John Wycliffe has been called “the Morning Star of the Reformation,” which refers to the Protestant Reformation. One hundred years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Castle Church door in Germany in 1517 as part of the Protestant Reformation, Wycliffe took a bold stand and worked to bring change or reform to the Roman church by speaking the truth of God’s Word. He translated the Bible into English. And he took a courageous stand by speaking and writing God’s Word in the common language of the English people. He had a tremendous impact in his day. John Wycliffe was born in 1328 near Richmond in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. We attended Oxford as a teenager in 1346. He received a bachelors degree in divinity in 1369 and a doctorate in 1372. Wycliffe studied and taught at Oxford for most of his life. He studied hard and became a recognized leading theologian and philosopher at Oxford University. As he studied, he realized that many of the mainstream religious teachings of the Roman church was not in alignment and harmony with the spiritual truths in the Bible. And he wanted to change that. In the 1300’s, the Roman church dominated all of Europe. The church was very powerful. It owned a lot of land throughout Europe. It demanded money and allegiance from people and governments. It influenced religion, philosophy, science, morals, politics, art, and education. But the church’s doctrine had become mixed up with half-truths and superstitions. For example, people were (and still are) required to acknowledge the pope as God’s representative on Earth. Anyone who disagreed with the pope and church were prosecuted or executed. Wycliffe taught what he learned from his studies, which was that all spiritual truth is in the Bible and that to know Christ and have spirit within, one must understand those truths. He questioned the church and its teachings that did not line up with the truth that he understood and was written in the Bible. For example, the Roman church taught that salvation (to be saved, reborn and connected with God) is NOT by God’s grace and through believing, but is through good works prescribed by the church. According to the church, the way to God is by following the law of the church according to their rules. The church forbade anyone who wasn’t a church-ordained priest to read the Bible or teach from it. Another example is that the church required people to confess their sins to priests and the church had the authority to forgive people of their sins. Private confession to God for forgiveness of sins had been replaced by confession to priests. But Wycliffe confronted the church on this. Wycliffe also spoke out again the sales of “indulgences.” According to the church, a person could pay the church money and the church would in turn free them from being punished for their sins. And with the money, the church would purchase more land and build more churches and fund armies for war. The Christian Crusades were church-sanctioned and funded war campaigns to combat paganism and heresy, and to gain political and territorial power. Wycliffe also spoke out again the church’s greed. Much of England’s land and wealth was in control of the church. The church and everyone who worked in the church (the pope, bishops, clergy, priests, friars, monks) were more interested in wealth and power rather than attending to the spiritual needs of the people who believed in God. Wycliffe proclaimed that the clergy (the body of all people ordained for religious duties in the church) are not to rule over, but rather serve and help people. Wycliffe spoke publicly that the church lived in greed while common folk struggled under a burden of need. Wycliffe spoke out against celibacy of the priests, praying to saints, and other practices that were not based upon God’s Word. The church was (and still is today) filled with dogma (principles laid down by the church authority as being incontrovertibly true). He also attacked the dogma of transubstantiation. Wycliffe opposed the beliefs that the bread and wine given at communion are literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ. He enraged the church and was condemned as a heretic. He was a dissenter and a non-conformist who held and proclaimed opinions that were at odds with what the church said was the way, the truth, and the rules to follow or else. But that didn’t stop him from studying, teaching, and speaking spiritual truths. We was one of the most influential preachers in England, and he encouraged others to speak the Word too. He said, “The highest service to which man may attain on earth is to preach the love of God.” One of Wycliffe’s major concerns was that the church forbade translations of the Bible into the common language of the people. The church used a bible that was written in Latin, a language that most people in England did not understand or speak. For centuries, the church used the Latin translated bible for readings and teachings. Only the university-educated church clergy could read and teach from the Latin bible. But Wycliffe believed and taught that people could not know the basics of believing unless they knew the Bible, and they could best know the Bible when it was in their own language. He said, “People should understand believing and, as the instructions for believing are in the Scriptures, believers should have the Scriptures in a language which they fully understand.” Wycliffe called for the Bible to be translated into English. He worked with scholars to translate the entire bible from Latin into English, painstakingly making copies of the Bible by hand. Wycliffe wrote the very first translation of the whole bible into English. In 1384, people in England could read the entire bible for themselves. Hundreds were produced by hand and given to people who would carry the English translations of the Bible with them as they preached God’s Word throughout England. The English translation of the Bible was one of Wycliffe’s greatest accomplishments. In 1382, the church declared John Wycliffe as a heretic and banished him from Oxford University. As he left the school, he declared, “The truth shall prevail!” He also said, "I believe that in the end the truth shall conquer." In 1384, Wycliffe died peacefully in his home. Four years later, Pope Martin V of the Roman church ordered Wycliffe’s bones to be dug up, burned, and his ashes thrown into the river. The church wanted to erase everything of John Wycliffe from the face of the earth. The church also tried to burn and destroy all of Wycliffe’s books and writings, but the church failed. Wycliffe’s teachings and writings had already spread throughout England and Europe.
