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Before the
Reformation there were at times but very few copies of the Bible in
existence, but God had not suffered His word to be wholly destroyed.
Its truths were not to be forever hidden. He could as easily unchain
the words of life as He could open prison doors and unbolt iron
gates to set His servants free. In the different countries of Europe
men were moved by the Spirit of God to search for the truth as for
hid treasures. Providentially guided to the Holy Scriptures, they
studied the sacred pages with intense interest. They were willing to
accept the light at any cost to themselves. Though they did not see
all things clearly, they were enabled to perceive many long-buried
truths. As Heaven-sent messengers they went forth, rending asunder
the chains of error and superstition, and calling upon those who had
been so long enslaved, to arise and assert their liberty.
Except among the Waldenses, the word
of God had for ages been locked up in languages known only to the
learned; but the time had come for the Scriptures to be translated and
given to the people of different lands in their native tongue. The world
had passed its midnight. The hours of darkness were wearing away, and in
many lands appeared tokens of the coming dawn.
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In the fourteenth century arose in
England the "morning star of the Reformation." John Wycliffe was the
herald of reform, not for England alone, but for all Christendom. The
great protest against Rome which it was permitted him to utter was never
to be silenced. That protest opened the struggle which was to result in
the emancipation of individuals, of churches, and of nations.
Wycliffe received a liberal education,
and with him the fear of the Lord was the beginning of wisdom. He was
noted at college for his fervent piety as well as for his remarkable
talents and sound scholarship. In his thirst for knowledge he sought to
become acquainted with every branch of learning. He was educated in the
scholastic philosophy, in the canons of the church, and in the civil
law, especially that of his own country. In his after labors the value
of this early training was apparent. A thorough acquaintance with the
speculative philosophy of his time enabled him to expose its errors; and
by his study of national and ecclesiastical law he was prepared to
engage in the great struggle for civil and religious liberty. While he
could wield the weapons drawn from the word of God, he had acquired the
intellectual discipline of the schools, and he understood the tactics of
the schoolmen. The power of his genius and the extent and thoroughness
of his knowledge commanded the respect of both friends and foes. His
adherents saw with satisfaction that their champion stood foremost among
the leading minds of the nation; and his enemies were prevented from
casting contempt upon the cause of reform by exposing the ignorance or
weakness of its supporter.
While Wycliffe was still at college,
he entered upon the study of the Scriptures. In those early times, when
the Bible existed only in the ancient languages, scholars were enabled
to find their way to the fountain of truth, which was closed to the
uneducated classes. Thus already the way had been prepared for
Wycliffe's future work as a Reformer. Men
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of learning had studied the word of God
and had found the great truth of His free grace there revealed. In their
teachings they had spread a knowledge of this truth, and had led others
to turn to the living oracles.
When Wycliffe's attention was directed
to the Scriptures, he entered upon their investigation with the same
thoroughness which had enabled him to master the learning of the
schools. Heretofore he had felt a great want, which neither his
scholastic studies nor the teaching of the church could satisfy. In the
word of God he found that which he had before sought in vain. Here he
saw the plan of salvation revealed and Christ set forth as the only
advocate for man. He gave himself to the service of Christ and
determined to proclaim the truths he had discovered.
Like after Reformers, Wycliffe did
not, at the opening of his work, foresee whither it would lead him. He
did not set himself deliberately in opposition to Rome. But devotion to
truth could not but bring him in conflict with falsehood. The more
clearly he discerned the errors of the papacy, the more earnestly he
presented the teaching of the Bible. He saw that Rome had forsaken the
word of God for human tradition; he fearlessly accused the priesthood of
having banished the Scriptures, and demanded that the Bible be restored
to the people and that its authority be again established in the church.
He was an able and earnest teacher and an eloquent preacher, and his
daily life was a demonstration of the truths he preached. His knowledge
of the Scriptures, the force of his reasoning, the purity of his life,
and his unbending courage and integrity won for him general esteem and
confidence. Many of the people had become dissatisfied with their former
faith as they saw the iniquity that prevailed in the Roman Church, and
they hailed with unconcealed joy the truths brought to view by Wycliffe;
but the papal leaders were filled with rage when they perceived that
this Reformer was gaining an influence greater than their own.
