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The Story of Redemption
The Morning Star of the Reformation
In the fourteenth century arose in England the “morning star of
the Reformation.” John Wycliffe was the herald of reform, not for
England alone, but for all Christendom. He was the progenitor of
the Puritans; his era was an oasis in the desert.
The Lord saw fit to entrust the work of reform to one whose
intellectual ability would give character and dignity to his labors.
This silenced the voice of contempt, and prevented the adversaries
of truth from attempting to put discredit upon his cause by ridiculing
the ignorance of the advocate. When Wycliffe had mastered the
learning of the schools, he entered upon the study of the Scriptures.
In the Scriptures he found that which he had before sought in vain.
Here he saw the plan of salvation revealed, and Christ set forth as the
only advocate for man. He saw that Rome had forsaken the Biblical
paths for human traditions. He gave himself to the service of Christ,
and determined to proclaim the truths which he had discovered.
The greatest work of his life was the translation of the Scriptures
into the English language. This was the first complete English
translation ever made. The art of printing being still unknown, it
was only by slow and wearisome labor that copies of the work could
be multiplied; yet this was done, and the people of England received
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the Bible in their own tongue. Thus the light of God’s Word began
to shed its bright beams athwart the darkness. A divine hand was
preparing the way for the Great Reformation.
The appeal to men’s reason aroused them from their passive
submission to papal dogmas. The Scriptures were received with
favor by the higher classes, who alone in that age possessed a knowl-
edge of letters. Wycliffe now taught the distinctive doctrines of
Protestantism—salvation through faith in Christ, and the sole in-
fallibility of the Scriptures. Many priests joined him in circulating
the Bible and in preaching the gospel; and so great was the effect
of these labors and of Wycliffe’s writings that the new faith was
accepted by nearly one half of the people of England. The kingdom
of darkness trembled.
The efforts of his enemies to stop his work and to destroy his life
were alike unsuccessful, and in his sixty-first year he died in peace
in the very service of the altar.