• John Wyclif (1330–1384) was one of the most important forerunners
to the Reformation of the 16th century. He was a philosopher and
theologian whose life was centered in the environs of Oxford. His
radical teachings eventually lost him support at the university, and
his teachings were condemned by the Council of Constance in 1415;
nevertheless, he had enormous
influence on later reformers.
o Wyclif sought guidance
directly from Scripture
and earlier patristic writers
rather than the Scholastic
theologians, and he inspired
an English translation of
the Bible undertaken by his
disciples (1380–1392).
o He developed a theory
concerning the church that
distinguished its eternal ideal
from its material realization;
all authority depended on
divine grace, and rulers and
clergy could be deposed
if they were not in a state
of grace.o In tractates written in 1377–
1378, Wyclif argued that
Scripture was the sole authority for the “eternal” church and
that the papacy was not authorized by Scripture. In his work
On Apostasy (1382), he argued that religious orders (especially
the mendicants) had no basis in Scripture.o In On the Eucharist, Wyclif attacked the doctrine of
transubstantiation as superstitious and inculcated the moral and
spiritual aspects of communion.Wyclif sought guidance from
Scripture and earlier patristic
writers; in this sense, he
represents a return to sources
that would be important for
the Reformation, analogous
to the return to sources that
generated the Renaissance.© Hemera/Thinkstock.