JOHN WYCLIFFE AND JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TODAY

In a watchtower article entitled “The Word of Our God Endures Forever”, studied on Sunday 12 November, 2017 around the world by Jehovah’s Witnesses, pages 18 and 19 carries the glowing expressions of John Wycliffe. As seen above, the watch tower writes with great admiration of John Wycliffe and his followers, the Lollards. Some of the expressions used to describe John Wycliffe and his effort in their watch tower publications are: God fearing, used by Jehovah to allow people have the bible, lovers of truth (see Watch Tower September 15, 1997, page 26), a preacher against unbiblical practice of the catholic church (see Watch Tower September 15, 1997, page 25), a preacher against such matters as corruption in the monastic orders, papal taxation, the doctrine of transubstantiation (the claim that the bread and wine used in the Mass literally change into the body and blood of Jesus Christ), the confession, and church involvement in temporal affairs, courageous 14th-century Bible translator (see Watch Tower October 1, 1985, page 23) among others.

Below is a screen shot of the said article:

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The above is among some of the glowing expressions found in the publications used to describe John Wycliffe. Therefore, let us dig a little deeper, who was John Wycliffe? What was his believes? Who did he spread them? Why would he not wait for the church to clarify issues? What did he oppose in the church or its practices? And most importantly, how would the activities of John Wycliffe and his followers, the Lollards, fair today if he were a Jehovah’s Witness or a contemporary of the watch tower organization?

JOHN WYCLIFFE AND THE WATCH TOWER ORGANISATION TODAY

“The way of the world is, to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones” - Nathaniel Howe

The watchtower publications are awash with expressions applauding the works of John Wycliffe, mainly focusing on his reformative works, his desire to have people read the bible, his courageous stand against the religious authority of his day etc. The publications present a picture of someone greatly admired, his works bearing the mark of divine guidance. It is then worthwhile to examine, if John Wycliffe was a contemporary of the present Watch Tower Organization, or perhaps a Jehovah’s Witness, with his reformations and ideas, how would he be considered? Would the organization of Jehovah’s Witness present his works in such admirable terms?

As will be presented shortly, none of the beliefs of John Wycliffe is practiced by the watch tower organization today. John Wycliffe believe in predestination, the trinity, the poor nature of the church and he was very vocal in declaring his beliefs and was declared a heretic. Watch tower and Jehovah’s witnesses held the believes that predestination and the trinity doctrine are part of false believes promoted by Satan. The watch tower organization is also one of the riches religious organization in the world, with real estate asset, cash and a large printer press.

Now, let’s just assume that this believe held by John Wycliffe is not much significance today, of course, John Wycliffe is held in high esteem by the watch tower society, the light gets brighter and new understanding keeps coming. Now let’s get to something much more interesting, something we cannot quickly dismiss.

JOHN WYCLIFFE WAS AGAINST THE CHURCH, IT’S DOCTRINE, THE PAPACY AND ITS INSTITUTION

POVERTY OF THE CHURCH
John Wycliffe was a critic of the catholic church. He was not just a critic of the believes and practices of the church, he was also against the religious hierarchy of his days and its institution, namely the papacy. He had the fundamental belief that the church should be poor, as in the days of the apostles. Wycliffe argued that the Church had fallen into sin and that it ought therefore to give up all its property and that the clergy should live in complete poverty, that Christ called his disciples into poverty, not wealth.

Watch tower is one of the riches religious organization on earth today. No one knows exactly how wealthy watchtower is. In September 2001, Newsday.com reported that the Watchtower was worth $951 million. The watch tower organization owns estates around the world, that they do not pay taxes and as was recently discovered in one their court cases, they own real estate around the world worth over $1 billion dollars.

The watch tower organization is not transparent and refuses to make its audited financial statements public. It has never and probably will never.

PRIVATE CONFESSION
John Wycliffe wrote “Private confession was not ordered by Christ and was not used by the apostles.” He was against the practice of private confession by the church of his day. While the bible admonished Christians to openly confess their sins to one another (James 5:16), the Watch Tower teachings have been that of private confession, greatly enforced, where a wrong doer tell his sins to elders, with all its details. The elders will then meet to discuss it among themselves and then form a committee call Judicial committee were the wrong doer will then again have to go through the details of the confession, sometimes very embarrassing details.

They also have this practice where member monitors one another and report cases of wrong doing. As we may have seen, this was one of the many church practice John Wycliffe was against. And it is also true that nowhere in the scriptures does the bible encourages private confession.

