The following selections gather ten central themes from John Wycliffe’s Latin and English writings and present them in clear, modern English. They are not strict, line-by-line translations of a single manuscript, but careful, text-based renderings that preserve Wycliffe’s thought, force, and tone so contemporary readers can “hear” him speak for himself.

Each section briefly locates the passage in Wycliffe’s corpus and then gives a representative paragraph in his own spirit and argument.

The Absolute Sufficiency and Authority of Holy Scripture

From De veritate sacrae scripturae (On the Truth of Holy Scripture), c. 1377–78

Here Wycliffe lays down the ground rule of all his theology: Scripture is complete, truthful, and finally authoritative over every human authority, from canonist to pope.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“I confess before God and all people that with my whole heart I believe Holy Scripture contains every truth that is necessary for salvation, and that, taken in the sense its divine Author intended, every part of it is true.

Scripture is the very Word of God, breathed by the Holy Spirit, and for that reason it cannot lie, it cannot deceive, and it cannot be self-contradictory. Every Christian is bound in conscience to believe whatever Scripture teaches, and no Christian is bound to believe anything as necessary for salvation which is not contained in Scripture, or clearly and necessarily drawn from it.

The traditions of men, the decretals of popes, the determinations of councils, and the opinions of schoolmen have authority only so far as they echo and serve Scripture. When they go beyond Scripture, they are merely human; when they contradict Scripture, they are false; and when they are uncertain, they can bind no man’s conscience.

Therefore the humblest Christian who holds the Scriptures and, by the grace of God, understands them aright, is a safer and more trustworthy judge of matters touching faith and morals than any pope who lacks Scripture or sets it aside. For the pope is a man and may err grievously; but Holy Scripture is God’s own Word, and it cannot err.”

Why the Bible Must Be Given to the Laity in Their Own Tongue

From De veritate sacrae scripturae and English tracts, c. 1382

Here Wycliffe applies his doctrine of Scripture to language and translation. If the Bible is for the whole Church, it must be heard in the language of the people.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“It is the gracious will of God that the whole of Holy Scripture should be known in every Christian land in the common mother tongue, so that even the simplest man or woman may hear and understand the will of his Maker.

Our Lord sent His apostles to preach the gospel to every creature. He did not command them to hide it in a monastery chest or to lock it up in the Latin tongue. In the days of the apostles, the New Testament was written in the ordinary languages of those to whom it was sent, so that all might read it, meditate on it, and obey it.

To keep Scripture only in Latin is to rob Christ’s sheep of their true pasture and to make them wholly dependent on proud and often ignorant priests, who themselves are in great need of being taught by the Word they withhold. No sin lies in translating Scripture into English, nor in reading it in English; the guilt lies rather on those who forbid such translation for fear that their own errors and abuses will be uncovered.

It was a great mercy that the Jews had the Old Testament in Hebrew and the early Church the New Testament in Greek; it will be no less mercy if English Christians have the whole Bible in English. Every Christian who has ability and opportunity ought to labor with all his strength that the law and gospel of God may be faithfully translated, so that poor men and women may read it, and, by God’s grace, live according to it.”

On the Poverty of Christ and His True Vicar

From De potestate papae (On the Power of the Pope), c. 1379

In this treatise Wycliffe contrasts the poverty and humility of Christ and the apostles with the wealth and dominion claimed by the papacy.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“Christ, in His earthly life, was the poorest of men. He chose to be born of a poor mother, to live without possessions, and to die stripped even of His garments. In like manner His apostles lived, following their Master in poverty and humility. When the people would have made Him a worldly king, He withdrew Himself and declared, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’

If the pope pretends to be the vicar of Christ, he ought above all things to imitate Christ in lowliness and poverty. Yet the pope styles himself lord of lords, exacts tribute from many kingdoms, and lives in greater outward splendor than any earthly prince. How then shall we believe that such a man is rightly called the vicar of Christ, who refused worldly dominion, and not rather the vicar of Judas, who loved money and betrayed his Lord?

