John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (c. 1320 – 31 December 1384) was an English theologian and early proponent of reform in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. He made an English translation of the Bible in one complete edition and is considered a precursor of the Protestant Reformation (thus becoming known as "The Morning Star of the Reformation").
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- Preaching the Gospel exceeds prayer and administration of the sacraments to an infinite degree.
- I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.
- Statement to the Duke of Lancaster (1381), as quoted in Champions of the Right (1885) by Edward Gilliat, p. 135
- Variant: I believe that in the end truth will conquer.
- As quoted in Great Voices of the Reformation : An Anthology (1952) by Harry Emerson Fosdick]], p. 37
- This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.
- General Prologue to the Bible translation of 1384, as quoted in Lincoln at Gettysburg : An Address (1906) by Clark Ezra Carr, p. 75; also in The Collected works of Eric Voegelin, Vol. II Published Essays, 1953-1965 (2000), edited by Ellis Sandoz, p. 61
- Crown and cloth maken no priest, nor emperor's bishop with his words, but power that crist giveth; and thus by life have been priests known.
- As quoted in Typical English Churchmen (1909) by John Neville Figgis, p. 15
- There was good reason for the silence of the Holy Spirit as to how, when, in what form Christ ordained the apostles, the reason being to show the indifferency of all forms of words.
- Latin statement in De Quattuor Sectis Novellis, as translated in Typical English Churchmen (1909) by John Neville Figgis, p. 16
- 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.
- As quoted in Wyclif, by Anthony Kenny, p. 90. (1985) published by Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287646-5
- Already a third and more of England is in the hands of the Pope. There cannot be two temporal sovereigns in one country; either Edward is King or Urban is king. We make our choice. We accept Edward of England and refute Urban of Rome.
- Quoted in William Tyndale: If God Spare My Life — Martyrdom, Betrayal and the English Bible (2003) by Brian Moynahan, p. xvii
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- O, marvelous power of the Divine seed, which overpowers the strong man armed, softens obdurate hearts, and changes into divine men those who were brutalized in sin, and removed to an infinite distance from God.
- Our clerics neither evangelize like the apostles, nor go to war like the secular lords, nor toil like laborers.
- The higher the hill, the stronger the wind: so the loftier the life,the stronger the enemy's temptations.