Update Seventeen

One Faith Day Six

The Reformation
16th century

I: Precursors to the Reformation

i: Introduction

We enter the sixteenth century as a tumultuous time. Battling its way through the Dark Ages the Church of Rome had established a status quo throughout all of Europe. With its separation from the East in the eleventh century Rome had come to once again dominate the entire west. Under the banner of a Holy Roman Empire the Church was able to unify the warring feudal lords into a powerful mixture of nations with which to exercise its rule. Utilizing barbarian ferocity, Latin teaching, and the focal point of the Christian religion this land, once considered a dark and desolate land, beat back all external threats. With that lack of an external outlet for aggression and wanderlust and with the propagation of ever stronger royal families, Europe was beginning to tear itself apart in numerous wars among those who were supposed to be united under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire and the Church of Rome. Throughout its guiding of these European powers the Church had taken on some very pagan aspects, particularly the corruption which ran rampant throughout the Church. Bishoprics were sold back and forth, given to whoever could pay Rome the most not who could serve best. Even children were placed in these powerful positions for the prestige this brought to powerful families. The politics of the states and the politics of the Church were hopelessly intermingled. At one time it was so bad that the French actually took over the Papacy, relocating the Papacy to Avignon from 1309-1377, leading to a situation in which at one time there were three elected popes. In the midst of all this confusion, turmoil, and corruption several members of the Roman Church began to look for ways to stem the tide of corruption, both theologically and corporally. While the Church was making some attempt at reformation for itself, setting forth several decrees of reformation in the handful of so called ecumenical councils of this period, these attempts were too little too late. More drastic measures were required to fix the Church, and a more drastic price was going to have to be paid then anyone in the Church hierarchy was willing to pay. The men willing to step up to make these changes and pay these prices were the precursors to the coming Reformation.

ii: John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe was born in Lutterworth, Yorkshire England in the year 1330. A Roman Catholic throughout his life, Wycliffe died as a parish minister in 1784. In his ministry Wycliffe took a strong stance against the corruption rampant in the Church. With a fiery tongue, lending itself to reprisals, Wycliffe verbally lashed out at the establishment saying things such as, “So the wicked pope is anti-Christian and a devil, for he is both falsehood itself and the father of lies,” and calling friars “ adulterers of the Word of God in prostitute’s robes and colored veils.” Becoming a master at Balliol College of Oxford University at an early age, Wycliffe rose quickly to prominence as a skilled scholar and teacher. Winning the favor of the royal family, Wycliffe was appointed a mediator between the royal family and the Church of Rome. From this lofty position Wycliffe was protected from the wrath of Rome and the Papacy. While still being involved with combating the trends of the times, particularly with the Western Schism, when there were several popes at once, Wycliffe focused on five major issues crucial for the coming Reformation. The first was his attacks against the practice of indulgences. These, having grown out of the age of crusades, were now being peddled to fatten the pockets of the clergy and the lords at the same time. Seeing the corruption in this, Wycliffe condemned this practice, setting the stage for later reformers. The second critical issue was that of transubstantiation. This is the belief that through the holy power of the priest the bread and wine of the Eucharist were turned wholly into the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ. Wycliffe rejected this idea, holding to a Platonic view of substances which rejected the idea that substances can be utterly destroyed while ‘accidents’ (the property of substances) can exist without attachment to substance. Wycliffe also held that celebration of a transubstantiation Mass is akin to idol worship. The third major issue Wycliffe took up was the absolute forgiveness in Christ by faith and grace. The Church of the time taught that while the mercy of Jesus gave you a clean slate you were still required to make penance and do good works in order to achieve salvation. This semi-Pelagianism was wholly rejected by Wycliffe, who saw salvation like Augustine, being solely from God and not by works. This does not negate good works as a sign but shows that it is not by us but by Christ that we are saved. The fourth issue was that of the authority of scripture. The Church taught that authority rested in the councils and the Papacy which interpreted the scriptures for men. Wycliffe strongly believed that it is the Word of God that held the authority, against the councils and the pope. The final issue Wycliffe held to, the one which he is best known for to this day is his belief that all people should have the scriptures in their own language. As the Roman Church held only councils and popes could interpret, it was seen as dangerous to the souls of men to give them the scriptures in their language. Keeping the scriptures in the dead languages of ancient Greek and Latin, the lay people were forced to rely on the priest, who themselves relied on their bishops, for their interpretation of the scriptures. To the end of stopping this intellectual tyranny Wycliffe set out to translate the first English Bible. Created among his followers, called the Lollards, this bible was christened the Oxford Bible. Eventually Wycliffe would fall out of favor of the royal family when he began to support the peasants of England in their revolt. Without the royal family’s support Wycliffe was forced out of Oxford in 1381. He died of a stroke while leading worship in 1384. In 1415 Wycliffe was posthumously condemned and excommunicated at the Council of Constance. His remains were exhumed and burned, his ashes being scattered over the River Swift in 1428. Today Wycliffe is honored for his work by having the largest bible translation organization named after him, the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Wycliffe set the stage for all later reformers, particularly in influencing the Bohemian reformer John Hus.


iii: John Hus

Born a Czech in Bohemia, John Hus is one of the most well known Bohemians in history. Born into a world being torn apart by the ethnic pride of the Czech people and the military power of the German empire, Hus would grow to take center stage politically and theologically. Hus was born in 1372, roughly fourteen years befor the death of Wycliffe. The union of an English princess and a Bohemian prince led Hus to learn of the English ideas of John Wycliffe. Taking these ideas as his own, excepting Wycliffe’s views of the Eucharist, Hus rose to prominence in Prague. As the dean of Faculty of Philosophy in Prague Hus early became a famous man throughout Bohemia. Becoming a rallying point for his Czech people, Hus would merge the ideas of Czech nationalism with those of Hus’s church reform movement. Becoming the leader for these people, Hus put together a list of demands for the Church. These included allowing lay people to partake in the wine of communion, forcing the clergy to give up their ill gotten wealth, and allowances to be made for popular preaching. These demands were rejected by the Church and led to Hus being summoned to appear before the council of Constance. Hus was guaranteed safety by the Emperor himself and so he went to stand before the council and argue his case. Sadly, this was all trickery and council had Hus arrested. Upon condemning the work of Wycliffe the council had Hus brought out and he was burned at the stake for his position on Wycliffe. Upon being tied up to the stake Hus made a proclamation which would come back to haunt the Roman Church. Before the fire started Hus declared, “They will roast a goose now (Hus means goose in Czech) but after a hundred years they will hear a swan sing.” Almost one hundred years later to the date Martin Luther would nail his 95 thesis into the door of Wittenberg Castle Church, igniting the third great schism of the Church, the Reformation. Upon his death, the followers of Hus left peaceful means and began what is known to this day as the Hussite Wars. Using guerilla tactics, the Hussites would eventually get many of their demands answered. The influence of Hus would spread beyond his homeland of Bohemia, as Martin Luther would take up the baton from him, taking on much of Hus’s theology. In fact, Luther would for a time be called the “Saxon Hus.”