John Wycliffe and the Lollards

This post is for the wonderful people who attend the Bible Study at my house on Wednesday Nights. We are taking a closer look at 6 people from history who have become well-known for how they applied scripture. Since the time of Ignatius of Antioch, his idea of a 'catholic (or universal)' church has been split, his idea of a 'Bishop' has been turned into a Pope, and his ideas about communion have been turned into a magic act where the bread and wine literally turn into flesh and blood.

The Catholic church at the time of John Wycliffe was taking money from people at every possible opportunity and spending was out of control. The Bible was not available in a translation that the people could read and people. The Pope was heavily involved in politics, yet his popularity was low.

John Wycliffe resisted these teachings and was a pioneer for change that didn't materialize until hundreds of years after his death. The following short biography of his life is from the Wycliffe Bible Translators website.


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John Wycliffe lived almost 200 years before the Reformation, but his beliefs and teachings closely match those of Luther, Calvin and other reformers. As a man ahead of his time, historians have called Wycliffe the "Morning star of the Reformation."

Born in the 1300s, Wycliffe criticized abuses and false teachings in the Church. In 1382 he translated an English Bible—the first complete European translation done in nearly 1,000 years. The Lollards, itinerant preachers he sent throughout England, inspired a spiritual revolution.

But the Lollardy movement was short-lived. The Church expelled Wycliffe from his teaching position at Oxford, and 44 years after he died, the Pope ordered his bones exhumed and burned. Intense persecution stamped out his followers and teachings. It would be hundreds of years before men like Martin Luther resurrected the reforms of which Wycliffe dreamed.