An Audio of this Sermon preached at Chirst Independent Baptist Church of Philadelphia can be heard HERE.
John Wycliffe was a Catholic priest who in his 30′s demonstrated a change, in that he began to speak out against the unScriptural doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic doctrine and practices that held an iron grip on the people of England in his day.
Wycliffe has been recorded as being influenced by Baptist people of his day that were already being bitterly persecuted for thier faith.
Wycliffe believed in the sole authority of the Scriptures for faith (what one believes) and practice (how one lives). He further was convinced that the Scriptures out to be readily available for the comman man to read and understand for himself! This conviction and cause to which he gave himself to made him and enemy of the pope and the entire Roman Catholic system of his day!
Wycliffe’s conviction can be seen in his own words directed at the Pope and the Catholic establishment that ruled much of the known world in his day:
“You say it is heresy to speak of the Holy Scriptures in English. You call me a heretic because I have translated the Bible into the common tongue of the people. Do you know whom you blaspheme? Did not the Holy Ghost give the Word of God at first in the mother-tongue of the nations to whom it was addressed? Why do you speak against the Holy Ghost? You say that the Church of God is in danger from this book. How can that be? Is it not from the Bible only that we learn that God has set up such a society as a Church on the earth? Is it not the Bible that gives all her authority to the Church? Is it not from the Bible that we learn who is the Builder and Sovereign of the Church, what are the laws by which she is to be governed, and the rights and privileges of her members? Without the Bible, what charter has the Church to show for all these? It is you who place the Church in jeopardy by hiding the Divine warrant, the missive royal of her King, for the authority she wields and the faith she enjoins” (Fountain, John Wycliffe, pp. 45-47).
Wycliffe was used of God to put His Word into the hands of common men. This was the time before the printing press, therefore any part of the Bible had to be hand-written either by professional scribe, or by individuals that copied out any and all portions they could get for themselves personally.
The Wycliffe Scriptures and any other attempt to translate the Scriptures into the English language was completely outlawed by the Pope and civil authorities under his rule. The Price to be found with this Bible was great!
Click on the link to go to the second Bible, the Tyndale Bible. Tyndale’s Bible