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Wycliffe was a keen detector of error,
and he struck fearlessly against many of the abuses sanctioned by the
authority of Rome. While acting as chaplain for the king, he took a bold
stand against the payment of tribute claimed by the pope from the
English monarch and showed that the papal assumption of authority over
secular rulers was contrary to both reason and revelation. The demands
of the pope had excited great indignation, and Wycliffe's teachings
exerted an influence upon the leading minds of the nation. The king and
the nobles united in denying the pontiff's claim to temporal authority
and in refusing the payment of the tribute. Thus an effectual blow was
struck against the papal supremacy in England.
Another evil against which the
Reformer waged long and resolute battle was the institution of the
orders of mendicant friars. These friars swarmed in England, casting a
blight upon the greatness and prosperity of the nation. Industry,
education, morals, all felt the withering influence. The monk's life of
idleness and beggary was not only a heavy drain upon the resources of
the people, but it brought useful labor into contempt. The youth were
demoralized and corrupted. By the influence of the friars many were
induced to enter a cloister and devote themselves to a monastic life,
and this not only without the consent of their parents, but even without
their knowledge and contrary to their commands. One of the early Fathers
of the Roman Church, urging the claims of monasticism above the
obligations of filial love and duty, had declared: "Though thy father
should lie before thy door weeping and lamenting, and thy mother should
show the body that bore thee and the breasts that nursed thee, see that
thou trample them underfoot, and go onward straightway to Christ." By
this "monstrous inhumanity," as Luther afterward styled it, "savoring
more of the wolf and the tyrant than of the Christian and the man," were
the hearts of children steeled against their parents.--Barnas Sears,
The Life of Luther,
pages 70, 69. Thus did the papal
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leaders, like the Pharisees of old, make
the commandment of God of none effect by their tradition. Thus homes
were made desolate and parents were deprived of the society of their
sons and daughters.
Even the students in the universities
were deceived by the false representations of the monks and induced to
join their orders. Many afterward repented this step, seeing that they
had blighted their own lives and had brought sorrow upon their parents;
but once fast in the snare it was impossible for them to obtain their
freedom. Many parents, fearing the influence of the monks, refused to
send their sons to the universities. There was a marked falling off in
the number of students in attendance at the great centers of learning.
The schools languished, and ignorance prevailed.
The pope had bestowed on these monks
the power to hear confessions and to grant pardon. This became a source
of great evil. Bent on enhancing their gains, the friars were so ready
to grant absolution that criminals of all descriptions resorted to them,
and, as a result, the worst vices rapidly increased. The sick and the
poor were left to suffer, while the gifts that should have relieved
their wants went to the monks, who with threats demanded the alms of the
people, denouncing the impiety of those who should withhold gifts from
their orders. Notwithstanding their profession of poverty, the wealth of
the friars was constantly increasing, and their magnificent edifices and
luxurious tables made more apparent the growing poverty of the nation.
And while spending their time in luxury and pleasure, they sent out in
their stead ignorant men, who could only recount marvelous tales,
legends, and jests to amuse the people and make them still more
completely the dupes of the monks. Yet the friars continued to maintain
their hold on the superstitious multitudes and led them to believe that
all religious duty was comprised in acknowledging the supremacy of the
pope, adoring the saints, and making gifts to the monks, and that this
was sufficient to secure them a place in heaven.
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Men of learning and piety had labored
in vain to bring about a reform in these monastic orders; but Wycliffe,
with clearer insight, struck at the root of the evil, declaring that the
system itself was false and that it should be abolished. Discussion and
inquiry were awakening. As the monks traversed the country, vending the
pope's pardons, many were led to doubt the possibility of purchasing
forgiveness with money, and they questioned whether they should not seek
pardon from God rather than from the pontiff of Rome. (See
Appendix note for page 59.)
