JohnWyclif (about1330-1384) is an English priest, theologian and a pioneer of the Christian reform movement. His religious reform thought had a great influence on the church reform movement in western Europe in the next 200 years, especially the Protestants of various schools in Britain absorbed ideas that were beneficial to them from his religious view.
Wycliffe was born in North Yorkshire, England, about 1330. /kloc-In the 4th century, England began the historical process of establishing a unified nation-state under the leadership of kingship. The growing secular forces can no longer tolerate the Vatican's interference in England's internal affairs and plundering its wealth. 1333, the king of Edward III refused to pay the Pope the tribute promised by John the soilless king in 12 13. 1337, Britain and France launched a hundred-year war, and Pope avignon obeyed the French king, causing more dissatisfaction in Britain. 135 1 year, Parliament passed the Alternate Pastor Act, denying the Pope's control over British clergy and pensions. 1353, the parliament passed the Law on Crimes against Imperial Power, which confirmed that the state had the right not to recognize or implement papal decrees or instructions on the territory of the dynasty.
It was in the increasingly sharp contradiction between the British dynasty and the Vatican that Wycliffe began his attack on Catholicism.
Wycliffe spent most of his life in Oxford University. In his early years, he studied at Queen's College, Morton College and Barrio College of Oxford University. 1360 was appointed president of barrio college; 1369 and 1372 received bachelor's degree and doctor's degree in theology in Oxford. Since then, wycliffe took Oxford University as a forum and put forward a series of religious reform ideas, which won a large number of followers in Oxford.
Wycliffe has been a teacher for many times. 136 1 became the acting bishop of feilinghan parish; 1362 began to receive the priest's pension; 1374, he is the rector of Lutwo parish in Leicestershire. These experiences made him understand the inside story of the English Catholic Church.
1374, Wycliffe was sent to Bruges at the behest of King Edward III to negotiate with representatives of the Pope on taxation and appointment of clergy between Britain and the Holy See. This negotiation failed, and wycliffe began to attack the Pope after returning home.
1375, Wycliffe wrote the famous papers "On Holy Ownership, Volume 3" and "On Ownership in Civil Law". In these two masterpieces, wycliffe put forward the following views:
All power comes from God, and criminals lose their sovereignty. "All legal sovereignty over human beings is conditional on the legal authority related to God. However, anyone who commits unforgivable crimes lacks legal sovereignty related to God, so he cannot have legal authority. " . Wycliffe believes that the church has committed unforgivable crimes and thus lost its sovereignty.
The king has the highest and absolute internal sovereignty in the dynasty, so if he can be punished by depriving the priest of his vulgar rights, then this responsibility should be exercised by the king's officials.
Confiscate church property. He said: "If the pope, bishop and priest who committed unforgivable crimes are deprived of their rights, it will be more beneficial to the church if their income is devoted to other pious causes, instead of letting such sinners enjoy the wealth and glory of this world. Because all this wealth and glory is harmful to the church. "
1377, King Richard II of England and Parliament asked Wycliffe about the dispute between Britain and the Holy See. His answer further developed the idea of safeguarding British sovereignty and carrying out church reform.
Wycliffe believed that the English dynasty was a whole and belonged to God. He declared: "According to the Bible, the English dynasty is a whole, and priests, nobles and people are all members of it." "The dynasty belongs to God, otherwise there can be no prosperity". Wycliffe regards God who is far away from the world as the master of the English dynasty. In fact, he demanded the independence of the British dynasty and the separation of the English church from the rule of the Pope. This proposition in Wycliffe's religious reform thought represents the initial national awakening of the British nation.
Wycliffe advocated canceling the tribute to the church and the Pope, only helping the Pope and supporting the Church of England. He pointed out: "The principle of the Gospel proves that the Pope cannot claim this wealth except in the name of relief. However, the bailout can only be received under special circumstances. " In addition to supporting priests or individuals, the secular nobles of the dynasty can give all our things to the church of England and not to other churches. 1382, at the religious meeting of black priests, Wycliffe put forward more clearly: "tithing is pure relief money, and parishioners can recover the relief money because the parish priest has committed a crime and distribute it to other priests at will."
In his early theological thoughts, wycliffe put forward that kingship is supreme, the church belongs to the state, deprived of religious property, and the society gives financial assistance to the church. These propositions aim at adjusting the relationship between theocracy and secular power, cutting off the power exercised by the church over the secular world and making the country the center of society. Therefore, in a parliamentary speech at 1378, Wycliffe opposed the church's right of asylum. He believes that the king's deputies can legally break into the temple and hand over the criminals to trial.
