Chapter 5 : John Wycliffe

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.

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.

[80] 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 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 [81]

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 papist leaders were filled with rage when

they perceived that this reformer was gaining an influence greater

than their own.

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,

[82] 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 monks’ 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 Romish 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 thee the body that bare thee and the breasts that

nursed thee, see that thou trample them under foot, 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. Thus did the papal 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 [83]

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.

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

[84] 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. 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.” 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 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

[85] 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 assert and maintain his 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 naught again but God’s curse for his simony.”

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 moulding 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. 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 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 peremp- [86]

tory 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. 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 upon the people to consider

whether these two priests were not speaking the truth in condemning

each other as the antichrist. “The fiend,” said he, “no longer reigns

in one but in two priests, that men may the more easily, in Christ’s

name, overcome them both.”

[87] 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 have

death on your lips,” they said; “be touched by your faults, and retract

in our presence all 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 declare the evil deeds of the friars.” [88]

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 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.

[89] 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 priest, there was for a

season opportunity for the circulation of the Word of God.

Again the papist 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 usurpations 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 confidently expected that the reformer himself, in his old age,

alone and friendless, would bow to the combined authority of the

crown and the mitre. 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 [90]

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 you contending?

With an old man on the brink of the grave?—No! with truth,—truth

which is stronger than you, and will overcome you.” 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 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, [91]

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 specially unto the bishop of Rome; the 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 believe 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 be the vicar of Christ here

on earth, to be bound most of all 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 move and exhort his

whole clergy; for so did Christ, and especially by his apostles.

“If I have erred in any of these points, I will most humbly submit

myself unto correction even by death, if necessity so require. If I

could labor according to my will and 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

to obey God rather than men.”

In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that he will so

[92] stir up our pope, Urban the Sixth, 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.”

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 accomJohn

Wycliffe plish 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.”

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 to 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 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 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 [93]

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 which 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.

Wycliffe was one of the greatest of the reformers. In breadth

of intellect, in clearness of thought, in firmness to maintain the

truth, and 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 Christ-like 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,

[94] 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 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 [95]

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’sWord, 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.

“The brook,” says an old writer, “did convey 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 all the world over.” Little did his

enemies realize the significance of their malicious act.

[96] 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.