In 1408, the Roman Church declared that no one was permitted to translate on his own authority any text of Scripture into the English language or any other language. But the invention of the printing press in 1450 changed all of that. Translations of the Bible could not be stopped. The printing press made it possible to replace handwritten copies of the Bible with printed editions that were affordable. The bible was translated into many languages, including German, Italian, and Czech. In 1522, Martin Luther, a German theologian, monk, and teacher, translated the entire bible from Hebrew and Greek into German. Luther studied and incorporated many of Wycliffe's ideas about the church and the truth for his own reformation activities. By 1530, an estimated two hundred thousand copies of Martin Luther’s translation were printed. Luther’s bible translation became the foundation for all future translations and versions in Europe. In 1526, William Tyndale translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. Tyndale was executed by the church soon after. In 1539, King Henry VII used Tyndale's Bible to translate an authorized edition of the bible in English to be read aloud in all of the services of the Church of England. Every parish church in England was required to have a copy of an English translation of the Bible made available to everyone in the congregation. At last, Wycliffe’s vision was fulfilled. All of the people of England had access to the Bible in their own language. In 1611, the King James Version of the Bible (which as built off of Tyndale's bible) was printed and published. The King James Bible has been translated into about 700 different languages. It’s considered the best-selling book of all time. Wycliffe’s vision to make God’s Word available in the language of the common people has come true. It took a lot of courage for John Wycliffe to translate the Bible into English back then. He risked everything and inspired other future translators. Because of his dedication and work to speak the truth, the truth did prevail. How thankful we can be for John Wycliffe. Let’s continue to follow the example of John Wycliffe by standing for truth, and speaking and living the spiritual truths that we know and believe. If you enjoyed this article, you may be interested in reading more at The Kings Guide. Reference: John Wycliffe article by Rodney Grilliot, The Way Magazine, October 2020. Photo Credit: Wycliffe by Thomas Kirby, Balliol College The Most Fundamental Change in Our Relationship with God: Paul, Mystery, and Blue Elephants8/1/2015 About 50 AD, a man named Paul wrote about the most fundamental change in our relationship with God. He revealed a great mystery and made simple-to-understand that:
He revealed the greatest spiritual truth that anyone could ever know. Once I learned what it was, it changed my life forever. I encourage other men to read the following article and investigate certain truths for themselves and learn to how be better men, wonderful husbands, and loving fathers. Let's start with the great mystery that Paul revealed. Mystery What’s a mystery? A mystery is anything that’s kept a secret, and remains unexplained. Paul was a man who revealed one of the greatest mystery of the world. And it triggered a fundamental change in humanity's relationship with God - a relationship in which believing, rather than behavior, became the key to a more than abundant life. Paul was born Jewish. He lived in Tarsus, which is now Turkey. He lived within the Roman empire. He traveled to Jerusalem, Asia, Greece, Rome. And he taught and wrote. Paul wrote 13 letters. He never met Jesus, the man, but met his friends and disciples, and for many years, he actually had a job to hunt and persecute them. He grew up under Roman law, and he knew the Jewish law or Law of Moses (Old Testament) very well. Under Jewish Law, good behavior included what was/is called “indulgences,” where you essentially pay for God’s love. The more money you pay the church, the more of God's love you receive. This is the crap you get from Abrahamic religions that limited ignorant people of the past. Because of men like Paul, we know better. One day Paul was walking along a road with his friends and donkeys, when a very bright light hit him right in the face. It blinded him. Paul heard a voice speak to him. The voice told him to go see a man name Ananias who would heal him. And on that day, Paul became a new man. That miraculous experience changed him forever. Paul started traveling from country to country, teaching about how everyone can have a direct, personal