Not a few were alarmed at the rapacity of the friars, whose greed seemed
never to be satisfied. "The monks and priests of Rome," said they, "are
eating us away like a cancer. God must deliver us, or the people will
perish."--D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch. 7. To cover their avarice, these begging
monks claimed that they were following the Saviour's example, declaring
that Jesus and His disciples had been supported by the charities of the
people. This claim resulted in injury to their cause, for it led many to
the Bible to learn the truth for themselves--a result which of all
others was least desired by Rome. The minds of men were directed to the
Source of truth, which it was her object to conceal.
Wycliffe began to write and publish
tracts against the friars, not, however, seeking so much to enter into
dispute with them as to call the minds of the people to the teachings of
the Bible and its Author. He declared that the power of pardon or of
excommunication is possessed by the pope in no greater degree than by
common priests, and that no man can be truly excommunicated unless he
has first brought upon himself the condemnation of God. In no more
effectual way could he have undertaken the overthrow of that mammoth
fabric of spiritual and temporal dominion which the pope had erected and
in which the souls and bodies of millions were held captive.
Again Wycliffe was called to defend
the rights of the English crown against the encroachments of Rome; and
being appointed a royal ambassador, he spent two years in the
Netherlands, in conference with the commissioners of the pope. Here he
was brought into communication with
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ecclesiastics from France, Italy, and
Spain, and he had an opportunity to look behind the scenes and gain a
knowledge of many things which would have remained hidden from him in
England. He learned much that was to give point to his after labors. In
these representatives from the papal court he read the true character
and aims of the hierarchy. He returned to England to repeat his former
teachings more openly and with greater zeal, declaring that
covetousness, pride, and deception were the gods of Rome.
In one of his tracts he said, speaking
of the pope and his collectors: "They draw out of our land poor men's
livelihood, and many thousand marks, by the year, of the king's money,
for sacraments and spiritual things, that is cursed heresy of simony,
and maketh all Christendom assent and maintain this heresy. And certes
though our realm had a huge hill of gold, and never other man took
thereof but only this proud worldly priest's collector, by process of
time this hill must be spended; for he taketh ever money out of our
land, and sendeth nought again but God's curse for his simony." --John
Lewis, History of the Life and
Sufferings of J. Wiclif, page
37.
Soon after his return to England,
Wycliffe received from the king the appointment to the rectory of
Lutterworth. This was an assurance that the monarch at least had not
been displeased by his plain speaking. Wycliffe's influence was felt in
shaping the action of the court, as well as in molding the belief of the
nation.
The papal thunders were soon hurled
against him. Three bulls were dispatched to England,--to the university,
to the king, and to the prelates,--all commanding immediate and decisive
measures to silence the teacher of heresy. (Augustus Neander,
General History of the Christian Religion
and Church, period 6, sec. 2,
pt. 1, par. 8. See also
Appendix.)
Before the arrival of the bulls, however, the bishops, in their zeal,
had summoned Wycliffe before them for trial. But two of the most
powerful princes in the kingdom accompanied him to the tribunal; and the
people, surrounding the building and rushing in, so intimidated the
judges that the
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proceedings were for the time suspended,
and he was allowed to go his way in peace. A little later, Edward III,
whom in his old age the prelates were seeking to influence against the
Reformer, died, and Wycliffe's former protector became regent of the
kingdom.
But the arrival of the papal bulls
laid upon all England a peremptory command for the arrest and
imprisonment of the heretic. These measures pointed directly to the
stake. It appeared certain that Wycliffe must soon fall a prey to the
vengeance of Rome. But He who declared to one of old, "Fear not: . . . I
am thy shield" (Genesis 15:1), again stretched out His hand to protect
His servant. Death came, not to the Reformer, but to the pontiff who had
decreed his destruction. Gregory XI died, and the ecclesiastics who had
assembled for Wycliffe's trial, dispersed.
God's providence still further
overruled events to give opportunity for the growth of the Reformation.
The death of Gregory was followed by the election of two rival popes.
Two conflicting powers, each professedly infallible, now claimed
obedience. (See Appendix notes for
pages 50
and
86.)
Each called upon the faithful to assist him in making war upon the
other, enforcing his demands by terrible anathemas against his
adversaries, and promises of rewards in heaven to his supporters. This
occurrence greatly weakened the power of the papacy. The rival factions
had all they could do to attack each other, and Wycliffe for a time had
rest. Anathemas and recriminations were flying from pope to pope, and
torrents of blood were poured out to support their conflicting claims.
