John Wycliffe
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than was ever achieved by the most brilliant victories on fields of
battle.
The art of printing being still unknown, it was only by slow and
wearisome labor that copies of the Bible could be multiplied. So great
was the interest to obtain the book, that many willingly engaged in the
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work of transcribing it, but it was with difficulty that the copyists could
supply the demand. Some of the more wealthy purchasers desired the
whole Bible. Others bought only a portion. In many cases, several
families united to purchase a copy. Thus Wycliffe’s Bible soon found
its way to the homes of the people.
The appeal to men’s reason aroused them from their passive sub-
mission to papal dogmas. Wycliffe now taught the distinctive doctrines
of Protestantism—salvation through faith in Christ, and the sole infalli-
bility of the Scriptures. The preachers whom he had sent out circulated
the Bible, together with the Reformer’s writings, and with such success
that the new faith was accepted by nearly one half of the people of
England.
The appearance of the Scriptures brought dismay to the authori-
ties of the church. They had now to meet an agency more powerful
than Wycliffe—an agency against which their weapons would avail
little. There was at this time no law in England prohibiting the Bible,
for it had never before been published in the language of the people.
Such laws were afterward enacted and rigorously enforced. Mean-
while, notwithstanding the efforts of the priests, there was for a season
opportunity for the circulation of the word of God.
Again the papal leaders plotted to silence the Reformer’s voice.
Before three tribunals he was successively summoned for trial, but
without avail. First a synod of bishops declared his writings heretical,
and, winning the young king, Richard II, to their side, they obtained a
royal decree consigning to prison all who should hold the condemned
doctrines.
Wycliffe appealed from the synod to Parliament; he fearlessly
arraigned the hierarchy before the national council and demanded a
reform of the enormous abuses sanctioned by the church. With con-
vincing power he portrayed the usurpation and corruptions of the papal
see. His enemies were brought to confusion. The friends and support-
ers of Wycliffe had been forced to yield, and it had been confidently
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expected that the Reformer himself, in his old age, alone and friend-