relationship (fellowship) with God and experientially know and practically apply truths to one’s life. All over the world, he traveled, teaching, writing, and fellowshipping. And Paul was telling everyone a secret that was revealed to him. Paul was on a mission to share that revelation. A great mystery that has been hidden from everyone since time began was being revealed. The Greatest Mystery of All Time This great mystery that Paul revealed is the greatest spiritual truth that anyone could ever know. Once I learned what it was, it changed me and my life forever, just like Paul's life was changed. And it’s written down. You can read it for yourself. It's written in the Bible. Now, let's get something straight about this book. Most of the bible is actually NOT written to you. Most of it is written for you to read and learn from. There are only a few parts of the bible that are actually written to you and for you to empirically understand and practically apply to your life. To understand what you're reading, you could do a word study. It's kinda fun. We do word studies in our weekly family fellowships. A couple thousand years ago, King James hired a bunch of smart people to translate the old Greek and Aramaic versions of the bible and translate them into English. So, just about every word in the King James version can be researched back to its original language. If we take a look at the word mystery, it appears many times in the bible. The Greek word for mystery is musterion. Out of the many occurrences of that word, 17 refer to the great mystery revealed by Paul. Word Study and Blue Elephants Let’s get a piece of paper, and take notes, while looking up a few of them.
In our recent family fellowship, I asked everyone to pass on the following sentence by whispering it in your neighbor's ear. The sentence was, "The big, blue elephant stomps, chomps, and blows his horn." I whispered it to someone in our fellowship; they whispered it to someone else sitting next to them; and so on. At the end of the line of whispering, the sentence was hardly recognizable. Paul knew this problem of people accurately learning truths told by others. And that's why he wrote down his revelation about the mystery. Paul wrote and explained the great mystery in his letters, so that we could study and understand it today in our fellowships.
This type of teaching was smack in the face of the Jewish Law and the Law of Moses. Folks who benefited from these laws, where you have to pay for God's love, were threatened by this type of antagonistic teaching. Both Paul and Jesus taught that the old Abrahamic religion was dead and the new way of life was through believing with your mind and freely receiving the love of God manifested in your life.
Back then, Paul's revelation and teaching was shocking to people. Religion is Dead His insight triggered a transformative change in the way common folk understood themselves, their spiritual position and abilities, and how they related themselves to others who were in preposterous religious power. Paul made spirituality easy to understand. He said that we're all spiritually the same, where no one is greater than anyone else, and that believers are of the same spiritual family body. This revelation killed any need for religion. Why pay the farmer, when you can milk the cow for free? Everyone has a direct connection and relationship to God, Spirit. The great mystery is a big topic to study. Can’t be done in one word study, one fellowship, or one article. But that's the fun part of studying and learning -- it never ends. But let's continue with one last verse. And it's in Colossians. Turn to Colossians 1:26-27 in the King James Bible. It says, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Paul writes this to help reveal the great mystery in more detail. Every believer can have Christ in him or her, which is the gift of holy spirit. Holy spirit is a gift from God to every believer. And it's given unconditionally. "Christ in you" in the bible means the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. So, where the bible says "God in Christ in you," that means that you can have the gift of holy spirit in you, from God, held in your mind (renewed mind) and manifested in your life. How can God be in your mind? Well, you have to understand what God is, and is not. God is not a man. God is not an old man with curly hair floating in the clouds, waving his finger, and doing good and bad things. That's delusional. You might as well believe in Poseidon. Actually, God is what the bible says it is: spirit, love, light, energy, everywhere, powerful.
