John Wycliffe is rightly remembered as the "Morning Star of the Reformation." He was grounded in Scripture-saturated convictions that drove his vigorous defense of the gospel and his groundbreaking work as the first to translate the Bible into English. -- "John Wycliffe honored the Word of God above all else, demonstrating a steadfast loyalty to its unerring testimony." --Steven Lawson

The fourteenth century was a dark time for the church in England. Superstition and error obscured the truth of the gospel, and even the clergy had little knowledge of the Bible. Against this bleak backdrop, God raised up a scholar and preacher who would stand with conviction on His Word, even if it meant standing alone. Trusting Scripture as his highest authority, John Wycliffe believed the Bible was what England needed most. Only through the Word of God would the Holy Spirit reform hearts and, in turn, reform the church. But for this to happen, Wycliffe knew that everyday people needed to have the Bible in their own language. In The Bible Convictions of John Wycliffe, Dr. Steven Lawson tells how Wycliffe's devotion to the gospel made him the forerunner of the Reformation who translated the Bible into English for the first time. We're indebted to him for our English Bibles today, and his story can encourage us to establish our convictions on God's Word. This book is part of the Long Line of Godly Men Profile series, edited by Dr. Steven Lawson.

John Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation, gave us the first English translation of the Bible. A noted scholar and teacher at Oxford, his reliance on the Bible as the sole source of truth stood in stark contrast to the teachings of the Catholic church. His followers went out, teaching and preaching to the common man throughout England. Bowing himself to the authority of the Bible, his great aim was to bring men to the Word. He saw it as the one great authority, the Law that exceeded all other laws. His life’s work continued through men like John Hus and laid the groundwork for Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and the other great men of the Reformation.

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading In the mid-14th century, the Vatican called upon England and sought financial aid in the hopes of boosting papal defenses against French forces. It was then that a man named John Wycliffe boldly stepped forth and appealed to the John of Gaunt, urging the Duke of Lancaster and Parliament to repudiate Rome's demands and citing what he believed to be the Church's abundance in wealth. According to Wycliffe, Christ's disciples, particularly clergymen, must aspire to live modestly and shun all material pleasures. Such was the word of the Lord. Despite the growing tensions between Wycliffe and the Catholic Church, he was invited to partake in a religious committee that aimed to find solutions for the apparent failings of the institution in 1374, but progress was slow, impeded by the corruption of the priests who readily accepted bribes and immoral incentives. Wycliffe, on the contrary, was equipped with a cast-iron will and refused to cave in to temptation. His strength of character earned him the approbation of the Duke and members of Parliament. The same could not be said about his fellow clergymen. Wycliffe's relentless criticism of the Church only continued to escalate, and eventually he was summoned to London and charged with the unforgivable crime of heresy. To the dismay of his detractors, the hearing was anything but black and white, and heated verbal exchanges soon spiraled into physical altercations. This resulted in a temporary deadlock that was broken only three months later when Pope Gregory XI published five papal bulls that unequivocally banned all of Wycliffe's teachings and found the heretic, dubbed the "master of errors," guilty of 18 counts of heresy. The end, it appeared, was nigh, but Wycliffe remained unfazed, declaring, "I profess and claim to be by the grace of God a sound...Christian and while there is breath in my body, I will speak forth and defend the law of it." Wycliffe told the archbishop at Lambeth Palace, "I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death...I have followed the Sacred Scripture and the holy doctors." While Wycliffe's critics rejoiced at the news of his demise, they soon discovered that his influence was far more difficult to extinguish than they initially anticipated. In 1427, a whole 43 years after Wycliffe's passing, his corpse was exhumed by local authorities and cremated, and the ashes were dumped into the River Swift, but Wycliffe's indelible ideas had taken on a life of their own The revival of Wycliffe's ideas, many believe, was ignited by receptive Bohemian students who were introduced to the reformer's works at Oxford University and became so moved by his thoughts that they felt it absolutely imperative to spread the good word in their own kingdoms. Questioning Christians quietly perused compilations of Wycliffe's books and were, at the very least, intrigued by the nonconformist's opinions. One curious mind, however, was supposedly so inspired by Wycliffe that he was at once galvanized into action. Instead of simply parroting Wycliffe's seditious ideas, he launched an entire movement and remained fervidly true to his cause, even when his own life was at stake. This fearless firebrand was none other than Jan Hus, the father of the Bohemian Reformation and one of the most infamous heretics in all of Europe. Hus started as a Czech priest, but he quickly became notorious for debating several Church doctrines such as the Eucharist, Church ecclesiology, and many more topics. Today, he is viewed as a predecessor of the Lutherans, but the Church viewed him as a threat, and the Catholics eventually engaged Hus' followers (known as Hussites) in several battles in the early 15th century. Hus himself was burned at the stake in 1415, but his followers fought on in a series of battles known as the Hussite Wars.

