Wycliffe Quotes

Belief fails when it works not well indeed but is idle as a sleeping man ... Each virtuous deed is strong when it is grounded upon the solidity of belief. ~ John Wycliffe

Holy Scripture is the highest authority for every believer, the standard of faith and the foundation for reform ... ~ John Wycliffe

Private confession ... was not ordered by Christ and was not used by the apostles. ~ John Wycliffe

I believe that in the end the truth will conquer. ~ John Wycliffe

The highest service to which a man may obtain on earth is to preach the law of God. ~ John Wycliffe

The true Christian was intended by Christ to prove all things by the Word of God: all churches, all ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices. These are his marching orders. Prove all by the Word of God; measure all by the measure of the Bible; compare all with the standard of the Bible; weigh all in the balances of the Bible; examine all by the light of the Bible; test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away. This is the flag which he nailed to the mast. May it never be lowered! ~ John Wycliffe

Do not let friars enter your wine cellars for fear they will bless every barrel and change the wine into blood. ~ John Wycliffe

No man is to be credited for his mere authority's sake, unless he can show Scripture for the maintenance of his opinion. ~ John Wycliffe

It is plain to me that our prelates, in granting indulgences, do commonly blaspheme the wisdom of God. ~ John Wycliffe

It is not good for us to trust in our merits, in our virtues or our righteousness; but only in God's free pardon, as given us through faith in Jesus Christ. ~ John Wycliffe

The bread while becoming by virtue of Christ's words the body of Christ does not cease to be bread. ~ John Wycliffe

By the law of Christ, every man is bound to love his neighbour as himself; but every servant is a neighbour of every civil lord; therefore every civil lord must love any of his servants as himself; but by natural instinct, every lord abhors slavery; therefore, by the law of charity, he is bound not to impose slavery on any brother in Christ. ~ John Wycliffe

What cursed spirit of falsehood moveth priests to close themselves within stone walls for all their life, since Christ commanded all his apostles and priests to go into all the world, and to preach the Gospel? ~ John Wycliffe

I believe that in the end truth will conquer ~ John Wycliffe

Christ's fishermen should not meddle with men's law, for men' s law contains sharp stones and trees by which the net of God is broken, and the fish wend out of the world. ~ John Wycliffe

The New Testament is of full authority and open to the understanding of simple men as to the points most needful to salvation. ~ John Wycliffe

If the cross of Christ, the nails, spear, and crown of thorns are to be honoured, then why not honour Judas's lips, if only they could be found? ~ Anne Hudson

I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death. I have followed the Sacred Scriptures and the holy doctors. ~ John Wycliffe

Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on His sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by His righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation. There must be atonement made for sin according to the righteousness of God. The person to make this atonement must be God and man. ~ John Wycliffe

The laity ought to understand the faith, and since the doctrines of our faith are in the Scriptures, believers should have the Scriptures in a language familiar to the people, and to this end the Holy Ghost endued them with knowledge of all tongues. ~ John Wycliffe

I at this writing am an old man, only three years short of my three score and ten. And they tell me that Wycliffe's bones have been dug up and burned and cast into the river that leads to the sea. The Church--she thinks--has had her revenge.
But, as I hear it, Wycliffe's writings had already touched one man in Bohemia, John Huss, whom the Church burned several years ago. And though both Wycliffe and Huss be dead, There are rumors of unrest in that small country, unrest caused by those who seek true religion.
In England, King Henry rules hand in glove with the Pope, but not forever, I think.
We are still here--the Lollards, I mean. Did you guess it? Yes, I have become a "poor priest." And I will tell you this: the writings of Wycliffe have been driven out of Oxford, but they can be found in every other nook in England. Indeed, many a time I have talked with an Oxford scholar on the road and have seen God open his heart to the truth.
This is what Saint Paul meant when he spoke of Christians as being pressed but never pinned. The Church rages, but the truth goes on. Many a stout English yeoman embraces it in these days and leads his family in true godly worship.
John Wycliffe was our morning star. When all was darkest and England lay asleep in the deadly arms of the papacy, God sent him to us. The Scripture has come to England. What will it hold back? Soon--though perhaps not in my lifetime-- the dawn will break, and there will be a new day in Engla ~ Andy Thomson

Two places are ordained for man to dwell in after this life. While he is here, he may choose, by God's mercy, which he will; but once he is gone from here, he may not do so. For whichever he first goes to, whether he like it well or ill, there he must dwell forevermore. He shall never after change his dwelling, though he hates it ever so badly. ~ John Wycliffe

The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere - any additional rules made to govern men's conduct added nothing to the perfection already found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ~ John Wycliffe

I shall not die, but live; and again declare the evil deeds of the friars. ~ John Wycliffe

Visit those who are sick, or who are in trouble, especially those whom God has made needy by age, or by other sickness, as the feeble, the blind, and the lame who are in poverty. These you shall relieve with your goods after your power and after their need, for thus biddeth the Gospel. ~ John Wycliffe

I joined a organisation called Wycliffe Bible Translators that had the objective of translating the Bible into all the languages of the world, and to do that you had to study linguistics, and so that was my initial exposure to linguistics. ~ Daniel Everett

I acknowledge that the sacrament of the altar is very God's body in form of bread, but it is in another manner God's body than it is in heaven. ~ John Wycliffe

Men mark the passion of Christ, and print it on their heart somewhat to follow it. It was the most voluntary passion that ever was suffered, and the most painful. It was most voluntary, and so most meritorious. ~ John Wycliffe