Introduction During the fourteen century, England experience great religious darkness. The church had become a place of business instead of a place of help for the poor. Many of the common people did not know the word of God for themselves because it was written in Latin. The people suffered physically as well as spiritually. England and France had been at war for a very long time and many of the people wanted a better life. Europe had grown in wealth and power through the church. The time came for a reform.
The Life of John Wycliffe
The time came when God for to bring light in a very dark place. John Wycliffe was known as the Morningstar of the Reformation. John Wycliffe was an English theologian who devoted his life to telling others…show more content… He rejected that the literal body of Christ was in the mass, but Christ spirit by faith was in the Eucharist.” Lensch wrote that Christ body could not actually be in the Mass but his spirit through faith was present in the Eucharist.
After the attack of the doctrine of transubstantiation Encyclopedia of World Biography wrote, “France and Rome election of two rivals Pope. England and more of Europe went with Pope Urban VI in Rome while France and few allies supported Pope Clement VII in Avigon.” After this attack Wycliffe stir up a revolt. Many of the common people were tired of being taken advantage of and an outbreak of the Peasant Revolt. The church blamed Wycliffe for the revolt.
The Council decided to ban Wycliffe from his teaching privileges at Oxford. They were consumed with animosity that they went to extreme lengths to stop him. The Council wanted to control everything and everyone during this time of darkness. They only care for conformity and proper obedience to them. They restricted Wycliffe from all his duties at Oxford. They did not care about the people learning to get an education. They wanted to stop Wycliffe any means possible. They wanted to stop Wycliffe from teaching what he…show more content… During this time there were no printing presses. Wycliffe felt that the common people should be able to read for themselves instead of someone interpreting the Bible for them.
The Stanford Encyclopedia recorded,
“Wycliffe produced the first hand written English manuscripts at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The Archbishop Courtenay had twenty-four propositions against Wycliffe that could force him and his followers to retract their views on the traditional doctrine of transubstantiation. Wycliffe’s actions made the Council of Constance angry. The Council of Constance (1414–18) condemned Wycliffe’s writings and ordered his books burned and his body removed from consecrated ground.”
Translating the Bible into the English language was one of Wycliffe’s greatest accomplishments. He translated the Bible into a language where common people were able to understand. Even though, the Archbishop thought by burning his bones they could erase his memory and destroy his influence upon the people by throwing his ashes into a near brook called Avon which ran into a nearby ocean. They could not stop what God had ordained and commission for Wycliffe to do for many centuries to
