John Wycliffe: Herald of the Reformation

John Wycliffe (1330-1384) was a herald of the Reformation to come. More than a century before Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other reformers began the great movement that changed Western history, Wycliffe was boldly questioning the authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Wycliffe urged a personal, inward religion as opposed to the formal religion of his time. A prolific writer, Wycliffe issued the first English translation of the Bible--and more than six hundred years later, his name is synonymous with Bible translation.