That's how every believer can have the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation. It's all about believing. And it starts with your mind. Conclusion That’s what Paul revealed. That’s the great mystery -- we can have the love of God in our renewed minds manifested in our lives. Paul taught that we are fellow heirs and of the same spiritual body with other believers. And God’s riches of this mystery is Christ in you, holy spirit.
Investigate for Yourself I encourage you to read, study, and meditate upon these things. Investigate certain spiritual truths for yourself by studying what has been made available to us. The great mystery is now made known. It’s no longer a secret. I enjoy learning from enlightened people who share practical and spiritual truths that can make my life (and the lives of my family and friends) better, filled with more joy, peace, and love. And in response, I like to share what I've learned. There's a story of two letters that helps explain how I can learn to be a better man, a wonderful husband, and a loving father by reading holy texts. And it goes like this... One day, I was walking down the road in front of my home, and I saw two letters lying on the ground. I picked up both of them. One letter was addressed to someone who lived thousands of years ago. The other letter was addressed to me. I open both. Now, in real life I wouldn't open the letter that’s not addressed to me, but this is just a story. So, roll with it. And this story continues with me reading both letters. I open each envelope. The first envelope is the one that's not addressed to me, but I read the letter anyway. The letter is written in a language that is very difficult to read and understand. It's filled with strange stories written by old men who lived thousands of years ago. Because it's not addressed to me, there's little that can be practically applied to my life. I can simply read it and glean from it what I can. Next, the letter that's addressed to me is written by several and women men who also lived long ago. They say that they were inspired to write to me and believed that I would one day read the letter and become more enlightened. The letter is about life, work, God, believing, receiving, consciousness, marriage, friendship, joy, peace, and love. I read the entire letter and meditate upon the ways in which I can practically apply what I've learned. Inspirare
Each letter was written by people inspired to do so. They were inspired, in-spired, or in spirit. When I'm inspired, I'm in spirit, which comes from the Latin word "inspirare," meaning to be "breathed into." This is how spirit, God, is said to be within me. Spirit is not a man. Spirit is not a woman. God is not some old guy with a curly, gray beard, floating in the sky, waving his finger, doing good and bad things. And God is not religion, which is man made and is based upon fear and death. Is It to Me or Not? To understand anything that I may read, I ask myself, "Is this written to me?" I must get "to whom" correct. If it's written to me, I may want to engage my mind. If it's not, I'm likely not to understand it. My story of the two letters helps me understand how to read holy texts, such as the bible, which can be split into two parts:
Most of the bible is not applicable to my life in practical ways, because most of it was not written to me. Most of the bible, particularly the Old Testament and parts of the New, was not written to me or any other believer and actually presents a false picture of the world. In his book, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens says,
There is a small part of the bible that can be practically applied to my life. It's written to me. Check out Ephesians. Throughout history, men and women have been inspired to share their life lessons with others who might believe in what they say. The majority of the bible is just for my learning (Old Testament, the Gospels, and a few parts of the New Testament); some parts are written to me, and therefore may be practically applied to my life. Summary The bible is like the story of the two letters, where only a small part contains spiritual truths that can be practically and empirically applied to my life. I encourage you to investigate certain spiritual insights for yourself from holy texts, such as the bible, without accepting old dogma that limited ignorant religious people of the past. When reading holy texts, get "to whom" correct. Read what has been written to you. That’s the story of the two letters. By the way...
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