John Wycliffe
75
a letter, which, while respectful in tone and Christian in spirit, was a
keen rebuke to the pomp and pride of the papal see.
“Verily I do rejoice,” he said, “to open and declare unto every man
the faith which I do hold, and especially unto the bishop of Rome:
which, forasmuch as I do suppose to be sound and true, he will most
willingly confirm my said faith, or if it be erroneous, amend the same.
“First, I suppose that the gospel of Christ is the whole body of
God’s law.... I do give and hold the bishop of Rome, forasmuch as he
is the vicar of Christ here on earth, to be most bound, of all other men,
unto that law of the gospel. For the greatness among Christ’s disciples
did not consist in worldly dignity or honors, but in the near and exact
following of Christ in His life and manners.... Christ, for the time of
His pilgrimage here, was a most poor man, abjecting and casting off
all worldly rule and honor....
“No faithful man ought to follow either the pope himself or any of
the holy men, but in such points as he hath followed the Lord Jesus
Christ; for Peter and the sons of Zebedee, by desiring worldly honor,
contrary to the following of Christ’s steps, did offend, and therefore in
those errors they are not to be followed....
“The pope ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal do-
minion and rule, and thereunto effectually to move and exhort his
whole clergy; for so did Christ, and especially by His apostles. Where-
fore, if I have erred in any of these points, I will most humbly submit
myself unto correction, even by death, if necessity so require; and if
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I could labor according to my will or desire in mine own person, I
would surely present myself before the bishop of Rome; but the Lord
hath otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me rather to
obey God than men.”
In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that He will so stir
up our Pope Urban VI, as he began, that he with his clergy may follow
the Lord Jesus Christ in life and manners; and that they may teach the
people effectually, and that they, likewise, may faithfully follow them
in the same.”—John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. 3, pp. 49, 50.
Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope and his cardinals the meek-
ness and humility of Christ, exhibiting not only to themselves but
to all Christendom the contrast between them and the Master whose
representatives they professed to be.