JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JAN HUS
Background
John Wycliffe was an Englishman born sometime around the year 1320. History has not recorded much about his early
life, but we know he was educated by, and later taught at, Oxford University. Around 1374, Wycliffe branched out from the
scholarly world to enter the realm of politics, becoming a representative for King Edward III at a papal conference. During
this time, it is believed that he developed a close friendship with John of Gaunt, the son of the King Edward III. This
friendship would serve as a protection for Wycliffe as he began challenging some foundational church practices and
beliefs. These radical opinions focused on three areas: church authority, church membership and church tradition.
Challenges to Church Authority
Wycliffe's challenged church authority. In the late 14th century, Wycliffe shocked the world by declaring the pope, like any
man, was capable of sin. In his essays entitled 'On Divine Dominion' and 'On Civil Dominion,' he took it a step further by
stating a worldly or sinful pope was to be proclaimed a heretic and should be removed from office. Making matters even
more serious, he also taught that a monarch had the right to stop financially supporting any clergyman he deemed to be
unworthy. As you can guess, this didn't sit so well with the church, and in the late 1370s, Wycliffe's ideas were declared
heretical by Pope Gregory XI. Fortunately for him, Wycliffe had supporters in very high places - John of Gaunt for one - as
well as many monarchs who really liked the idea of not having to pay the church their money.
Challenges to Church Membership
Never one to sit quietly on the sidelines, Wycliffe would not be silenced, his next target was church membership. Through
his personal study of the Bible, Wycliffe believed that God, not any earthly official, has the right to allow or deny church
membership. Through his study, he believed that the Church of God was not a visible organization here on earth, but was
made up of God's elect, or in simpler terms, those God had chosen. He believed no man, no pope, had the right to declare
someone else holy. This job is for God and God alone. Wycliffe took this teaching, known as predestination, or the
belief that God has predetermined who will be part of the true church, directly from the Bible. The New Testament states
'And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.' Again, he
wasn't winning any points with the church, but nothing infuriated them more than our next topic: his attacks against their
traditions. These attacks are what Wycliffe is most remembered for.
Challenges to Church Tradition
Up until this point, church tradition held that only church officials were worthy to read and expound upon the Bible. They
taught that common man was not capable of such study, and therefore, the path to God must be through the church.
Wycliffe boldly challenged this again by proclaiming the words of the New Testament, which state 'For there is one God
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;' or in other words, Jesus, not the church, is the only way
to God.
Wycliffe did not stop there. He decided the best way to get people to understand what the Bible said was to give them an
English translation that they could understand. Up to this point, the Holy Book was only available in the ancient
Hebrew, Latin and Greek, making it difficult if not impossible for the common man to read. Wycliffe began translating the
scriptures into common English. By the 1390s, his translation was being distributed to the wealthy, the common and the
very poor. Having the Bible readily available to the public meant disaster to the church. In losing control of the scriptures,
the church's income and power were at stake. For instance, the selling of indulgences (remission or reduction of one’s
sins) he declared a complete scam. People would begin to challenge the church's authority.
Of course, the church was not willing to go down without a fight, and when Wycliffe dared challenge their doctrine of
transubstantiation, or the belief that the bread and wine of communion actually become the body of Christ, they had
had enough. Although his life was spared, Wycliffe was declared a heretic and expelled from Oxford. He returned to his
small church in Lutterworth, England, where he remained until his death. Ironically, the official church continued their
grudge against him, and in 1428, years after Wycliffe's death, they ordered his bones to be dug up and burned.
Others Carry On
Like many movements that include the common folk, Wycliffe's work continued. By 1387, traveling preachers who held the
beliefs of Wycliffe, called Lollards, roamed throughout England, taking with them the teachings of Wycliffe. These
Lollards, named from the Dutch word 'mumbler,' included members of the common class as well as the wealthy. Together
they encouraged all people to read the Bible in their local language, stressing a personal faith between God and man
instead of a distant relationship through church authority. Of course, like Wycliffe, their greatest act was continuing to
support the reading of the Bible in the local languages of the people. Unfortunately, the Lollards may have pushed their
luck when they produced a stinging attack against the Church of England, calling it a blind and a leprous burden to the
people. As you can imagine, this didn't go over so well, and in the late 1300s many of the Lollards were imprisoned and
their Bibles banned.
However, in a small village Bohemian village, someone else was stirring. Jan Hus, the son of poor parents, enrolled in the
University of Prague in the 1390s. There he came under the influence of the writings of Wycliffe. Hus was especially
impressed with Wycliffe's teachings against the power of the church. This was also the time of the Great Schism when
two rival popes were fighting for church authority. This, along with Wycliffe's teaching, spurred on Hus' belief that the
church was way too powerful. He took Wycliffe's beliefs to another level, arguing that the church should have no authority
in secular matters and that government had the right to rise up against the church. Like Wycliffe, he also believed the
Bible had supremacy over the church and that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the true church.
As you can imagine, Hus was not a favorite of church officials. Unlike Wycliffe who had friends in high places, Hus did not.
He was soon imprisoned for his beliefs, eventually condemned a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415. After his death,
his followers, known as the Hussites, sparked a national rebellion that fought for the right to freely preach the words of
the Bible. Through this group and many others, the teaching of Wycliffe and Hus still exists today in an organization that
bears Wycliffe's name.