The Lollards have been the primary evangelicals in England. That is the story…
John Wycliffe
Within the mid-14th century, John Wycliffe (c1324-1384), who was dean at Oxford College, protested in opposition to the abuses of the established church.
Wycliffe protested the various abuses and corruptions of the organized church. On the time, the Catholic Church used Latin for worship and used a Latin Bible. It was mainly translation, however few individuals, together with many monks, knew Latin effectively.
The church was a sequence of rituals and ceremonies that most individuals did out of obligation. The gospel was there, nevertheless it was typically misplaced underneath layers of custom, corrupt practices, issues and superstitions combined with politics. As an alternative, John Wycliffe emphasised private religion and an easier type of faith the place monks lived in poverty.
Wycliffe was himself a priest who wished to see a radical reform of the Church and believed that they need to use English as an alternative of Latin. His dispute was not with religion itself. He was a powerful Christian who emphasised private religion based mostly on the Bible, however opposed the errors of artificial organized faith.
In 1368 Wycliffe moved from Oxford to Bucks when he turned rector of Ludgershall close to Aylesbury. He remained there till 1374, when he turned priest at Lutterworth, Leicestershire, the place he remained till his demise in 1384.
Wyclef's Bible
Wycliffe and his followers translated the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English, which was accomplished round 1382 and underwent varied revisions. This was the primary full Bible in English and opened the Scriptures to the frequent individuals. This was earlier than the printing press got here to England and components have been copied by hand and extensively distributed.
The Lollards
Many individuals supported Wycliffe's concepts, which unfold all through England. Some individuals turned itinerant preachers. They went in pairs to cities and villages, telling the individuals the excellent news (gospel) about Jesus, in English. These have been generally known as Lollards. They have been significantly quite a few within the West Nation, the Chilterns, the East Midlands and East Anglia. They have been primarily in England, however there have been additionally some in Scotland.
The Lollards met and not using a priest and have been a largely lay motion, though some monks have been additionally Lollards. They prayed in English and browse the Bible in English as an alternative of Latin and held conferences in entrance of the consecrated constructing. Individuals gathered of their properties to wish and browse the Bible in English. They have been educated and peaceable individuals.
They emphasised private religion and piety. Their companies revolved across the studying and interpretation of Scripture. They didn’t consider within the necessity for monks to dwell in celibacy. Not many individuals have been literate, so these conferences have been led by those that might learn, whether or not males or girls, married or single. They taught their kids the Lord's Prayer in English and taught the individuals to learn the Scriptures.
They didn’t reject the Church as such, however wished an easier, extra pious Church with educated monks who might marry freely and who performed companies in English (or any native language). They condemned the extreme wealth and corruption of the medieval church and objected to pilgrimages and monasticism. In addition they rejected the supremacy of the Pope, however as an alternative believed within the authority of the Bible.
When it comes to perception, one of many key heretical beliefs was that they believed the bread and wine of communion have been merely symbolic, which contradicted the usual view generally known as transubstantiation. Their beliefs and practices challenged the principle church authorities and so they have been considered with suspicion and sometimes thought-about heretics.
Persecution
In 1401 Henry IV enacted a merciless regulation that Lollards who refused to surrender their religion must be executed by burning. In 1408 English Bible translations have been banned until approved by a bishop (which there was none), so from then on it turned against the law to personal and use an English translation of the Scriptures.
In 1415, the Council of Constance declared Jan Viklef a heretic posthumously, despite the fact that he was not condemned as such throughout his lifetime. Many Lollards have been condemned as heretics and given varied punishments, and a few have been burned on the stake for heresy, particularly for rejecting transubstantiation.
Related actions
Views of the Lollards weren’t distinctive. Some equivalents of the Lollards have been present in mainland Europe, particularly within the Netherlands, and the Waldenses within the French and Italian Alps, and the Hussites of Bohemia and Moravia (now referred to as the Czech Republic).
reformation
Later in Germany, a motion just like the Lollards was began in 1517 by a monk named Martin Luther. The German phrase for somebody who protests, on this case in opposition to abuse within the church, is “ein Protestant”, in English we’d say “protester”. The Lollards protested most of the similar points, so within the early sixteenth century the Lollards joined the brand new Protestant motion, with which that they had a lot in frequent.
Have been the Lollards Protestants? On the one hand, it’s anachronistic to name them Protestants as a result of they predate the Protestant Reformation and predate the primary use of the phrase “Protestant”; but then again they have been successfully Protestants earlier than the phrase was a part of the English language. As soon as the Protestant Reformation started, the Lollards have been successfully absorbed into it, despite the fact that their beliefs differed in some methods from Lutheranism.
William Tyndale
Probably the most vital individuals the Lollard motion produced was William Tyndale. He grew up among the many Lollards in South Gloucestershire utilizing the Wycliffite Bible. As soon as Erasmus printed his Greek and Latin diglot of the New Testomony, individuals in several international locations might use it to translate the New Testomony from the Greek. William Tyndale used the 1522 version of Erasmus' Greek New Testomony to translate the New Testomony into on a regular basis English. It was in additional fashionable and customary English and was extra simply understood that Wycliffe's translation. Revealed in Germany and later in Antwerp, it was first smuggled into England in early 1526. Tyndale's New Testomony turned highly regarded and was adopted by the Lollards. Tyndale additionally wrote different theological works that will at this time be categorised as mainstream evangelical.
Heritage
The Lollards created a need for reform in England. They have been the primary evangelicals in England. When the Church of England was fashioned and the English Bible was launched in 1539, and when monks have been allowed to marry in 1549, these reforms have been highly regarded and have been views already held by many individuals. The big Bible offered by Henry VIII in 1539 included William Tyndale's New Testomony and the Pentateuch, which have been really Lollard writings. Lollardy turned mainstream. The English Reformation owed extra to Lollardy and Tyndale than to Lutheranism and Luther.
Lollard beliefs and practices have been rooted of their plain studying of Scripture and have been fairly mainstream within the Protestant world by fashionable requirements. A few of their beliefs would even be thought-about mainstream within the post-WWII fashionable Catholic Church. the Vatican Council, which now holds companies in native languages and promotes the usage of the Bible.
Allow us to bear in mind the Lollards, who have been the primary evangelicals of England.
