John Wycliffe as an Incredibly Important Figure in Medieval Christian History - Case Study Example

Abstract A polarizing figure in medieval Christian politics, John Wycliffe was one of the most significant early reformers within the Catholic Church. He sought to contain papal authority while challenging the hierarchal structures inherent within the Catholic Church. Perceived of as a heretic by some, his greatest accomplishment was the translation of the New Testament into the English vernacular of his era. He was the head of the Lollard movement and successfully paved the way for the Protestant Reformation more than a century after his death. This brief essay looks at the life and times of John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe An English theologian who was also an important reformer within the Roman Catholic Church, John Wycliffe was an early advocate of change within the most dominant institution of the medieval period. Born in England in the 14th century, John Wycliffe was a fervent Christian who has left a lasting impact on Christianity more than seven centuries after his death. With the aim of understanding the importance of John Wycliffe to the Christian faith and provide a biography of a remarkable theologian who challenged the hierarchy inherent within the Catholic Church, the following aims to explore John Wycliffe’s key accomplishments and the legacy of this important Christian leader. The following now turns to a brief introduction to the life and times of a man who challenged the Roman Catholic Church and who changed the relationship between the Church and laypeople forever (Foutain, 1984). John Wycliffe grew up in Hipswell, Yorkshire in modern-day England and although is birth date is a matter of debate, he was born sometime in the 1930s. Most famous for his relationship with the premier institution of higher learning in the British Isles, Oxford University, Wycliffe undertook a baccalaureate at Oxford studying theology with an emphasis on biblical studies. After having completed both a master’s degree and a doctorate in divinity studies, John Wycliffe was given a forum for his beliefs and an opportunity to impart them to a small but growing student body (Tytler, 1826). Accordingly, In the year 1372, he performed the novitiate for the degree of doctor of divinity; that degree authorized him to open his own school as a public reader of theology in the university. In this capacity he, no doubt, read many of those scholastic pieces still extant among his works, and from this time the influence of his opinions began to be more sensibly felt in the university (Wycliffe & Vaughan, 2006, 37). With an academic pulpit and a captive audience, John Wycliffe became politicized by a dispute between the English Crown and the Roman Catholic Church which threatened to derail the relationship between the predominantly Christian country of England and the Pontificate. Accordingly, when in 1963, Pope Urban V demanded tribute from King Jon of England, a sum which had gone unpaid for more than three decades. Importantly, the British Parliament weighed into the issue and declared that England was not subject to the wills and whims of a foreign authority. This issue politicized the English theologian who was by nature torn by the devotion to his Church or the devotion to his countrymen and women. He sided with England and this began his public rift with the Roman Catholic Church. At the peace conference in Bruges in 1374, between France and England, John Wycliffe was a delegate who participated in the religious components of the conference. Although firmly ensconced within the theological issues of his time, John Wycliffe was not satisfied with what he say as what the Church, as the representation of God on earth should be, and how it actually behaved. Wycliffe sought to change what he believed to be inherent flaws within the Church and became one of the most prominent reformers in Christian history. His position at Oxford gave him standing among his peers and his questioning of the tenants of what was arguably the most potent institution of his time made him both controversial and prominent in medieval England (Foutain, 1984). . A significant reformer within the Catholic Church, John Wycliffe was at the forefront of a break with Roman Catholicism which became the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. Ahead of his time and a significant Christian theologian during the medieval period in England, Wycliffe founded the Lollard movement and created a significant schism within the Catholic Church. As the issue between King John of England and Pope Urban V brought home for John Wycliffe, papal authority could be dangerous in a temporal/secular realm. Accordingly, he opposed the intervention of the pope into matters of the state and due to his controversial positions as a theologian, he was considered a heretic by some (Foutain, 1984). According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: Thus by 1380 Wycliffe had set himself in open opposition to the property and government of the Church, he had attacked the pope in most unmeasured terms, he had begun to treat the Bible as the chief and almost the only test of orthodoxy, and to lay more and more stress on preaching. Yet he would have protested against an accusation of heresy. Great freedom was allowed to speculation in the schools, and there was much uncertainty about clerical property. Even the exclusive use of Scripture as a standard of faith was comprehensible at a time when the allegiance of Christendom was being claimed by two popes (2010). John Wycliffe is an incredibly important figure in medieval Christian history and his legacy continues to be felt today. He challenged the authority of the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church when it was unpopular to do so and he advocated fundamental reforms within the Catholic Church. Criticizing the excesses of papal authority, he sought to expand the teachings of the Church to the average layperson and undertook his most important project task in his lifetime, when in 1384, he translated the Bible into the language of the layperson. Accordingly, translating the New Testament from Vulgate into the English of his era, John Wycliffe contributed tremendously to a weakening of the hierarchical structures of the Church and sought to spread the world of the Lord through the truth of the Scriptures. He was the most significant reformer of his era and paved the way for the Protestant Reformation more than a century after his death (Wycliffe & Vaughan, 2006). REFERENCES Catholic Encyclopedia. (2010). John Wycliffe. Last Accessed 27 January, 2010; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15722a.htm Fountain, D. (1984). John Wycliffe: The dawn of the Reformation. New York: Mayflower Christian. Tytler, P.F. (1826). The Life of John Wickliff. Edinburgh: William Whyte and Co. Wycliffe, J. & R. Vaughan. (2006). Tracts and Treatises of John de Wycliffe. Cambridge: Harvard University. Read More