A Long December Ago

In December, 641 years ago, John Wycliffe died.

He suffered a stroke during a worship service and passed away three days later. A contemporary of Wycliffe, Walsington of St. Albans, commented:

On the feast of the passion of St. Thomas of Canterbury, John de Wycliffe, that instrument of the devil, that enemy of the Church, that author of confusion to the common people, that image of hypocrites, that idol of heretics, that author of schism, that sower of hatred, that coiner of lies, being struck with the horrible judgment of God, was smitten with palsy and continued to live till St. Sylvester’s day, on which he breathed out his malicious spirit into the abodes of darkness.

We’re not left to wonder if Walsington liked Wycliffe — he didn’t hold back. And he was terribly wrong. For all the reasons he despised Wycliffe, we love him.

Two reasons stand out in particular:

Wycliffe trumpeted the “free, unconditional, efficacious grace of God as the only wellspring of salvation.” He did this as a fervent student of Augustine, completely undermining the heresy of works-righteousness in the Catholic church.

But also, he translated Scripture into English and advocated for the right of all Christians to read the Bible in their native tongue. In the same spirit, he believed preaching the Bible was the heart of pastoral ministry (not the administration of the sacraments). This is because it is only through preaching — hearing the word of Christ (see Romans 10:17) — that sinners can be converted and believers edified.

To that we say amen, and it’s our practice every week.

I’m eager to worship together on Sunday, with the Bible in English, some six centuries downstream of that so-called “coiner of lies.”