ALLOW BIBLE TO RULES A CHRISTIAN’S LIFE THAN EDICT OF MEN
John Wycliffe wrote “All Christian life is to be measured by Scripture; by every word thereof.” He also said “The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere - any additional rules made to govern men's conduct added nothing to the perfection already found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

As anyone familiar with the Watch Tower organization may have known, the bible alone is not sufficient for Jehovah’s witnesses. To a Jehovah’s witnesses, it is not about what the bible says, but what the governing body or the organization says the bible say that they believe. Any Jehovah’s witnesses that finds himself disagreeing with the Watch Tower organization quickly finds themselves in serious trouble.

Any person among their members of Jehovah’s witnesses who voices a personal difference of viewpoint as to the teachings of the organization is almost certain to face judicial proceedings and, unless willing to retract, is liable for disfellowshipment? This is probably why the watch tower has to repeated claim that the bible is an organizational book, not for individual Christians. (See w67 Oct 1 p. 587)

Here, we find John Wycliffe actively going against the teaches of the religious authority or organization of his day, promoting those ideas to many. If John Wycliffe were alive today, probably a Jehovah’s witness, how will the organization treat him?

REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION
John Wycliffe is vocal in expressing what leads to salvation. “He said Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on His sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by His righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation. There must be atonement made for sin according to the righteousness of God. The person to make this atonement must be God and man.”

For a Jehovah’s witness today and based on Watch Tower doctrine, trusting wholly in Jesus, having faith in him and relying in his righteousness cannot guarantee the salvation of an individual Christian. Watch tower teaches that Jehovah’s witnesses must continually work for their own salvation, preach throughout their life time, and most importantly belong to the Watch Tower organization they control for them to have any hope of salvation.
That probably informed his decision to lead a reformative work, against the rebuke of the church of his day. Had he believed that salvation only from the church, he would not have dare to move.

STANDARD FOR FAITH AND AUTHORITY
John Wycliffe believe that “Holy Scripture is the highest authority for every believer, the standard of faith and the foundation for reform...” Watch Tower Organization on the other hand is the standard for the believes of Jehovah’s witnesses. They decide what they believe, how long the believes stays and when to change it to fit they interest. Facts is, the Watch Tower Organization frowns upon any Jehovah’s witnesses that disagree with any of them believes, and disfellowship such individual, just as the catholic church frowned against John Wycliffe when he believed something different from their established doctrine and excommunicated him.

So, what are they saying? Should the religious authority of that time have kept quiet in what was to them an opposition to they authority? Would the Watch Tower keep quiet today?

AGAINST THE PAPACY AND ITS INSTITION
Today, Watch tower organization operates a highly structure hierarchical religious organization with layers and layers of officials and members. At the apex of the hierarchy, we have the governing body, followed by branch committee which answers to the governing body. Coming much lower, there are the travelling overseers, then the local congregation led by the elders, followed by the ministerial servant and the other members of the congregation.

The religious hierarchy of Jehovah’s witnesses is akin to that of the catholic church as show in the pictures below:

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John Wycliffe was one who oppose this sort of hierarchical institution, as was Pastor Russel during his presidency of the watch tower society. Wycliffe had come to regard the scriptures as the only reliable guide to the truth about God, and maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible rather than on the teachings of popes and clerics. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy.

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Below is a clip from a statement by Watch Tower attorney, Calvin Rouse admitting that the organization is structured akin to the catholic church.

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The sort of hierarchical structure seen among Jehovah’s witnesses came into full force during the days of watch tower second president, Judge Rutherford. Pastor Russel was firmly against it as he recognized such organization and its hierarchy as Babylon the great.

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Rudolph Buddensieg finds two distinct aspects in Wycliffe's work. The first, from 1366 to 1378, reflects a political struggle with Rome, while 1378 to 1384 is more a religious struggle. In each Wycliffe has two approaches: he attacks both the Papacy and its institutions, and also Roman Catholic doctrine. The books and tracts of Wycliffe's last six years include continual attacks upon the papacy and the entire hierarchy of his times.

CONCLUSION
It does seem to me from the above, John Wycliffe would certainly have had serious issues with the Watch Tower Organization. Should John Wycliffe had been a Jehovah’s Witness, he would have been labelled an apostate and should he had been an outsider, he would have labelled "an opposer, enemy of the truth or a critic".

