Lesson 2 Study Notes

This is Bishop Andy Luther continuing my online course on the early English Bibles of the Middle Ages. In my previous lesson I examined a number of the Bible, like the Book of Psalms, or segments of the New Testament. However, in the middle years of the 14th century, there appeared an English version of the entire Bible, produced by John Wycliffe who had been serving as a faculty member at Oxford University in England. Two things must be pointed out regarding the Wycliffe Bible before proceeding further. First of all, the Wycliffe Bible was based upon the Latin Vulgate, which itself was a translation of an earlier Greek manuscript.

The fact that the Bible was in Latin meant that for the most part, the Roman Catholic Church was in large part attached to an attitude that would eventually lead to the Protestant Reformation. Secondly, the Wycliffe Bible was handwritten which meant that it had a limited ability to reach the masses. It would not be until the invention of the printing press that English translators could expect for their works to reach the large number of those who were Christians. Consequently, Christians were left with no choice but to accept what the church said the Bible said and not be able to know what the Bible said for themselves. It was the hope of Wycliffe

that every English Christian would be able to read the Bible for themselves. We must also remember, as I have mentioned before, that in the 14th century it was thought that the Bible in any language but Latin was a sin and illegal. However Wycliffe would strike a major blow in making the Bible available in the common tongue of a local people. In this lesson, we will look in greater detail the background and history of the Wycliffe Bible. In one of my other lessons, I do a rather comprehensive job in describing the biography of John Wycliffe, so this lesson will focus more on his writings rather than his life.

The Wycliffe Bible, or what scholars now often refer to as the Wycliffe or Wyclifian Bibles, represent a pivotal chapter in the journey of sacred scripture from the Latin cloisters to the vernacular voices of the English people. With this groundbreaking effort we can discern two distinct versions the early version EV which clung lightly to the Latin offering a word-for-word translation and the later version which flowed more freely, capturing the essence of the text in a more readable sense-for-sense manner.

The source text for these translations was the Vulgate, the venerable Latin Bible that had long been the bedrock of Western Christianity's scriptural tradition. While his name has been historically associated with the push for English scripture, it's now largely accepted that Wycliffe's fervor for the common language only surfaced near the end of his life. The mythos surrounding Wycliffe himself was the principal translator. However, as the 19th century ushered in a more critical

approach to history, scholars began to see the Wycliffe Bibles as the work of multiple hands, most of whom were priests rather than the singular effort of Wycliffe. Figures like Nicholas Iriford, John Purvey, and possibly John Trevisa have been proposed as contributors, though historian Ann Hudson has cast doubt on their involvement, leaving the precise authorship of these texts shrouded in uncertainty. This association of the Wycliffe Bibles with the Lolarity, a radical, sometimes militant movement that challenged the Catholic Church's authority, ignited a fierce backlash from

both the English crown and the church. The so-called Lowlard Bible, particularly when accompanied by incendiary prologues, became a symbol of defiance, a flashpoint in the ongoing struggle over who would hold the keys to spiritual truth. The Wycliffe Bible or what scholars now often refer to as the Wycliffe or Wyclifian Bibles represents a pivotal chapter in the journey of sacred scriptures from the Latin Cloisters

to the vernacular voices of the English people. These texts emerging from the intellectual crucible of the University of Oxford and believed to have been spurred by the controversial English theologian John Wycliffe, stand as the earliest known complete translations of the Bible into Middle English, a linguistic leap that shattered God's Word between 1382 and 1395. The Oxford Convocation of 1408, in its zeal to maintain ecclesiastical control, decreed that no new translation of the Bible could be undertaken

without prior approval. Reflecting the deep anxiety, these translations stirred. Well friends this takes up most of my time for this lesson. So it goes without saying the Wycliffe Bible is a critical link in understanding the history of the English Bible. understanding the history of the English Bible.

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Lesson 2, The Wycliff Bible

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