The Lecture Tour of Germany, Part I: Background and Content

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on 14 July 2011 2 Comments
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Question

My mother and I had the honor of meeting you at the National Cathedral some five years ago and the reason I am writing to you now is that we are watching a special on John Wycliffe and we really rely on your knowledge.  What is your view on him?  What to believe or not?  I think though he had gone through a lot of courage trying to translate the Bible into English, in the 1500’s if I am not mistaken.  This book sure does get a lot of attention no matter what one’s beliefs are.  Thank you for your time.  I hope this finds you well.

Answer

Dear Betsy and Mary,

John Wycliffe is one of my heroes.  He was born in 1328 and died in 1384 at the age of 56.  He was a philosopher, theologian and lay preacher.  What later came to be called the Protestant Reformation was stirring in him a couple of centuries before Luther and Calvin.

He translated the Latin version of the Bible, called the Vulgate, into the vernacular English in 1382.  That was thought to be a dangerous thing to do in that day since lay people, armed with a knowledge of the scriptures, might be led to challenge the ordained hierarchy of the church.  Wycliffe appears to have been responsible for the translation of the New Testament and his associates translated the Old Testament.  Almost 40 years after his death, he was condemned by the Council of Constance and declared a heretic by the Pope.  They went so far as to dig up his bones and burn them at the stake!

When the King James Bible was translated in 1611, the work of John Wycliffe was a major force in that translation. He died in Lutterworth, near Leicester and was later called the “Morning Star of the Reformation.”

I have always admired him as one whose pursuit of truth could not be stifled by the self-appointed “defenders of God.”

The western Christian world has indeed vested much energy in the Bible, though not all of it is positive.  Wycliffe illustrates the religious maxim that truth can be pointed to but it cannot be captured in any human form, not in either the scriptures or the creeds.  It is a lesson we need to be reminded of eternally.

~John Shelby Spong

 

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