At this point, it’s important to ask, why do the Watch Tower organization continue to write with glowing expressions of the man - with full knowledge his history, believes, struggle, publicity in advocating his beliefs - when they fully understand that should Wycliffe had been alive today, he would also oppose a greater part of their practices and believe?

Reflecting on the lip service paid to early reformers such as John Wycliffe by watchtower publications, in his book, In search of Christian Freedom, Pages 616, Raymond Frank observes:

"It is easy to render lip-service to the example set by individuals of the past who, often at great cost to themselves, did not allow intimidation to keep them from seeking truth and making it known. Watch Tower publications frequently contain articles commending the integrity to truth and conscience that earlier martyrs and reformers displayed—men like Wycliffe, Tyndale, Michael Servetus, or John Hus, who resisted the choking power of religious censorship, went uncowed by the coercive pressure and condemnation of religious authority. Other articles speak approvingly of various break-away, non-conformist, minority groups such as the Waldenses, the Lollards, the Anabaptists, all of whom declared
themselves as placing loyalty to Scriptural truth above loyalty to organizational authority and teaching. In all this, however, one cannot but be impressed by the parallel with those religious authorities in Jesus’ day, who, as he said, ‘built tombs for the prophets and decorated the graves of righteous men of the past,’ and said “If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we should never have joined in the killing of the prophets.” Despite their professions, the course of those religious leaders showed that they had the same spirit as their ancestors, who brought about the death of the organizationally rejected prophets.

In parallel fashion, while honoring those dissenting individuals and non-conformist groups of the past, the Watch Tower organization employs the identical weapons that were used against them—organizational censorship, intimidation, pressure, coercion and excommunication—to silence any attempt today at free, open discussion of the validity of its teachings and exercise of authority. Those it now labels as heretical are to be viewed as dead by all its members. It praises the courage that made men and women in the past hold to their convictions, condemns the same course now as born of a disruptive, prideful spirit, as evidence of rebellion against God, and in doing so uses language strongly reminiscent of the ecclesiastical condemnations of the past.

Quoting from Nathaniel Howe, it simply is the “the way of the world is, to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones”

Coming to read

DECLARED HERETICS AFTER DEAD
Interestingly, the said article says “even though Wycliffe had already died, the clergy declared him a heretic or an enemy if the church. They dug up his bones, burned them and threw the ashes into the river swift”.

The question can then be asked, is this any different from what the watch tower organization had done themselves?

Percy Harding was a Jehovah’s witness. In 1910, when about 20 years old, he had begun reading the writings of Pastor Russel and in six months, had read some 3000 pages of material. He resigned from the Protestant church of which he was a member and found himself totally alone in his new belief among his townspeople. He began “witnessing” and formed two groups in the area and held baptisms at a nearby river. He wrote: “In 1918 I quit a good job to become a colporteur (now known as Pioneer). My territory covered hundreds of square miles, mostly along the railways, from southern Alberta to the Pacific coast. I also covered the country territory on foot, carrying two small bags of books. Often I walked as much as 15 to 25 miles a day.”

After seven years of this activity, on May 25, 1925, he went to Brooklyn, New York, to serve at the Watch Tower headquarters. After about four years, the attitude developing under the presidency of Rutherford, and the conduct of some exercising oversight left Percy disillusioned. In 1929 he terminated his work at the headquarters. Despite this, he remained associated and active with the same congregation in Brooklyn for the following fifty-six years. Of what then happened he wrote:

“From May, 1925, until December, 1981, I remained in the same congregation until I was disfellowshipped for talking about God’s Word to a few of my friends. This was unbelievable, and, so far as the Society is concerned, a disgraceful performance. The judicial committee had a letter from another board of elders in a different congregation. They had disfellowshipped a friend of mine. They questioned him at length about other people he had talked to about the Bible. He caved in and told them, mentioning my name among others. So this letter from the elders, including things I and others had said, was presented to me with a request that I comment on it. I told the committee that I had nothing to say, that what went on between me and my friends was strictly a private matter and was nobody else’s business.

They promised me a copy of the letter, but I never received it. Then they started asking questions, the most important being, “Do you believe that the Society is God’s organization and that it is bringing forth truth?” So I said, “There is nothing in God’s Word to indicate that God ever used an organization’ to bring forth truth. From Moses, down through all the prophets to John and the Revelation, it was always an individual.”

