John Wycliffe

=== 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]].