John Wycliffe Research Paper

Christ instituted his church around the year 33 AD. Upon said institution, Christ calls Peter to be the rock upon which His Church shall be built (Matt. 16:18.) Throughout the centuries, the earthy head of the Church (the Pope) had been divinely passed down; starting with Peter and so on and so forth. The authority of the men that have held the said position has been challenged repeatedly. Before the time of the Poststent Reformation, the authority of the Pope was being held in question by a man by the name of John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe was born in the United Kingdom in 1320. Wycliffe attended Oxford University, becoming one of Oxford’s leading philosophers and theologians. Soon after Wycliffe became the rector of the parish Lutterworth. After about a year of not being moved to a higher position within the church, Wycliffe’s criticism of the papacy is connected to him not being promoted. When Rome asked for financial support from England, Wycliffe was quick to voice his opinions on the matter. Wycliffe felt that the church was already too wealthy, recalling that Christ called his disciples to live in poverty. Wycliffe also stated that the Church did not have a right to money earned through taxes; that money should be reserved for England. Wycliffe met with Lord John of Gaunt, in the meeting Wycliffe advised his lord not to comply with
His way of thinking inspired the ideology of sola scriptura, or scripture alone. Throughout his life, Wycliffe searched through scripture to find a clear and clean description of what the Church should look like. Wycliffe was against man’s interpretation of what the Church should look like. He only wanted to follow what was spelled out within the Bible. Wycliffe also inspired Martin Luther’s later stance on the papacy and the authority within the Church. Wycliffe was an influential figure in the sense that he helped lay the foundation for the Protestant