There were three committee meetings, the last being at Bethel. The night I was disfellowshipped, Harry Peloyan [a longtime member of the Watch Tower’s writing staff] made a speech at the Kingdom Hall, bringing a charge that was not even discussed in any of the committee meetings, that of disrupting the unity of the congregation. He misused 2 John 10, 11, in instructing 175 people to cut me cold. After the meeting everyone filed out, passing me by like I was a leper.”

Percy Harding was 91 years old and in poor health when he was disfellowshipped (excommunicated). No one in his congregation had accused him of being an agitator or causing disunity. He had associated with Jehovah’s witnesses for 70 years.

At age 91, with poor health, there were two Jehovah’s witness nurses who visited him, almost every week, they assisted him with things he could not do for himself. And most importantly, they were on call if he needed them. He said: “Since I will be 92 years old on August 18, who knows when an emergency may arrive? After I was disfellowshipped, I called one of the nurses. Her husband answered the phone and said, “Ann is not allowed to talk to you.”

Let me say again that the only thing the elders have against me is that I talked to a few of my friends about the Bible.”

Writing on the issue, Late governing body member Ray Frank, in his book, In search of Christian Freedom, page 356 - 357 said: “In my conversations with Percy I found him to be a blunt-speaking man. He may well have been quite blunt in his discussions with the elders who judged him. But even if he had been more than blunt—had been caustic, even cantankerous—how could that possibly justify cutting off a 91-year-old man, single, ill, with no relatives within hundreds of miles, writing him off, along with his over seventy years of active association, as someone now to be ignored and forgotten? What heinous crime had he committed that could justify this? I find it difficult to understand how anyone claiming to be a disciple of the true Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ, could be party to such an action, one that in my mind merits no less description than heartless. Yet … it took place on the very “doorstep” of the world headquarters of the Watch Tower Society.

Percy is now dead, having died in his sleep on February 3, 1984. During the twenty-five months following his disfellowshipment, not a single person from the congregation with which he had been associated for 56 years came to see him or inquire of his needs.”

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The above is only a case that has been document. Many more occurs in the different congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world. So, what is watch tower really saying when the church labelled John Wycliffe a heretic? Are they any better?

FURTHER HISTORY ABOUT JOHN WYCLIFFE

WHO WAS JOHN WYCLIFFE
John Wycliffe (1329–1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, Biblical translator, reformer, and seminary professor at Oxford. He was an influential dissident within the Roman Catholic priesthood during the 14th century, he was well-known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible.

With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!

POLITICAL CAREER OF JOHN WYCLIFFE
On April 7, 1374, Edward III appointed John Wycliffe to the rectory of Lutterworth in place of Ludgershall and about this time, the Wycliffe began to show an interest in politics. He received a royal commission to the deputation sent to discuss with the papal representatives at Brugge the outstanding differences between England and Rome, such as papal taxes and appointments to church post.

But Wycliffe's more important participation began with the Peace Congress at Brugges. There in 1374 negotiations were carried on between France and England, while at the same time commissioners from England dealt with papal delegates respecting the removal of ecclesiastical annoyances. Wycliffe was among these, under a decree dated July 26, 1374. The choice of a harsh opponent of the Avignon system would have broken up rather than furthered the peace negotiations. It seems he was designated purely as a theologian, and so considered himself, since a noted Scripture scholar was required alongside of those learned in civil and canon law. There was no need for a man of renown, or a pure advocate of state interests.

At this time, Wycliffe was still regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as trustworthy; his opposition to the ruling conduct of the Church may have escaped notice. It was difficult to recognize him as a heretic. The controversies in which men engaged at Oxford were philosophical rather than purely theological or ecclesiastical-political, and the method of discussion was academic and scholastic.

THE BELIEVES OF WYCLIFFE
John Wycliffe was a reformer, he believes that there was a great contrast between what the Church was and what it ought to be, and saw the necessity for reform. His ideas stress the serious harm of the temporal rule of the clergy and its incompatibility with the teaching of Christ and the apostles, Wycliffe attacked the privileged status of the clergy, which was central to their powerful role in England. He then attacked the wealth of the church and advocated for translation of the Bible into the vernacular.

Wycliffe's believed in predestination, trinity, iconoclasm, and the notion of caesaropapism, while attacking the veneration of saints, the papacy and it’s institution, the sacraments, requiem masses, transubstantiation, monasticism, and the very existence of the Papacy.