Crimes and scandals flooded the church. Meanwhile the Reformer, in the
quiet retirement of his parish of Lutterworth, was laboring diligently
to point men from the contending popes to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
The schism, with all the strife and
corruption which it caused, prepared the way for the Reformation by
enabling the people to see what the papacy really was. In a tract which
he published, On the Schism of
the Popes, Wycliffe called
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upon the people to consider whether these
two priests were not speaking the truth in condemning each other as the
anti-christ. "God," said he, "would no longer suffer the fiend to reign
in only one such priest, but . . . made division among two, so that men,
in Christ's name, may the more easily overcome them both."--R. Vaughan,
Life and Opinions of John de
Wycliffe, vol. 2, p. 6.
Wycliffe, like his Master, preached
the gospel to the poor. Not content with spreading the light in their
humble homes in his own parish of Lutterworth, he determined that it
should be carried to every part of England. To accomplish this he
organized a body of preachers, simple, devout men, who loved the truth
and desired nothing so much as to extend it. These men went everywhere,
teaching in the market places, in the streets of the great cities, and
in the country lanes. They sought out the aged, the sick, and the poor,
and opened to them the glad tidings of the grace of God.
As a professor of theology at Oxford,
Wycliffe preached the word of God in the halls of the university. So
faithfully did he present the truth to the students under his
instruction, that he received the title of "the gospel doctor." But the
greatest work of his life was to be the translation of the Scriptures
into the English language. In a work,
On the Truth and Meaning of Scripture,
he expressed his intention to
translate the Bible, so that every man in England might read, in the
language in which he was born, the wonderful works of God.
But suddenly his labors were stopped.
Though not yet sixty years of age, unceasing toil, study, and the
assaults of his enemies had told upon his strength and made him
prematurely old. He was attacked by a dangerous illness. The tidings
brought great joy to the friars. Now they thought he would bitterly
repent the evil he had done the church, and they hurried to his chamber
to listen to his confession. Representatives from the four religious
orders, with four civil officers, gathered about the supposed dying man.
"You
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have death on your lips," they said; "be
touched by your faults, and retract in our presence all that you have
said to our injury." The Reformer listened in silence; then he bade his
attendant raise him in his bed, and, gazing steadily upon them as they
stood waiting for his recantation, he said, in the firm, strong voice
which had so often caused them to tremble: "I shall not die, but live;
and again declare the evil deeds of the friars."--D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch.
7. Astonished and abashed, the monks hurried from the room.
Wycliffe's words were fulfilled. He
lived to place in the hands of his countrymen the most powerful of all
weapons against Rome--to give them the Bible, the Heaven-appointed agent
to liberate, enlighten, and evangelize the people. There were many and
great obstacles to surmount in the accomplishment of this work. Wycliffe
was weighed down with infirmities; he knew that only a few years for
labor remained for him; he saw the opposition which he must meet; but,
encouraged by the promises of God's word, he went forward nothing
daunted. In the full vigor of his intellectual powers, rich in
experience, he had been preserved and prepared by God's special
providence for this, the greatest of his labors. While all Christendom
was filled with tumult, the Reformer in his rectory at Lutterworth,
unheeding the storm that raged without, applied himself to his chosen
task.
At last the work was completed--the
first English translation of the Bible ever made. The word of God was
opened to England. The Reformer feared not now the prison or the stake.
He had placed in the hands of the English people a light which should
never be extinguished. In giving the Bible to his countrymen, he had
done more to break the fetters of ignorance and vice, more to liberate
and elevate his country, than was ever achieved by the most brilliant
victories on fields of battle.
The art of printing being still
unknown, it was only by slow and wearisome labor that copies of the
Bible could be multiplied. So great was the interest to obtain the book,
that
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many willingly engaged in the work of
transcribing it, but it was with difficulty that the copyists could
supply the demand. Some of the more wealthy purchasers desired the whole
Bible. Others bought only a portion. In many cases, several families
united to purchase a copy. Thus Wycliffe's Bible soon found its way to
the homes of the people.
