Romina E.

Ruiz Diaz
Biography Essay : JOHN WYCLIFFE (1334-1384)

A Brief History of John Wycliffe ´Religious Contribution “

John Wycliffe was born in Yorkshire, England in 1334 .He was a prestigious philosopher
, theologian and professor at the University of Oxford. Despite the fact that he became a
priest , then he was against the Catholic Church. Most importantly, in 1382 he translated
the Bible into a common English causing a revolution because one of his main belief was
that people should be able to read the Bible for themselves without the interpretation of
any man ,even the Church. Therefore John Wycliffe was known as the “Morning star of
the Reformation “ i.e. one of the main forerunner of the Reformation

According to the translation of the Bible, it was done for other reasons . Firstly, John
Wycliffe argued that the Catholic Church was in mortal sin as the mayority of the priests
used to get drunk, lazy , interested in wealth, and actually they lived an inmoral life.
Secondly, the Bible was written in Latin so rich people could only have access to it, not
the poor. Thirdly, the Crist´s presence in the Eucharist was symbolic to Wycliffe ; he
strongly denied that it was the body of Jesus .Lastly , he also stated that baptism was
not automatically made one a Christian.

Consequently, he caused a kind of revolution in all England because it was forbidden to

transalate the Bible without permission of the Church .Most of his followers who were
called “the llolards” accompanied him in his revellion on the Church and many were sent
to prison .Wycliffe thought that the Church in sin ought to give up its possessions and
return them to the poor. Indeed, this was carried out by the king Eduard VIII whose
younger son ,John Gaunt , agreed with Wycliffe on opposing to the wealth and power of
the clery.

Furthermore , the translation of the Bible and Wycliffe s beliefs refereed to religion
marked the beginning of a new conception the Catholic Church . Since then many
people would change their conception on this religious institution, from a closed vision
to an opened one , and they would then origin other religious groups. Besides,The
Church started to loose its power by the interference of the state, particularly the king.
The English philosopher and forerunner of the Reformation John Wycliffle, known as the
“Morning Start of the Reformation “ , “ did an amazing contribution to the society in
the 14th century by translating the Bible into English, though, it was forbidden . He had
his own point of view about the Catholic Church and was supported by his followers ,
the lollards, and by the king Eduard III. Definitely , he did not know that his relevant
and historical contribution would transform the vision of many future generations related
to the religion .Indeed , a lot of different religious groups would know the content of the
Bible and would have a different interpretation of it. That `s why so religious groups
would be created in the following years