Quotes from John Wycliffe


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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.


God may not accept a person to forgive him his sins, without an atonement, else he must give free license to sin both in angels and men, and then sin were no sin, and our God were no God.


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


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


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?


We should know that faith is a gift of God, and that it may not be given to men, except it be graciously. Thus, indeed, all the good which we have is of God; and accordingly, when God rewardeth a good work of man, he crowneth his own gift.


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.


We are under God's power, and we can do nothing but by the power of God, and woe shall hereafter be to us if we abuse this power.


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


This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people.


It is certain that the truth of the Christian faith becomes more evident the more the faith itself is known. Therefore, the doctrine should not only be in Latin but also in the common tongue, and as the faith of the Church is contained in the Scriptures, the more these are known in the true sense, the better.


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


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.


Englishmen learn Christ's law best in English. Moses heard God's law in his own tongue; so did Christ's apostles.


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.


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.


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


I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.


We all are originally sinners as Adam and in Adam, his leprosy cleaving faster to us than Naaman's did to Gahazai, so that even the infant, before it has seen the light of the world, has this blemish inherent in its unborn members.


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.