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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
The Pre-Reformers
BY
Jesse Washington, Jr.
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
July 3, 2017
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The pre-reformation was a call for the word of God to be made accessible to all men that all
could have a copy in their language to study God words Independently. Under the guidance of
Oxford scholar John Wycliffe, an English translation of the Bible was made in the fourteenth
century. It was John Wycliffe who believed the Word of God should be open to all people. The
church authorities were afraid the Bible in the hands of the uneducated would only produce
heretical departures from official church doctrine. Having translations of the Scripture was often
banned by the church, and many were punished for having a Bible in their language. Some of
the other objections by John Huss to the Roman Catholic Church were liturgy in the language of
the people, communion practices, married priests, and eliminating indulgences and the concept
of Purgatory John Hus and John Wycliffe shared views over the misdirection of the Roman
Catholic church and wanted to see the correction. John Wycliffe and John Huss are considered
pre-reformers partially because they are going to address Issue with the Church that will later be
embellished on by Martin Luther, John Calvin, etc. I would like to begin this paper with a brief
biographical sketch of John Wycliffe and then conclude with a biographical sketch of John
Huss. John Wycliffe. (c.1330–December 31, 1384), was a professor at Oxford University,
England. He became one of the greatest English religious reformers, writing under the
protection of John of Gaunt (1340–1399). John Wycliff most outstanding achievement was
being the first to translate, along with his followers, the Holy Scriptures from the Latin Vulgate
into the English language. Known as the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” John Wycliffe
wrote in the General Prologue of his 1384 translation of the Bible
1 Wycliffe, John. General Prologue of the Wycliffe Translation of the Bible, 1384. John Bartlett, Bartlett’s Familiar
Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1863, 1955), p. 1021. William J. Federer
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The Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People. [1]
There does not seem to be an overwhelming amount of early historical data on John Wycliffe
life it feels like the stage opens up to the seen in his life where he is in direct opposition to the
Roman Catholic Church, however, here is a glimpse of his beginnings Mark Galli recorded in
his book 131 Christians everyone should know. “Wycliffe had been born in the hinterlands, on a
sheep farm 200 miles from London. He left for Oxford University in 1346, but because of
periodic eruptions of the Black Death, he was not able to earn his doctorate until 1372.
Nonetheless, by then he was already considered Oxford’s leading philosopher and theologian”.
[2] It would appear that John Wycliffe was more popular after his death then he was in his life
Mark Galli, and Ted Olsen goes on to say. “John Wycliffe left quite an impression on the church:
43 years after his death, officials dug up his body, burned his remains, and threw the ashes into
the river Swift. Still, they couldn’t get rid of him. Wycliffe’s teachings, though suppressed,
continued to spread. As a later chronicler observed, “Thus the brook hath conveyed his ashes into
Avon; Avon into Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; and they into the main ocean. And thus the
ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine which now is dispersed the world over.” [3]
Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, “Introduction,” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: Broadman &
Holman Publishers, 2000), 212
John Wycliff Known as the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” challenged papal control, church
hierarchy, and indulgences, and denied that Christ was literally present in the bread and wine of
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the Mass. At this point John Wycliff is considered a heretic and is considered a problem to the
church, however, he was sustained and supported by Oxford University,Wycliffe was able to
withstand the pope’s accusations of heresy against him. It was Wycliffe Belief that people
needed Scripture in their own language to have a relationship with God through Christ without
church interference. Wycliffe presentence and determination alone with his Oxford companions
completed the first English translation of the New Testament 1380. With the Old Testament to
follow in 1382. It is interesting to note that John Wycliffe did not know Hebrew or Greek, the
Wycliffe version was translated from the Latin Vulgate.
If I could characterize John Wycliff life in a few words, it would be disputing with the church
over crucial and critical issues for example
• 1. The Holy Eucharist, is not the actual body of Christ.
• 2. The Church of Rome is not the head of all churches; and Peter did not have any
more power given him by Christ than to the other apostles.
• 3. The pope has no more keys to the church than any other in the priesthood.
• 4. The Gospel by itself sufficient to rule the life of every Christian person on the earth
• 5. All other rules that are designed to govern religious people provide no more perfection
to the Gospel
• 6. The Pope nor any other church officals should have prisons in which to
punish transgressors.
Alan J Hauser reported this in his work entitled “ History of Biblical Interpretation” concerning
John Wycliffe “After all the significant translations of the Bible or portions thereof in the
ancient world, including the Septuagint, Jerome’s Vulgate, and the targums—and with the
Vulgate
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dominating Medieval Christianity—little translation was done in the Christian West until near
the end of the Middle Ages. One notable exception is John Wycliffe’s translation, which
appeared in England in the 1380s. Because the Roman Catholic Church regarded Wycliffe’s
followers, the Lollards, as heretical, Wycliffe and the translation bearing his name were
condemned, even though the translation itself did not contain anything significantly problematic.
Wycliffe’s corpse was exhumed and burned at stake. Wycliffe was not the last translator to be
burned at stake. His translation, based solely on the Latin of the Vulgate, did not benefit from the
advancements in textual studies, grammar, and lexicography that were soon to follow in the
Renaissance, but the Roman Church did not want anyone to make the Bible available in the
average churchgoer’s native tongue, as other church leaders later would.[3] It is interesting to
note John Wycliff was commanded by church authorities to stop teaching his doctrines, but he
disputed that, and he kept on teaching, as a matter of fact, he taught the truth with more boldness.