Wycliffe's above thought is a challenge to the traditional idea that the Catholic Pope is above all secular monarchs. To this end, he was strongly opposed by the Holy See and the Church of England. But at the same time, he not only got the support of London citizens, but also got the support of Britain and some big feudal lords who wanted to confiscate religious property to enrich themselves, such as the Duke of Lancaster.
1377, the English Church Court summoned wycliffe. Wycliffe refused to appear in court under the protection of the king and the Duke of Lancaster. Pope Gregory Xi issued a circular condemning Wycliffe five times in a row and ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to arrest Wycliffe and wait for him to be tried by the papal court for heresy. In this regard, the citizens of London rallied to support Wycliffe, the theology professor of Oxford University also supported Wycliffe to condemn the Vatican, and the king of England also ordered protection to prevent Wycliffe from being arrested.
With the support of all social strata in China, Wycliffe's theological thought has developed to a new stage. After 1378, he denied the church's rule over society and then denied the basic teachings of Catholicism, condemned the sins of the church and opposed the variant theory.
Variant theory is the basic doctrine of Catholicism. It is said that when Jesus consecrated bread and wine at the last supper, he said, "This is my body" and "This is my blood". Later, the church defined that the priest who presided over the mass should tell it accordingly, thus transforming the noumenon of bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Jesus. The essence of variation theory is to make believers believe in the real existence of Jesus. Wycliffe opposed the variant theory and put forward the residue theory. He thinks that Christ is just a spiritual body. After the sacrifice, these substances, such as bread and wine, remain on the altar of the Eucharist. According to its essence, Christ does not exist in the Eucharist of the altar in his own flesh. Therefore, wycliffe opposed the religious ceremony of mass and pointed out: "There is no record of mass stipulated by Christ in the Gospels." Wycliffe denied the real existence of Christ and advocated that people commemorate Jesus as a spiritual body. The essence of the remnant theory is to establish a direct connection between man and God and deny the intermediate role of priests. Advocating the Bible as the only basis of belief, let believers master the key to contact with God, and change from a "visible" church in Rome to an "invisible" religion, making religion a pure inner awakening. Wycliffe's theory of "remnants" shook the foundation of the existence of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.
In his later years, wycliffe attacked the sins of the church with increasingly fierce words. He accused the Pope of "retaliating against all people by killing, cursing and other punishments that can be imposed", the bishop of "trading the priesthood" and "the bishop is the chain to enter the devil's room".
Wycliffe's religious thoughts in his later period caused different repercussions in all social strata. On the one hand, some of his later religious thoughts were in line with the interests of the broad masses of the lower classes, so they were accepted by them. The extent to which Wycliffe's theory contributed to the formation of the lower clergy group-Lola Delphi School is still inconclusive, but it is recorded that Lola Delphi School accepted and publicized Wycliffe's theory.
On the other hand, because wycliffe denied the necessity of the existence of the church and bishops, the kings and nobles who sheltered him soon abandoned him and regarded him as an enemy. At this time, the Duke of Lancaster, who was allied with wycliffe, broke up with him and condemned his remains as heresy. 138 1 year, a peasant uprising broke out in England. Although wycliffe did not participate, many Lola Delfi priests who publicized his religious thoughts not only participated directly, but also persisted to the end. This made the ruling class feel that Wycliffe's theory threatened the survival of the feudal system. The king and the church finally united to persecute wycliffe. 1382, with the support of the king, Archbishop Cautley banned wycliffe from participating in the public activities of the Oxford Religious Conference and ordered his followers to be expelled from Oxford University. Many of his works have also been declared illegal and banned. Wycliffe was forced to return to Latworth parish from Oxford. Here, he did not give up his criticism of the church and continued to attack the Pope, monks and dervishes. It was here that he finally translated the Bible into English with the help of student Lu. Chaucer's Wycliffe Bible and Canterbury Tales laid the foundation of English literary language. In the history of English literature, wycliffe is as famous as Chaucer, so that when Chaucer is called "the father of English poetry", wycliffe is also called "the father of English prose".
1384 65438+February 3 1, Wycliffe died of illness. Shortly before his death, he boldly declared: "I am happy to explain my faith to anyone, especially the Pope." The Pope should hand over all his dominion over the secular world to the secular regime.
In response to Wycliffe's last words, the Roman Church continued to curse him after his death. 14 14, the konstanz religious conference condemned wycliffe as the leader of heresy, and ordered him to burn his works, dig out his bones and burn his body to ashes. However, all these reactionary acts failed to erase Wycliffe's position in British history. This article is compiled and published by Strategy Network. If you reprint this article, please keep the source and link of this article.
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