The Protestant Reformation is the greatest movement of the gospel since the days of the apostles. At its earliest beginnings stands a man named John Wycliffe. Learn the remarkable story of God's work through him in this hard-hitting, fast-paced retelling of the tale."Wycliffe was a lion of a man, a theologian and Bible translator with a backbone of steel. May Luke Walker's gripping recounting of his story stir up our gratitude to God for raising up such leaders, and provoke us to seek the grace to be like them."Dr. Joel R. BeekePresident, Puritan Reformed Theological SeminaryGrand Rapids, Michigan

This is a reprint of the original work by Lewis Sergeant. We have re-typeset the text in a more modern and easy to read font. We have also updated the book with new photos of many of the old illustrations and added many new ones as well. Apart from updating the spelling and/or the modernizing of a few archaic words as well as the conversion of Roman numerals to Arabic numbers, (modern numbers), the original work was left intact. However, in the present work there have been quite a few notes added by Rev. Peter J. Carter. Where these notes appear, they are enclosed with breaks, like so, [Notes], to indicate which are from the original work and which are the addition to the present work. Original notes from the author are not enclosed in breaks. THE plan on which this volume has been written, and (I trust) the excuse for adding one more to the considerable number of recent works on Wyclif, are perhaps sufficiently indicated in the first few chapters, and particularly in the fourth. It might not have been worthwhile to rewrite the story of this English worthy of the fourteenth century, even with the encouragement of a few fresh facts and sidelights to develop and illustrate his character, if it had not been for the opportunity thus afforded of doing something to popularize the picture of John Wyclif as an Oxford Schoolman, and the picture of the Schoolmen in general as pioneers of the Reformation of Religion and the Revival of Learning. In a volume not specially intended for laborious students, it would scarcely have been appropriate to enter on a detailed examination of Wyclif's scholastic and controversial writings. Such a work remains to be accomplished, but it cannot well be undertaken until the Wyclif Society has completed its task. For a similar reason I have not introduced a full bibliography of books and other documents relating to Wyclif. Most of my authorities will be found cited in the text and notes; but I would here express my special obligation to the editors of various volumes in the Rolls Series, to the writers of various articles in the Dictionary of National Biography— which has become indispensable to every historical student,—to Mr. R. L. Poole, and Mr. F. D. Matthew. Of the reputed portraits of Wyclif mentioned in the first chapter, six are reproduced in the present volume. Three of the most characteristic of these— the Bale, Hondius, and Houston engravings—do not seem to have been printed since the centuries in which they were respectively produced. At any rate, the six are now brought together for the first time, and the reader must be left to determine for himself which of the series is most likely to represent John Wyclif as he lived.

A fictionalized biography of John Wycliffe, set in medieval England: Young John Wycliffe lived through the terrors of the Black Death and later survived the St Scholastica Day riot in Oxford that killed some of his comrades. His experiences gave him a passion to give the Bible to the common man, in the common language of English. Readers will share in Wycliffe's student days at Oxford University and see him work toward his goal of translating the Bible into English for all Englishmen to read.