John Wycliffe

== Doctrines ==
[[Image:John Wycliffe at work.jpg|thumb|left|John Wycliffe at work in his study]]

Wycliffe had come to regard the scriptures as the only reliable guide to the truth about God, and maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible rather than on the teachings of popes and clerics. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy.<ref name="Cavendish">{{ cite web|title=John Wycliffe condemned as a heretic|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/john-wycliffe-condemned-heretic|access-date=26 October 2019|website=www.historytoday.com }}</ref>

Theologically, his preaching expressed a strong belief in predestination that enabled him to declare an "[[Invisible church|invisible church of the elect]]", made up of those predestined to be saved, rather than in the "visible" [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="Britannica Encyclopedia, 2009">{{ citation |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=16 October 2009 |contribution=John Wycliffe |contribution-url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/650168/John-Wycliffe |edition=online}}.</ref>
To Wycliffe, the Church was the totality of those who are [[predestination|predestined]] to blessedness. No one who is eternally lost has part in it. There is one [[Catholicism|universal Church]], and outside of it there is no [[salvation]].

His first tracts and greater works of ecclesiastical-political content defended the privileges of the State. By 1379 in his ''De ecclesia'' ("On the Church"), Wycliffe clearly claimed the supremacy of the king over the priesthood.<ref name=Conti/> He also rejected the selling of [[indulgences]].

So far as his polemics accord with those of earlier antagonists of the papacy, it is fair to assume that he was not ignorant of them and was influenced by them. It was Wycliffe who recognised and formulated one of the two major formal principles of the Reformation – the unique [[authority]] of the Bible for the belief and life of the Christian.

=== Attack on monasticism ===
The battle against what he saw as an imperialised papacy and its supporters, the "sects", as he called the [[monasticism|monastic]] orders, takes up a large space not only in his later works, such as the ''Trialogus'', ''Dialogus'', ''Opus evangelicum'', and in his sermons, but also in a series of sharp tracts and polemical productions in Latin and English (of which those issued in his later years have been collected as "Polemical Writings").

In the 1380 ''Objections to Friars'', he calls monks the pests of society, enemies of religion, and patrons and promoters of every crime.<ref name=Murray/> He directed his strongest criticism against the [[friars]], whose preaching he considered neither scriptural nor sincere, but motivated by "temporal gain".<ref name=Estep/> While others were content to seek the reform of particular errors and abuses, Wycliffe sought nothing less than the extinction of the institution itself, as being repugnant to scripture and his theology of apostolic poverty,<ref name="Lahey"/> and inconsistent with the order and prosperity of the Church.<ref name=Vaughn/> He advocated the dissolution of the monasteries.

=== Views on the papacy ===
Rudolph Buddensieg finds two distinct aspects in Wycliffe's work. The first, from 1366 to 1378, reflects a political struggle with Rome, while 1378 to 1384 is more a religious struggle. In each Wycliffe has two approaches: he attacks both the Papacy and its institutions, and also Roman Catholic doctrine.<ref name="Rudolph">{{ cite web |last=Wycliffe |first=John |date=26 October 1883 |title=John Wiclif's Polemical works in Latin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ik0jPJfawIC&q=john+wycliffe |access-date=26 October 2019 |publisher=Wyclif society |via=Google Books }}</ref>

Wycliffe's influence was never greater than at the moment when pope and [[Antipope Clement VII|antipope]] sent their ambassadors to England to gain recognition for themselves. In 1378, in the ambassadors' presence, he delivered an opinion before Parliament that showed, in an important ecclesiastical political question (the matter of the [[right of asylum]] in [[Westminster Abbey]]), a position that was to the liking of the State. He argued that criminals who had taken sanctuary in churches might lawfully be dragged out of sanctuary.<ref name=Kiefer/>

The books and tracts of Wycliffe's last six years include continual attacks upon the papacy and the entire hierarchy of his times. Each year they focus more and more, and at the last, the pope and the [[Antichrist]] seem to him practically equivalent concepts. Yet there are passages which are moderate in tone: [[Gotthard Victor Lechler|G. V. Lechler]] identifies three stages in Wycliffe's relations with the papacy. The first step, which carried him to the outbreak of the [[Schism (religion)|schism]], involves moderate recognition of the [[Primacy of the Roman Pontiff|papal primacy]]; the second, which carried him to 1381, is marked by an estrangement from the papacy; and the third shows him in sharp contest.