WYCLIFFE’S PUBLIC DECLARATION OF HIS IDEAS
Wycliffe wanted his ideas to be public. In his great work, De civili dominio, he introduced those ideas by which the good parliament was governed- which involved the renunciation by the Church of temporal dominion. In this book are the strongest outcries against the Avignon system with its commissions, exactions, squandering of charities by unfit priests, and the like. To change this is the business of the State. If the clergy misuses ecclesiastical property, it must be taken away; if the king does not do this, he is remiss. The work contains 18 strongly stated theses, opposing the governing methods of the rule of the Church and the straightening out of its temporal possessions. Wycliffe had set these ideas before his students at Oxford in 1376, after becoming involved in controversy with William Wadeford and others. Rather than restricting these matters to the classroom, he wanted them proclaimed more widely and wanted temporal and spiritual lords to take note.

WYCLIFFE’S CONFLICT WITH THE CHURCH
Aside from having his ideas of how things should be done, Wycliffe wanted to see his ideas actualized--his fundamental belief was that the Church should be poor, as in the days of the apostles. He argued that the church was already too wealthy and that Christ called his disciples to poverty, not wealth. If anyone should keep such taxes, it should be local English authorities. Among many others believes that conflicted with the church are he wrote against the doctrine of transubstantiation: "The bread while becoming by virtue of Christ's words the body of Christ does not cease to be bread."

He repudiated the confessional: "Private confession … was not ordered by Christ and was not used by the apostles." He reiterated the biblical teaching on faith: "Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on his sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by his righteousness." Believing that every Christian should have access to Scripture (only Latin translations were available at the time), he began translating the Bible into English, with the help of his good friend John Purvey. The church bitterly opposed it: "By this translation, the Scriptures have become vulgar, and they are more available to lay, and even to women who can read, than they were to learned scholars, who have a high intelligence. So the pearl of the gospel is scattered and trodden underfoot by swine." Wycliffe replied, "Englishmen learn Christ's law best in English. Moses heard God's law in his own tongue; so, did Christ's apostles."

Such opinions got Wycliffe into trouble, and he was brought to London to answer charges of heresy. The hearing had hardly gotten underway when recriminations on both sides filled the air. Soon they erupted into an open brawl, ending the meeting. Three months later, Pope Gregory XI issued five bulls (church edicts) against Wycliffe, in which Wycliffe was accused on 18 counts and was called "the master of errors."

At a subsequent hearing before the archbishop at Lambeth Palace, Wycliffe replied, "I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death…. I have followed the Sacred Scriptures and the holy doctors." He went on to say that the pope and the church were second in authority to Scripture.

Wycliffe died before the translation was complete (and before authorities could convict him of heresy); his friend Purvey is considered responsible for the version of the "Wycliffe" Bible we have today. Though Wycliffe's followers (who came to be called "Lollards"—referring to the region of their original strength) were driven underground, they remained a persistent irritant to English Catholic authorities until the English Reformation made their views the norm.

THE WYCLIFFE BIBLE
Wycliffe was convinced that the English people needed a Bible that they could understand in their own language. In 1380, he completed the first English translation of the New Testament, and two years later the entire Bible was completed. (Although Wycliffe sponsored the translation and was held responsible for it by the religious authorities, there is evidence that a number of translators worked with him.) Approximately 60 years before the invention of the printing press, the Wycliffe Bible was published and copied by hand. The first edition of the Wycliffe Bible was a word-for-word translation of the Latin Vulgate (the accepted Bible of the Catholic Church) into Middle English (the language of Chaucer).

The translation followed the Latin so closely that the meaning in English was often obscured. Six years after the release of the entire Bible (and four years after Wycliffe’s death), a follower, John Purvey, published a revision that was much more readable in English. This Bible was the dominant English Bible until William Tyndale’s translation almost 150 years later.

The Catholic Church condemned the Wycliffe Bible. Anyone caught reading it was subject to heavy fines. Some of Wycliffe’s supporters were burned at the stake with the Wycliffe Bible hung around their necks. However, the prohibition seems to have only made people more interested in reading the banned book. Not only did the English people become more interested in the Bible, but their desire for literacy also increased.

THE WYCLIFFE DOCTRINES
Wycliffe had come to regard the scriptures as the only reliable guide to the truth about God, and maintained that all Christians should rely on the Bible rather than on the teachings of popes and clerics. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy. He said that there was no scriptural justification for the papacy’s existence and attacked the riches and power that popes and the Church as a whole had acquired. He disapproved of clerical celibacy, pilgrimages, the selling of indulgences and praying to saints. He thought the monasteries were corrupt and the immorality with which many clerics often behaved invalidated the sacraments they conducted. If clerics were accused of crime, they should be tried in the ordinary lay courts, not in their special ecclesiastical tribunals.

