the Bible, he preached the Apostolic message of the Gospel to the common man. His message contradicted the anticlerical traditions of Roman Catholicism. He was one of the earliest opponents of papal authority over secular power, in obedience to Christ’s command to His disciples forbidding any tyranny or enforced worship among Christians (Lu.22:25,26).

     John showed interest in natural science and mathematics, but applied himself to studying theology, ecclesiastical law, and philosophy. His opponents acknowledged the keenness of his dialectic, and his writings prove he was well grounded in Roman and English law, as well as in native history.

     As his Bible scholarship advanced, Wycliffe became deeply disillusioned both with Scholastic theology of his day and also with the state of the church, at least as represented by the clergy. In the final phase of his life in the years before his death in 1384 he increasingly argued for Scriptures as the authoritative centre of Christianity, that the claims of the papacy were unhistorical, that monasticism was irredeemably corrupt, and that the moral unworthiness of priests invalidated their office and sacraments.

     With such keen understanding, coupled with the counsels of Scripture in the forefront of his reasoning it was difficult to recognize him as a heretic. The controversies in which men engaged at Oxford were philosophical rather than purely theological or ecclesiastical-political, and the method of discussion was academic and scholastic. Thus, this was the environment that opened the door for the reforms that would lead to the liberty of nations today.