Christ once paid the temple tax, not because it was His due, but that He might not give offense; yet He never demanded tribute from any nation. How then can His servant demand yearly thousands of marks from England and other lands, while giving in return little that is truly spiritual? A pope who lives openly in pride, covetousness, and other mortal sins has no more power to bind or loose than any other sinful priest. His keys are corroded with the rust of avarice, and his sentence is worth no more than the breath with which it is spoken.”

Dominion Is Founded in Grace

From De civili dominio (On Civil Dominion), Book I, c. 1375–76

This is Wycliffe’s most explosive political doctrine, arguing that true lordship and property right are inseparable from grace and righteousness.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“I hold, according to Scripture, that no man living in mortal sin has before God any true right to possess goods or to exercise lordship, whether over things or persons. All just dominion is founded in grace.

God, the supreme Lord, gave the earth as an inheritance to the righteous and to those who obey His law. The wicked may hold lands, offices, and dignities for a time, but they hold them only by God’s bare permission, as usurpers and stewards who shall give a strict account, and not by any rightful title in His sight.

It follows that a king, prelate, or pope who lives obstinately in known sin and abuses his office may, for the glory of God and the good of the commonwealth, be lawfully deprived of his temporal dominion by those who have the power and lawful authority to do so. This is not rebellion against true authority; it is obedience to the higher authority of God, who never gave dominion to be used against His law.

When men cry out that such doctrine overthrows all order, they should rather confess that their order is built upon sin. The order God approves is that in which those who rule are themselves ruled by His grace and His Word.”

Against the Sale of Indulgences

From English sermons and tracts, c. 1380–83

Here Wycliffe exposes indulgence-selling as a denial of the Gospel’s freeness and an exploitation of the poor.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“Our Lord Jesus Christ never sold forgiveness of sins. He and His apostles proclaimed pardon freely to all who truly repented and believed. The grace of God is not a market-good to be weighed out with coin.

Therefore, to set up a stall of pardons, to promise deliverance from pains in purgatory in exchange for money, is sheer simony—a buying and selling of spiritual things—and robbery of the poorest of Christ’s flock. The priest who takes a penny for such a pardon is guiltier than the soldiers who cast lots for Christ’s garment; for they took only His clothing, but the seller of indulgences lays greedy hands on the fruits of His passion.

If the pope truly holds the power to empty purgatory by a word of absolution, charity would compel him to release all souls at once, freely and without payment. Since he demands gold before he will speak his word, we must conclude either that he cannot do what he claims, or that he lacks Christian love. In either case, wise Christians will avoid his pardons as they would avoid deadly poison, and will seek their comfort in Christ alone, who pardons the contrite without money and without price.”

On the Lord’s Supper: Clarifying Wycliffe’s Eucharistic Position

From De apostasia (On Apostasy) and Confession on the Eucharist, 1381

Wycliffe’s teaching on the Eucharist was often caricatured. He rejected transubstantiation but did not deny a real presence of Christ received by faith.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“I believe and confess that in the sacrament of the altar, after the words of consecration, the very body and blood of Christ are truly and sacramentally present, given to faithful communicants for their spiritual nourishment.

Yet I also affirm that the substance of the bread and wine does not cease to be what it is. By the marvellous working of God, the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine in their substance, though they are now, by Christ’s institution, holy signs and instruments whereby He communicates Himself to believers.

To say that the bread is annihilated, or that it is transformed into another substance so that only the outward appearance remains without any subject, is unsound philosophy and contrary to Scripture. The apostle still calls it ‘bread’ after consecration (1 Corinthians 11), and the senses, given us by God, testify the same.

The sacrament is a memorial of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice and a means by which we feed on Him spiritually by faith, not with our teeth. The visible host is not to be adored as Christ in His humanity, for Christ, in His bodily presence, sits at the right hand of the Father until He comes again to judge the living and the dead. To give to the sacramental sign the worship due only to Christ Himself is idolatry.”

The True Church and the False

From De ecclesia (On the Church), c. 1378–79

Here Wycliffe distinguishes between the invisible Church of the predestined and the mixed body of the visible Church, sharply criticizing corrupt ecclesiastical leadership.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“The holy catholic Church is not confined to the pope and his cardinals at Rome, nor to the bishops and clergy throughout the world, nor to stones and timbers and rich endowments that men commonly call ‘the Church.’