=== Basic positions in philosophy ===
Wycliffe was a prominent English theologian and scholastic philosopher of the second half of the 14th century.<ref name=Conti/> He earned his great repute as a philosopher at an early date. [[Henry Knighton]] says that in philosophy he was second to none, and in scholastic discipline incomparable.<ref>{{ cite journal|last=Deanesly|first=Margaret|date=1971|title=A History of the Medieval Church 590–1500|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/scottish-journal-of-theology/article/abs/history-of-the-medieval-church-5901500-by-margaret-deanesly-methuen-university-paperbacks-pp-284-18s-also-in-hardback-36s/EA8ADD4C6B3FB0501C17E84F3A582209|journal=Scottish Journal of Theology|volume=24|issue=2|page=239|via=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> There was a period in his life when he devoted himself exclusively to scholastic philosophy. His first book, ''{{lang-la|De Logica}}'' (1360), explores the fundamentals of Scholastic Theology. He believed that "one should study Logic in order to better understand the human mind because ...human thoughts, feelings and actions bear God's image and likeness".<ref name=Mattei/>

The centre of Wycliffe's philosophical system is formed by the doctrine of the prior existence in the thought of God of all things and events. While [[Plato|Platonic realism]] would view "beauty' as a property that exists in an ideal form independently of any mind or thing, "for Wycliffe every [[Universal (metaphysics)|universal]], as part of creation, derived its existence from God, the Creator".<ref name="Mattei">{{ cite web |date=14 October 2016 |title=John Wycliffe: The Morning Star of the Reformation |url=https://leben.us/john-wycliffe-morning-star-reformation/ |access-date=26 October 2019 }}</ref> Wycliffe was a close follower of [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], and always upheld the primacy of the Creator over the created reality.

In some of his teachings, as in ''{{lang-la|De annihilatione}}'', the influence of [[Thomas Aquinas]] can be detected.
He said that [[Democritus]], Plato, Augustine, and [[Grosseteste]] far outranked Aristotle. So far as his relations to the [[Medieval philosophy|philosophers of the Middle Ages]] are concerned, he held to [[Philosophical realism|realism]] as opposed to the [[nominalism]] advanced by [[William of Ockham]].

A number of Wycliffe's ideas have been carried forward in the twentieth century by philosopher and Reformed theologian [[Cornelius Van Til]].{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

====''Dominium''====
A second key point of Wycliffe's is his emphasis on the notion of divine Lordship (''{{lang-la|dominium}}'').<ref>{{harvnb|Lahey|2009|loc=Ch. 7}}: "Wyclif’s writings on ''dominium'', which make up the bulk of the first half of his ''Summa Theologie'', contain the essence of his theological vision, uniting his metaphysics to his sociopolitical and ecclesiological thought."</ref>

''{{lang-la|De dominio Divino}}'' (c. 1373) examines the relationship between God and his creatures. The practical application of this for Wycliffe was seen in the rebellious attitude of individuals (particulars) towards rightful authority (universals).

"Beyond all doubt, intellectual and emotional error about universals is the cause of all sin that reigns in the world."<ref>Wycliffe, John. ''On Universals'', (trans. A. Kenny), Oxford: 1985, pp. 162–165</ref>

In ''{{lang-la|De civili dominio}}'' ("On Civil Dominion", c. 1377) he discusses the appropriate circumstance under which an entity may be seen as possessing authority over lesser subjects. ''{{lang-la|Dominium}}'' is always conferred by God: injuries inflicted on someone personally by a king should be born by them submissively, a conventional idea, but injuries by a king against God should be patiently resisted even to death.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=H. Krishna |title=John Wycliffe |journal=The Indian Journal of Political Science |date=1942 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=372–379 |jstor=42754272 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42754272 |issn=0019-5510}}</ref> Gravely sinful kings and popes forfeited their divine right to obedience. Versions of this were taken up by [[Lollards]] and [[Hussites]].

=== Attitude toward speculation ===
Wycliffe's fundamental principle of the preexistence in thought of all reality involves the most serious obstacle to freedom of the will; the philosopher could assist himself only by the formula that the [[free will]] of man was something predetermined of God. He demanded strict dialectical training as the means of distinguishing the true from the false, and asserted that logic (or the [[syllogism]]) furthered the knowledge of catholic verities; ignorance of logic was the reason why men misunderstood Scripture, since men overlooked the connection, the distinction between idea and appearance.

Wycliffe was not merely conscious of the distinction between theology and philosophy, but his sense of reality led him to pass by scholastic questions. He left aside philosophical discussions that seemed to have no significance for the religious consciousness and those that pertained purely to [[scholasticism]]: "We concern ourselves with the verities that are, and leave aside the errors which arise from speculation on matters which are not."

=== Sacraments ===
John Wycliffe rejected [[transubstantiation]] along with the [[Confession (religion)|sacrament of confession]], saying they were against scripture.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=John Wycliffe Was an English Bible Translator and Early Reformer|url=https://www.learnreligions.com/john-wycliffe-biography-699998|access-date=22 January 2022|website=Learn Religions}}</ref> Wycliffe was attacked as being a [[Donatism|Donatist]], however the claim was a misconception, perhaps used to discredit his views on the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Woods |first=William |title=Why was John Wyclif regarded as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church? |url=https://www.academia.edu/18184467 |format=PDF |publisher=Brisbane School of Theology}}</ref>

<blockquote>The consecrated Host we priests make and bless is not the body of the Lord but an effectual sign of it. It is not to be understood that the body of Christ comes down from heaven to the Host consecrated in every church.
:— John Wycliffe<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-3/from-archives-wycliffe-causes-controversy-over-eucharist.html | title=From the Archives: Wycliffe Causes Controversy over Eucharist }}</ref></blockquote>

=== Soteriology ===
Wycliffe appears to have had similar ideas of justification as the later reformers would. According to Wycliffe faith was sufficient for salvation:<ref name=":0"/>

<blockquote>Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on his sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by his righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation.
:— John Wycliffe<ref name=":0"/></blockquote>

=== Scripture ===
Wycliffe expressed his theories in the book ''{{lang-la|De Veritate Sacrae Scripturae}}'' (On the Truthfulness of Holy Scripture, c.1378).