The appeal to men's reason aroused
them from their passive submission to papal dogmas. Wycliffe now taught
the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism--salvation through faith in
Christ, and the sole infallibility of the Scriptures. The preachers whom
he had sent out circulated the Bible, together with the Reformer's
writings, and with such success that the new faith was accepted by
nearly one half of the people of England.
The appearance of the Scriptures
brought dismay to the authorities of the church. They had now to meet an
agency more powerful than Wycliffe--an agency against which their
weapons would avail little. There was at this time no law in England
prohibiting the Bible, for it had never before been published in the
language of the people. Such laws were afterward enacted and rigorously
enforced. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the efforts of the priests, there
was for a season opportunity for the circulation of the word of God.
Again the papal leaders plotted to
silence the Reformer's voice. Before three tribunals he was successively
summoned for trial, but without avail. First a synod of bishops declared
his writings heretical, and, winning the young king, Richard II, to
their side, they obtained a royal decree consigning to prison all who
should hold the condemned doctrines.
Wycliffe appealed from the synod to
Parliament; he fearlessly arraigned the hierarchy before the national
council and demanded a reform of the enormous abuses sanctioned by the
church. With convincing power he portrayed the usurpation and
corruptions of the papal see. His enemies were brought to confusion. The
friends and supporters of Wycliffe had been forced to yield, and it had
been
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confidently expected that the Reformer
himself, in his old age, alone and friendless, would bow to the combined
authority of the crown and the miter. But instead of this the papists
saw themselves defeated. Parliament, roused by the stirring appeals of
Wycliffe, repealed the persecuting edict, and the Reformer was again at
liberty.
A third time he was brought to trial,
and now before the highest ecclesiastical tribunal in the kingdom. Here
no favor would be shown to heresy. Here at last Rome would triumph, and
the Reformer's work would be stopped. So thought the papists. If they
could but accomplish their purpose, Wycliffe would be forced to abjure
his doctrines, or would leave the court only for the flames.
But Wycliffe did not retract; he would
not dissemble. He fearlessly maintained his teachings and repelled the
accusations of his persecutors. Losing sight of himself, of his
position, of the occasion, he summoned his hearers before the divine
tribunal, and weighed their sophistries and deceptions in the balances
of eternal truth. The power of the Holy Spirit was felt in the council
room. A spell from God was upon the hearers. They seemed to have no
power to leave the place. As arrows from the Lord's quiver, the
Reformer's words pierced their hearts. The charge of heresy, which they
had brought against him, he with convincing power threw back upon
themselves. Why, he demanded, did they dare to spread their errors? For
the sake of gain, to make merchandise of the grace of God?
"With whom, think you," he finally
said, "are ye contending? with an old man on the brink of the grave? No!
with Truth--Truth which is stronger than you, and will overcome
you."--Wylie, b. 2, ch. 13. So saying, he withdrew from the assembly,
and not one of his adversaries attempted to prevent him.
Wycliffe's work was almost done; the
banner of truth which he had so long borne was soon to fall from his
hand; but once more he was to bear witness for the gospel. The
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truth was to be proclaimed from the very
stronghold of the kingdom of error. Wycliffe was summoned for trial
before the papal tribunal at Rome, which had so often shed the blood of
the saints. He was not blind to the danger that threatened him, yet he
would have obeyed the summons had not a shock of palsy made it
impossible for him to perform the journey. But though his voice was not
to be heard at Rome, he could speak by letter, and this he determined to
do. From his rectory the Reformer wrote to the pope a letter, which,
while respectful in tone and Christian in spirit, was a keen rebuke to
the pomp and pride of the papal see.
"Verily I do rejoice," he said, "to
open and declare unto every man the faith which I do hold, and
especially unto the bishop of Rome: which, forasmuch as I do suppose to
be sound and true, he will most willingly confirm my said faith, or if
it be erroneous, amend the same.
