John Wycliffe And The Protestant Reformation

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The Protestant Reformation was a major turning point in religious history, as it cemented future religious freedom and helped solidify modern Christianity. As a result of crucial theologians such as John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, and with the help of a developing society with modern inventions such as the printing press, the Reformation helped to reform the church into how it should be. Although many people believe the church has always been powerful, throughout the 15th and 16th centuries the church fell to criticism from theologians and advances in technologies made the public more aware. A combination of these events lead to the inevitable Protestant Reformation. John Wycliffe was the first person to speak up about his concerns regarding …show more content…

Having all the power the church had, it was easy for them to care more about the money than their actual spiritual work. Another thing Wycliffe believed was the church was using their authority over the Bible. According to a study posted by the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, “Wycliffe believed that the Bible, not the church, was the supreme source of religious authority.” This helps to demonstrate Wycliffe’s belief that the church had an egotistical approach. The church believed they were so powerful that they had more right than the thing it’s supposedly based on. So Wycliffe translated the Bible into English to make the Bible more accessible, rivaling the church's power, and letting people have their own views on the Bible, instead of the church always getting the top say. From the church’s greedy and smug mindset, Wycliffe decided to rival them and as a result he was exiled from the church in 1381, then later died on December 31, …show more content…

Another originator of the Reformation was Jan Hus. Hus took a lot of inspiration from Wycliffe and followed in his footsteps to become another campaigner for religious freedom. The first thing Jan Hus believed was the church officials weren’t very moral and they needed to maintain a better morality. “Hus called for a higher level of morality among the priesthood. Financial abuses, sexual immorality, and drunkenness were common among the priests of Europe,” said an article posted by Kenyon College. When a majority of the priests are committing sins and not actually following the instructions of their own sermons, it’s obviously an issue because God wouldn’t allow that behavior. For example, you can’t have the priests telling you “don’t get drunk”, but then the priests getting drunk later that night; it’s very hypocritical. An additional thing Jan Hus believed was, “Hus also opposed the relatively new doctrine of Papal infallibility when Papal decrees contradicted the Bible,” as stated by a text on Jan Hus by Hotel Prague City. The doctrine of Papal infallibility essentially makes it so the Pope or church can’t be wrong in their

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