Wycliffe's dictum {{lang-la|omnis veritas est ex scriptura, et ut necessarior est expressior}} says that all truths necessary to faith are
found expressly in the Bible, and the more necessary, the more expressly.<ref name=ghosh>{{cite book |last1=Ghosh |first1=Kantik |title=The Wycliffite Heresy: Authority and the Interpretation of Texts |date=4 October 2001 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511483288|isbn=9780521807203 }}</ref>{{rp|67}}

The whole of scripture is one word of God (''{{lang-la|Tota scriptura sacra est unum dei verbum}}''):  being a monologue by the same author meant that sentences from different books could be combined without much regard for context, supporting strained and mystical interpretations.<ref name=ghosh />{{rp|23,28}}

The scriptures were literally true (''{{lang-la|sensus . . . literalis est utrobique verus, cum non asseritur a recte intelligentibus}}'') unless obviously figurative, to the extent that when Jesus spoke in parables, he was reporting events that had actually occurred.<ref name=ghosh />{{rp|34}} [[Psalm 22]] v6 ("I am a worm and no man"),<ref>This verse is also used in the quasi-[[Joachimite]] Middle English tract ''The Last Age of the Church'', attributed to the young Wycliffe, which gives the year 1400 as start of the age of the anti-Christ, interpreting the verse using versions of a Talmudic legend and mentioning a supposed prophecy of Merlin. {{cite web |last1=Wycliffe |first1=John |title=The last age of the church |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70258 |language=English |date=10 March 2023}}</ref> which [[Pseudo-Dionysius]] had memorably used to give 'worm' as a name of God,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Corrigan |first1=Kevin |last2=Harrington |first2=L. Michael |title=Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-dionysius-areopagite/#CharWrit |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |date=2023}}</ref> became in Wycliffe's extreme literalism a statement that Jesus had been begotten without sexual contact (as was then believed of worms) and was formally God not a simply man.<ref name=ghosh />{{rp|32}} The literal sense of scripture is that sense which the Holy Ghost first imparted so that the faithful soul might ascend to God ({{lang-la|sensum literalem scripture sensum, quem spiritus sanctus primo indidit, ut animus fidelis ascendat in deum.}})<ref name=ghosh />{{rp|36}}

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==== Vernacular Scripture====
Wycliffe is popularly connected with the view that scriptures should be translated into the vernacular and made available to laymen, and that this was a critical issue in the censures against him.

However, scholars have noted the availability of scriptures to laypeople in the vernacular was not a notable theme of Wycliffe's theological works. (It is mentioned in his ''De XXXIII erroribus curitatum'', Chapter 26 against those who would stop secular men from "intermeddling with the Gospel".<ref name=tnt/>{{rp|27}}) Nor were there any church-wide bans on vernacular scriptures in place that Wycliffe might be regarded as protesting against.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=François |first1=Wim |title=Vernacular Bible Reading in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe: The "Catholic" Position Revisited |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |date=2018 |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=23–56 |doi=10.1353/cat.2018.0001 |s2cid=163790511 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/567000 |access-date=14 August 2023}}</ref> It was not part of Wycliffe's 1377 papal censure, nor the declaration of heresy by the [[Council of Constance]] (1415).<ref name=constance>{{cite journal |last1=Tatnall |first1=Edith C. |title=The condemnation of John Wyclif at the Council of Constance |journal=Councils and Assemblies |series=Studies in Church History |date=1970 |pages=209–218 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/councils-and-assemblies/condemnation-of-john-wyclif-at-the-council-of-constance/8C7D1C3420BFE791D5AC6D8FE36ED300 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511665820.013 |isbn=9780521080385 }}</ref> Vernacular scriptures were not mentioned in the two key early Lollard documents, regarded as channelling his doctrine: the [[Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards|Twelve Conclusions]] (c. 1396)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards |url=https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/twelve-conclusions-lollards |website=chaucer.fas.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref> and the [[Ecclesiae Regimen|Thirty Seven Conclusions]] (c. 1396)<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Thirty Seven Conclusions of the Lollards |journal=English Theological Review |date=1911 |volume=XXVI |pages=738–749 |url=https://lollardsociety.org/pdfs/Compston_37_conclusions.pdf}}</ref> (or Remonstrances).