He was brought before the council several times, but he never stopped being faithful to God's
Holy Word. He was continually harassed and threatened, even banished for a time, but he was
able to return to the parish at Lutterworth and become the parish priest. John Wycliffe died in his
sleep on December 31, 1384, at the age of fifty-six
Alan J. Hauser, “Biblical Interpretation, History of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
John Huss
“When we consider the place occupied by John Huss in the world’s history, it is a source of the
deepest regret that we possess so few details as to his early life and the development of his
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religious consciousness” [4] I agree with the word of Oscar Kuhns from his work John Huss: The
Witness The end of of his life seems to draw all the attention end of his life life is the main plot
in thematic story when it comes to John Huss we know only the details of the last few years
which precede his death and martyrdom at Constance.
Three years the years that matter the most for it is in those three years John Huss accomplished
the works that effects of which will be felt the most through eternity. John Huss was Born July
6, 1369. To the parents who where peasants. I found it interesting according to Oscar Kuhns
about John Parents and his last name “Like Luther, he belonged to the common people, his
parents were peasants. What their name was is now unknown, for Huss took his name from the
little market-town of Hussinec, where he was born, or rather from the castle near by called
Hus.*” Please note that the word Hus in Bohemian signifies a goose, a pun often alluded to by
himself. John Huss lived 1369- 1415 he was influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe John
Huss was a priest, and professor. Huss started vigorously attacking the sins of the clergy of his
day. His actions made him very popular among the people, but not so popular among his fellow
priests.
Hus was excommunicated and forced into exile, but he returned to Constance, Germany, to
attend a church council after the emperor promised his protection. However, a few weeks later,
on November 28, 1414, he was arrested, imprisoned, and the following year put on trial for
heresy. He was found guilty and was burned at stake the same day.
Oscar Kuhns, John Huss: The Witness, Men of the Kingdom (Cincinnati; New York: Jennings and Graham; Eaton
and Mains, 1907), 40.
John Huss in one of his battle with the archbishops “says Christ the true Roman pontiff upon
whom salvation depends” David S. Schaff capture these words From one of John Huss writing
about the church and it’s authority Truly this is the most holy and chief Roman pontiff, sitting at
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God’s right hand and dwelling with us, for he said: “ John Huss fought vigorously to prove
scripturally that the pope was not the vicar of the church, that position was held by Christ alone.
In the year 1411, John Huss is excommunicated and the second excommunication was in July
1412- to May 1413 “The time was at hand when Huss was specially to feel the need of the
support of the king. There was no longer any hope of mercy at Rome for a man who had
unscrupulously exposed the iniquity of the papacy and had sinned against its avarice. The issue
of his case could not long remain doubtful. In July, 1412, John XXIII. Committed the matter into
the hands of the cardinal, Peter de Angelis, who decided finally to confirm the excommunication
of Huss. “ At his point, Huss is an enemy of the church and further disregard and disrespect from
John Huss was not going to be tolerated by the church. To understand the reach of his
excommunication consider the words of E.H. Gillett from his work on the life and times of John
Huss. “The terrible bull of excommunication was launched against Huss in the summer of 1412.1
None might give him food or drink. None might buy of him, or sell to him. None might converse
or hold intercourse with him. None might give him lodging, or allow him fire or water. Every
city, village, or castle where he might reside was put under interdict. The sacraments could not
be administered there. All religious worship was suspended there. If Huss persevered in his
obduracy, his curse of excommunication was to be published in every parish church on every
Sunday and feast day, with a solemn tolling of the bells and the casting of lighted torches to the
earth. If he died to excommunicate, he was to be denied church burial; or, if buried in
consecrated ground, his body was to be dug up again from its grave.”
In conclusion, John Huss and John Wycliffe have this in common they where men of conviction
concerning the truth of scriptures. They wanted to see the church rightly aligned to the scriptures
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and not corruption that Jit was currently facing. John Huss had once said it is on his convictions
he is willing to die. These two men stood up against the biggest institution to bring reform to it.
That institution rejected them and considered them heretics and opposition of the faith. I am
grateful for men like these two men who were willing to stand up against the super power of the
truth of scripture Sola Scriptura.
E. H. Gillett, The Life and Times of John Huss; Or, The Bohemian Reformation of the Fifteenth Century, Third
Edition., vol. 1 (Boston; New York; Cincinnati: Gould and Lincoln; Sheldon & Company; G. S. Blanchard & Co.,
1871), 226.
John Huss, The Church, trans. David S. Schaff (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1915), 119.
Bibliography
Wycliffe, John. General Prologue of the Wycliffe Translation of the Bible, 1384. John Bartlett,
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1863, 1955), p. 1021.
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William J. Federer, Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations
Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to Their Sources in
Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions
and Constitutions (St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch, 2001).
Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, “Introduction,” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville,
TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 211.
Sharon Rusten with E. Michael, The Complete Book of When & Where in the Bible and
throughout History (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), 194.
Alan J. Hauser, “Biblical Interpretation, History of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible
Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Oscar Kuhns, John Huss: The Witness, Men of the Kingdom (Cincinnati; New York:
Jennings and Graham; Eaton and Mains, 1907), 39.
John Huss, The Church, trans. David S. Schaff (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1915), 120.
E. H. Gillett, The Life and Times of John Huss; Or, The Bohemian Reformation of the Fifteenth
Century, Third Edition., vol. 1 (Boston; New York; Cincinnati: Gould and Lincoln; Sheldon &
Company; G. S. Blanchard & Co