"First, I suppose that the gospel of
Christ is the whole body of God's law. . . . I do give and hold the
bishop of Rome, forasmuch as he is the vicar of Christ here on earth, to
be most bound, of all other men, unto that law of the gospel. For the
greatness among Christ's disciples did not consist in worldly dignity or
honors, but in the near and exact following of Christ in His life and
manners.... Christ, for the time of His pilgrimage here, was a most poor
man, abjecting and casting off all worldly rule and honor. . . .
"No faithful man ought to follow
either the pope himself or any of the holy men, but in such points as he
hath followed the Lord Jesus Christ; for Peter and the sons of Zebedee,
by desiring worldly honor, contrary to the following of Christ's steps,
did offend, and therefore in those errors they are not to be followed. .
. .
"The pope ought to leave unto the
secular power all temporal dominion and rule, and thereunto effectually
to move and exhort his whole clergy; for so did Christ, and especially
by His apostles. Wherefore, if I have erred in any of these points, I
will most humbly submit myself unto correction,
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even by death, if necessity so require;
and if I could labor according to my will or desire in mine own person,
I would surely present myself before the bishop of Rome; but the Lord
hath otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me rather to
obey God than men."
In closing he said: "Let us pray unto
our God, that He will so stir up our Pope Urban VI, as he began, that he
with his clergy may follow the Lord Jesus Christ in life and manners;
and that they may teach the people effectually, and that they, likewise,
may faithfully follow them in the same."--John Foxe,
Acts and Monuments,
vol. 3, pp. 49, 50.
Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope
and his cardinals the meekness and humility of Christ, exhibiting not
only to themselves but to all Christendom the contrast between them and
the Master whose representatives they professed to be.
Wycliffe fully expected that his life
would be the price of his fidelity. The king, the pope, and the bishops
were united to accomplish his ruin, and it seemed certain that a few
months at most would bring him to the stake. But his courage was
unshaken. "Why do you talk of seeking the crown of martyrdom afar?" he
said. "Preach the gospel of Christ to haughty prelates, and martyrdom
will not fail you. What! I should live and be silent? . . . Never! Let
the blow fall, I await its coming."--D'Aubigne, b. 17, ch. 8.
But God's providence still shielded
His servant. The man who for a whole lifetime had stood boldly in
defense of the truth, in daily peril of his life, was not to fall a
victim of the hatred of its foes. Wycliffe had never sought to shield
himself, but the Lord had been his protector; and now, when his enemies
felt sure of their prey, God's hand removed him beyond their reach. In
his church at Lutterworth, as he was about to dispense the communion, he
fell, stricken with palsy, and in a short time yielded up his life.
God had appointed to Wycliffe his
work. He had put the
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word of truth in his mouth, and He set a
guard about him that this word might come to the people. His life was
protected, and his labors were prolonged, until a foundation was laid
for the great work of the Reformation.
Wycliffe came from the obscurity of
the Dark Ages. There were none who went before him from whose work he
could shape his system of reform. Raised up like John the Baptist to
accomplish a special mission, he was the herald of a new era. Yet in the
system of truth which he presented there was a unity and completeness
which Reformers who followed him did not exceed, and which some did not
reach, even a hundred years later. So broad and deep was laid the
foundation, so firm and true was the framework, that it needed not to be
reconstructed by those who came after him.
The great movement that Wycliffe
inaugurated, which was to liberate the conscience and the intellect, and
set free the nations so long bound to the triumphal car of Rome, had its
spring in the Bible. Here was the source of that stream of blessing,
which, like the water of life, has flowed down the ages since the
fourteenth century. Wycliffe accepted the Holy Scriptures with implicit
faith as the inspired revelation of God's will, a sufficient rule of
faith and practice. He had been educated to regard the Church of Rome as
the divine, infallible authority, and to accept with unquestioning
reverence the established teachings and customs of a thousand years; but
he turned away from all these to listen to God's holy word. This was the
authority which he urged the people to acknowledge. Instead of the
church speaking through the pope, he declared the only true authority to
be the voice of God speaking through His word. And he taught not only
that the Bible is a perfect revelation of God's will, but that the Holy
Spirit is its only interpreter, and that every man is, by the study of
its teachings, to learn his duty for himself. Thus he turned the minds
of men from the pope and the Church of Rome to the word of God.
