Church History
Teachers
Lesson Summary
Teacher Art Clark led the class through an examination of John Wycliffe, an English reformer educated at Oxford who became a pivotal figure in challenging Roman Catholic Church corruption. After traveling to Rome in 1374 as a member of an English embassy, Wycliffe witnessed firsthand the abuses and corruption within the priesthood, an experience that fundamentally changed his theology and mission. Upon returning to England, he began teaching against the Roman Catholic system of church government, a stand that would cost him his position as a professor at Oxford and subject him to excommunication. The class detailed Wycliffe's major theological positions, all grounded in his conviction that Scripture alone should be the authority for Christian faith and practice. He rejected the Catholic Church's use of images as idolatry, opposed the veneration of relics (including supposed relics of Christ and Mary), and advocated for worship services in the vernacular languages that common people understood rather than Latin. Wycliffe also stood against private masses, the practice of last rites, and the doctrine of purgatory—all practices he saw as lacking biblical foundation. The class examined the elaborate relic system, providing specific historical examples of relics housed in cathedrals across Europe, to illustrate why Wycliffe's criticisms were so threatening to church authority and revenue. His translation of the Bible into English empowered ordinary Christians to read Scripture directly and compare it to church teaching, leading him to reject the seven sacraments in favor of the biblical two: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Despite facing violence and ecclesiastical condemnation, English courts protected him, though the church forbade anyone to associate with him.