The true Church is the whole company of those whom God, from eternity, has chosen in Christ unto salvation—those who either already reign with Him in Heaven or, being still on earth, shall finally be saved. Of this Church none but God knows the exact number; we see its members only imperfectly, as they appear in time.

The visible Church that we behold in this world is a mixed body. Within its outward fellowship are many whom God has ordained to life, and many whom He has left in their sins. We must respect the office of priest and bishop, for God has appointed such ministries for the building up of His people. But we are not bound in conscience to obey a man whose life and teaching plainly contradict the law of Christ, even though he sit in the highest chair and wear the loftiest mitre.

Many who are greeted as ‘most holy father’ or ‘my lord cardinal’ are in truth members of Antichrist, serving their own belly rather than Christ, and unless they repent they will have their portion with hypocrites when the Lord separates the sheep from the goats.”

Charge to the “Poor Priests”

From English sermon on Matthew 10:7–10 and related homilies, c. 1382

Wycliffe’s training and sending of itinerant “Poor Priests” embodied his conviction that the Gospel must be preached freely and plainly.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“Go forth, then, you poor priests of Christ, and preach the gospel freely as the apostles did at the beginning. Do not burden yourselves with gold or silver, with many garments, or with costly provisions. Be content with food and clothing such as God’s providence and the kindness of His people supply.

Let no man say that you sell the Word of God. Take no price for absolutions, for masses, or for sermons. What you have received freely, freely give. If the doors of the churches are shut against you, preach in the fields, in houses, by the roadside—wherever men will hear.

Teach the people first the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the plain sayings of Christ in the gospel. Read to them the English Scripture and open it as clearly as you can. Point them to Christ as the only Savior, and warn them against trusting in pilgrimages, images, dead men’s bones, or any outward ceremony apart from true repentance and faith.

Fear not the curses of proud bishops who live in pomp and ease. They may imprison your bodies or burn your flesh, but they cannot touch your souls if you are faithful to Christ. If they revile you, bless them; if they smite you, pray for them; and if they kill you for the truth’s sake, rejoice, for your reward in Heaven will be very great.”

John Purvey’s Prologue to the Later Wycliffe Bible

From the General Prologue to the Revised Version of the Wycliffe Bible, c. 1388

Although written by John Purvey, Wycliffe’s close associate, this preface expresses most clearly the translation ideals of the Wycliffite circle.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“A simple priest, wishing to profit his fellow Christians, has labored to translate the Bible into English so that even the weakest believer may behold the bare text of Scripture and, by God’s help, understand something of His law and His promises.

In translating, it is not enough to follow word by word if such literalness would make the English dark or misleading. The best translation is that which most clearly expresses the sense of Scripture in suitable English words, provided that nothing of the meaning is lost or changed.

We have therefore collected the oldest and most accurate Latin copies we could find, compared them diligently one with another, and then translated as plainly and openly as we were able, so that the understanding of the text might be available to every reader. Afterward, other faithful and learned men examined this work and corrected it where they judged we had failed.

Our prayer is that this English Bible may help many to know and keep God’s commandments and that, by stirring up devout desire, it may move wiser and more skillful men, if God will, to make yet more perfect translations in time to come.”

Wycliffe’s Final Confession of Faith

From a late statement of belief attributed to Wycliffe, shortly before his death in 1384

Near the end of his life, after controversy, condemnation, and exile from Oxford, Wycliffe summarized the convictions for which he had lived and labored.

Representative Passage (Modern English Rendering):

“With gladness of heart I confess the faith which, by the grace of God, I have taught in many places and for many years: that Holy Scripture contains within itself every truth which is needful for salvation; that Christ alone is the Head and Spouse of the Church; that the pope has no more power by the Gospel than any other priest, unless he excel others in holy life and sound doctrine; and that every Christian ought to have the gospel made known to him in his own tongue, that he may learn thereby to follow Christ.

If in these matters, or in any other, I have spoken foolishly or erred, I desire not to stand by my own word against the Word of God. I submit myself willingly to correction by Holy Scripture, and by sound reason drawn from it.

I ask no other burial than that which is given to the poorest of Christ’s servants, and I commend my soul to God, who bought me, not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of His Son.”

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