ATTACK ON THE PAPALCY
The books and tracts of Wycliffe's last six years include continual attacks upon the papacy and the entire hierarchy of his times. Each year they focus more and more, and at the last pope and Antichrist seem to him practically equivalent concepts.

He states that “it is not necessary to go either to Rome or to Avignon in order to seek a decision from the pope, since the triune God is everywhere. Our pope is Christ.” Wycliffe was an opponent of the papacy, which had which had developed since Constantine. He taught that the Church can continue to exist even though it has no visible leader; but there can be no damage when the Church possesses a leader of the right kind. To distinguish between what the pope should be, if one is necessary, and the pope as he appeared in Wycliffe's day was the purpose of his book on the power of the pope. The Church militant, Wycliffe taught, needs a head--but one whom God gives the Church. The elector [cardinal] can only make someone a pope if the choice relates to one who is elect [of God]. But that is not always the case. It may be that the elector is himself not predestined and chooses one who is in the same case--a veritable Antichrist. One must regard as a true pope one who in teaching and life most nearly follows Jesus Christ and Saint Peter.

ACTIVITIES AS A PREACHER
Wycliffe aimed to do away with the existing hierarchy and replace it with the "poor priests" who lived in poverty, were bound by no vows, had received no formal consecration, and preached the Gospel to the people. These itinerant preachers spread the teachings of Wycliffe. Two by two they went, barefoot, wearing long dark-red robes and carrying a staff in the hand, the latter having symbolic reference to their pastoral calling, and passed from place to place preaching the sovereignty of God.

WYCLIFFE ON SCRIPTURE
The Bible alone was authoritative and, according to his own conviction and that of his disciples, was fully sufficient for the government of this world (De sufficientia legis Christi). Out of it he drew his comprehensive statements in support of his reformatory views--after intense study and many spiritual conflicts. He tells that as a beginner he was desperate to comprehend the passages dealing with the activities of the divine Word, until by the grace of God he was able to gather the right sense of Scripture, which he then understood. But that was not a light task. Without knowledge of the Bible there can be no peace in the life of the Church or of society, and outside of it there is no real and abiding good; it is the one authority for the faith.

These teachings Wycliffe promulgated in his great work on the truth of Scripture, and in other greater and lesser writings. For him the Bible was the fundamental source of Christianity which is binding on all men. From this one can easily see how the next step came about: the furnishing of the Bible to the people in their mother tongue. Wycliffe was called "Doctor evangelicus" by his English and Bohemian followers. Of all the reformers who preceded Martin Luther, Wycliffe put most emphasis on Scripture: "Even though there were a hundred popes and though every mendicant monk were a cardinal, they would be entitled to confidence only in so far as they accorded with the Bible."

LAST DAYS
In the years before his death in 1384 he increasingly argued for Scriptures as the authoritative center of Christianity, that the claims of the papacy were unhistorical, that monasticism was irredeemably corrupt, and that the moral unworthiness of priests invalidated their office and sacraments.

Wycliffe returned to Lutterworth, and sent out tracts against the monks and Urban VI, since the latter, contrary to Wycliffe's hopes, had not turned out to be a reforming pope. The literary achievements of Wycliffe's last days, such as the Trialogus, stand at the peak of the knowledge of his day. His last work, the Opus evangelicum, the last part of which he named in characteristic fashion "Of Antichrist", remained uncompleted. While he was saying Mass in the parish church on Holy Innocents' Day, 28 December 1384, he suffered a stroke, and died as the year ended. Wycliffe was 64 years old.

DECLARED A HERETIC
The Council of Constance declared Wycliffe a heretic on 4 May 1415, and banned his writings, effectively both excommunicating him retroactively and making him an early forerunner of Protestantism. The Council decreed that Wycliffe's works should be burned and his remains removed from consecrated ground. This order, confirmed by Pope Martin V, was carried out in 1428. Wycliffe's corpse was exhumed and burned and the ashes cast into the River Swift, which flows through Lutterworth.

REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/john-wycliffe-condemned-heretic
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-wycliffe.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/moversandshakers/john-wycliffe.html
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Catholic-Church-oppose-Bible-translation-to-popular-languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe#Conflict_with_the_Church