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Wycliffe was one of the greatest of
the Reformers. In breadth of intellect, in clearness of thought, in
firmness to maintain the truth, and in boldness to defend it, he was
equaled by few who came after him. Purity of life, unwearying diligence
in study and in labor, incorruptible integrity, and Christlike love and
faithfulness in his ministry, characterized the first of the Reformers.
And this notwithstanding the intellectual darkness and moral corruption
of the age from which he emerged.
The character of Wycliffe is a
testimony to the educating, transforming power of the Holy Scriptures.
It was the Bible that made him what he was. The effort to grasp the
great truths of revelation imparts freshness and vigor to all the
faculties. It expands the mind, sharpens the perceptions, and ripens the
judgment. The study of the Bible will ennoble every thought, feeling,
and aspiration as no other study can. It gives stability of purpose,
patience, courage, and fortitude; it refines the character and
sanctifies the soul. An earnest, reverent study of the Scriptures,
bringing the mind of the student in direct contact with the infinite
mind, would give to the world men of stronger and more active intellect,
as well as of nobler principle, than has ever resulted from the ablest
training that human philosophy affords. "The entrance of Thy words,"
says the psalmist, "giveth light; it giveth understanding." Psalm
119:130.
The doctrines which had been taught by
Wycliffe continued for a time to spread; his followers, known as
Wycliffites and Lollards, not only traversed England, but scattered to
other lands, carrying the knowledge of the gospel. Now that their leader
was removed, the preachers labored with even greater zeal than before,
and multitudes flocked to listen to their teachings. Some of the
nobility, and even the wife of the king, were among the converts. In
many places there was a marked reform in the manners of the people, and
the idolatrous symbols of Romanism were removed from the churches. But
soon the pitiless storm of persecution burst upon those who had dared to
accept the Bible as their
Page 95
guide. The English monarchs, eager to
strengthen their power by securing the support of Rome, did not hesitate
to sacrifice the Reformers. For the first time in the history of England
the stake was decreed against the disciples of the gospel. Martyrdom
succeeded martyrdom. The advocates of truth, proscribed and tortured,
could only pour their cries into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. Hunted
as foes of the church and traitors to the realm, they continued to
preach in secret places, finding shelter as best they could in the
humble homes of the poor, and often hiding away even in dens and caves.
Notwithstanding the rage of
persecution, a calm, devout, earnest, patient protest against the
prevailing corruption of religious faith continued for centuries to be
uttered. The Christians of that early time had only a partial knowledge
of the truth, but they had learned to love and obey God's word, and they
patiently suffered for its sake. Like the disciples in apostolic days,
many sacrificed their worldly possessions for the cause of Christ. Those
who were permitted to dwell in their homes gladly sheltered their
banished brethren, and when they too were driven forth they cheerfully
accepted the lot of the outcast. Thousands, it is true, terrified by the
fury of their persecutors, purchased their freedom at the sacrifice of
their faith, and went out of their prisons, clothed in penitents' robes,
to publish their recantation. But the number was not small--and among
them were men of noble birth as well as the humble and lowly--who bore
fearless testimony to the truth in dungeon cells, in "Lollard towers,"
and in the midst of torture and flame, rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to know "the fellowship of His sufferings."
The papists had failed to work their
will with Wycliffe during his life, and their hatred could not be
satisfied while his body rested quietly in the grave. By the decree of
the Council of Constance, more than forty years after his death his
bones were exhumed and publicly burned, and the ashes were thrown into a
neighboring brook. "This brook," says
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an old writer, "hath conveyed his ashes
into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the
main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his
doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over."-- T. Fuller,
Church History of Britain,
b. 4, sec. 2, par. 54. Little
did his enemies realize the significance of their malicious act.
It was through the writings of
Wycliffe that John Huss, of Bohemia, was led to renounce many of the
errors of Romanism and to enter upon the work of reform. Thus in these
two countries, so widely separated, the seed of truth was sown. From
Bohemia the work extended to other lands. The minds of men were directed
to the long-forgotten word of God. A divine hand was preparing the way
for the Great Reformation.
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